Quote: Aboveusonlypie "The more league games you have the more points at stake the more likelihood that by games 28/29/30 the top 4 are sorted. It's basic maths. The more points that are at stake the more the league becomes stretched. Why do we need a pre-qualifier for the playoffs - that's what the regular season should be for. And you haven't attempted to answer my query about whether Sky are interested in a reduced playoff series?
You are happy that there will be more intensity in the season all the way to the playoffs. But has anyone considered what the players union think about all this? By the time they get to the GF each team will be knackerred! - NRL players have played 22 league games plus playoffs. SL players will have played 30 league games plus Challenge Cup plus playoffs.
I just don't see how anyone will be interested in the second teir games. Effectively full time pros playing against part timers. I'd put money on it now that Super League will start with the same 12 the following season.'"
It may well be the case that the top 4 are sorted early, but there is a very good chance that at least the 4th spot will be up for grabs towards the latter part of the weekly rounds. For it to be sorted early, it would mean that the top 4 teams will have had to play at or near their best for the majority of the season. Holding back for the playoffs, finishing 5th and getting an easier 1st PO game is no longer an option. Surely this is a bonus?
With regards to the 2nd point, it has already been pointed out that the maximum number of games for the top teams would increase by 1 compared to now, however it has been stated that the top 12 teams will enter the CC a round later than currently, so the players won't have to play anymore games than they do now. They'll just have to play more against the better teams. This has been the criticism of SL for some time now, not enough games played at a high enough intensity and too many blow-out scores. The NRL play 24 games plus POs not 22, and a lot of the top players also play 3 SoO games.
It may well be the case that the 4 teams that drop down in to the middle tier end up being the 4 that go back up the following season. But it gives the Championship clubs an opportunity to prove, on the field at least, that they can compete. They will have a higher salary cap than now so if the clubs cans afford to spend it the gap will not be as wide as it currently is, some may even be able to operate on a mostly FT basis. The interest will be from the fans of Leigh, Sheffield, Featherstone etc. who want to see their team compete at the highest level. It's much better than simple one-up one-down P+R between a FT professional league and a PT semi-pro league anyway.
There are definite issues with this system and it's by no means perfect. We still don't know the full details of a lot of it. However, on the face of it anyway, it's a much better system than we have currently.
