Those four loop fixtures are a knock on effect of finishing in the bottom four this year (two top-four sides plus two mid-four sides). We're continuing to pay the price for being so bad in 2024.
It's another obstacle we have to work through next year as we start the road back to respectability.

That does make some sense and is reasonably logic. So I guess, under that criteria, if we had finished tenth last year (or even bottom ) we would have been given a third derby (as rovers were second) instead of playing Wigan for a third time?
The Huddersfield game (9th v 11th) is the one to be played out at magic weekend alongside the likes of Wigan v Wire (1st v 3rd). That does look fairly clear, for once!

Doesnt this system just entrench the top teams at the top and the bottom teams at the bottom? I don't understand it from a fairness point of view

I'm not a fam of the loop fixtures as they just serve a purpose of getting more fixtures due to it being a 12 team league. Increasing the league to 14 would negate the need for the loop fixtures to an extent but would mean the central pot then has to be shared by another 2 clubs. A 14 team league for me would be a much fairer system and a level playing field for all as every team plays each other once home and away.
The problem I have with the loop fixtures is it removes the level playing field by having a system in which you play each team home and away but then the league is split in to odds and evens where all the teams that finished the league on an odd number play each other once, and the same with the evens. The Loop fixtures would have been better if each team then played every other team once more, the only problem is that would extend the season by a further 5 weeks/games.

Think the key point from the clubs perspective (or more specifically the club owners perspective) is the central pot, particularly the Sky money. Having the loop fixtures allows the clubs to have the two extra home games without having to forfeit any of the central pot. They get to have their cake and eat it in this instance.

The downside to that, especially from a fan's viewpoint, is it creates the uneven playing structure as you point out above, which is unedifying for most supporters. Unless the Tv money is increased somehow I can see us being stuck with the loop games for the foreseeable future. Like you say Chris, this is to the detriment of the league as a sporting competition.

Pure coincidence I know, but we always seem to end up playing Cats, Warrington and Wigan 3 times a season.