It's the only solution.

I couldn't agree more. My view is it's a combination of loads of reasons, the aforementioned two just being a couple of them.

However, when a fan of Leeds (the champions 6 times recently) for 30 years, says that "I have perhaps become so acclimatised to lousy results that I don't actually care about the league placing" it is clear to me that the competition structure is mainly at fault,

I'm sorry, but you are misunderstanding me. I became acclimatised to not finishing top by the Leeds teams of the 80's & 90's, the ones I grew up watching. NOT the current Leeds team!

This view of mine was formed by the old league structure, before Super League started. It's a result of constantly seeing Wigan win everything and knowing we had no chance!

...thats possibly why I like the top 8 play-offs. It gives more teams a chance af actually winning something!

Ha ha ha. I may live here, but I'm not from here. (...and yes, it is a dump!)

To put it simply, I watched my team go 25ish years with average results so I am used to the average results. It does not mean I enjoy my rugby less & it doesn't mean I don't watch my team every chance I get. It also doesn't mean that I don't want my team to win, I just don't think the world will end if we don't.

Basically, as an old time Leeds fan I'm not used to success and I view any we get as a bonus!