Quote: Bigredwarrior "I think 1st v 2nd, 3rd v 4th etc at the time of the event is the fairest way. All teams would have something to play for and nobody would know who they'd play until the week before.'"
That would be great from a competitive point of view, but it'd be a nightmare for advance ticket sales, travel etc, because you couldn't bank on which day your team were playing until close to the event.
A variation on this would be to take the 2012 standings and have the teams finishing in odd numbered places assigned to the Saturday, and the teams finishing in even numbered places on the Sunday. 13th place would have to be with the Sunday group too, or else there's the wrong number of teams.
Example:
Saturday - Wigan, St Helens, Leeds, Huddersfield, Bradford, Salford.
Sunday - Warrington, Catalans, Hull, Wakefield, Hull KR, London, Castleford, Widnes.
That way, everyone knows which day they'll be playing - but, as per your suggestion, each team then plays the closest side to them in the table at the halfway point in the season, which is when Magic is scheduled for, I assume.
Based on last season's standings we'd probably end up with Saints again, but it wouldn't be artificially arranged as such. It would add an element of unpredictability and a more balanced fixtures list over the weekend without leaving absolutely everything up in the air until the week before.
