No i do not think thats the real reason most on here complain tbh. That's a rather simplistic view would have made no difference this season or last we were not good enough to get to the grand final. Look at the attendances for the playoffs Shocking tbh and that is a sure sign that supporters of most clubs view the present top 8 as a joke. System need to change and the chage needs to come sooner rather than later.

We need to go back to top 5 and have relegation if a team who meets SL criteria wins the Championship. Its that factor of no relegation that has caused SL to become very sterile at times in the past as teams in the bottom third of the league have nothing to play for. So to stop clubs from just not trying towards the end of the season they bring in the top 8. Unlike the NRL we have 5 good SL sides and the rest are very poor whilst most of the NRL sides are of a very good standard ours are not.

My preferred format is this. using this season table as my template and the results.

Week one League Leaders have the week off

1. Wire v Saints
2. Catalan v Leeds


Wigan V Saints Winners go to the GF
Wire V Leeds Winners play the losers of the above game for a shot at the GF.

We would get less games and more intensity than we had on the 1st week of the play offs.

No. A top 8 with straight play off is the same as the old Premiership! That would be a backwards step.

I always liked the top 5 system because I like the concept that to win it a team has to beat ALL the teams above them.

Initially I didn't like the top 6 format because it broke the top 5 principle of having to beat ALL the teams above you. However, what I did like about it was the first game between 1 and 2 with the winner going straight through to the GF. That game always had high intensity and was often better than the GF itself. The loser then maintained home advantage which was reward for finishing high in the table.

The current system is crazy in that teams 1 and 2 can lose home advantage if they lose the first game.

Despite thinking that the top system is the best, on balance I now prefer the top 6 because it also maintains interest down the table in the regular season.

I have no problem with the team finishing 5th going on to become Champions but my point is that it is easier to do it in the top 8 system vs top 5. This season Leeds would have to have beaten Catalan (done anyway), then Saints away, then Wire or Wigan away (done) then say Wire in the final (we will see next week). So if Leeds win next week then it would be easier than the top 5 system in that they wouldn't have had to have beaten Saints away as well.

I agree the current system needs streamlining it doesn't sit right with me that you can finish 8th out of 14 and still be crowned champions at the end !

We knew the rules when the season started.

We did and I didn't like them then either!

Me neither but it always sounds like sour grapes when you've lost.