True, I forget about that as I go for the weekend regardless





Noooo, far too expensive imo...Cardiff could be a goer

I'd prefer a return to 14 teams.
I wouldn't like a return to licensing.

I'd like to see a continuation in some form of "The Qualifiers" but not in a Middle 8s form. A playoff series between the bottom SL and top Championship clubs for 1-3 SL spots. If you have a Championship GF for one guaranteed spot, you could also keep the MPG for a guaranteed relegation battle. Win-win with two big events.

Top 7 playoff (League leaders get a bye to the semis).

I'd like to see Magic Weekend become the 6th round of the Challenge Cup (the round the top 8 SL clubs enter). Combined, these 8 games only got any 28k last year. That's less than half of what Magic Weekend gets. Would sort out the Magic Weekend and help the Challenge Cup too.

I'd imagine that Magic Weekend is in the Sky contract, and if a small club is in the draw they'll want the full benefit of home advantage, surely?

The contract would need renegotiating obviously (or you'd have to wait until the next TV deal comes up).

What's the full benefit of being at home? The crowd won't be one of them as the Cup draws terrible crowds. And that's only thinking about the 50-50 chance they'll have of getting a home draw anyways.

14 teams would be ideal, but

do we have the player pool for 14 super league teams? i dont think so

i like the idea of 1-3 in championship playing off against the bottom placed superleague team in a million pound style game, why not even have the teams 13th and 14th play off to decide who plays in the MPG

get rid of top 8, why reward average teams who lose more than they win, go back to top 6 with 1 and 2 getting 1st week off (top 8 only works in the NRL becasue any team in the play offs could win the GF)


keep magic as it is as an extra round of games, for now

Reported today that the clubs and RFL are at odds over the future structure. Clubs want an end to Super 8s format; RL chiefs in favour of licensing again - "A new structure enabling teams to win promotion, which could benefit the likes of Toulouse and Toronto will be voted on in June with big changes implemented in 2019". Interesting, get the feeling the game's at a real crossroads currently.

I like Wellsy13's ideas.

My preference would be for relegation in some way, ditching the grand final by reinstating the team that gets the most points as champions and replacing the GF play offs with an eight team competition like the Premiership final. This way in my opinion, the plaudits go to the team that played the best all season and the teams in lower positions still get the chance to play for knock out silverware at the end if the season. And there's three pieces of silver up for grabs. Access to the Premiership being the reward for an old play off position finish.

I still think it's wrong that a team can scrape into a play off position and with results going their way win a grand final. I know there's no precedent for a side lower than fifth (??) making the GF but that doesn't make right, it's theoretically possible.

whatever changes they make they have to make it long-term this time, we can't keep ripping up the format every few years, its hard to attract new fans to the game as it is without having to explain ever more confusing format changes.

Going back to licencing would be a mistake given the work they are doing to grow the likes of Toronto & Toulouse, and there's Bradford with new owners and of course Rovers who could make it as SL teams. Doubt they'd give a licence to all 4, so promotion has to be still on offer.

The report referenced off the field requirements so I think that's why they call out Toronto and Toulouse as potentially benefitting, in the previous guise you got docked points IIRC if there were other SL teams in a certain radius. This is sort of supported by the Wakey chairman calling time on Belle Vue ie there are ground requirements being made again. Personally I'm not sure about 14 clubs, and the risk of increasing the cap could be more disparity in squad spend and therefore quality as the richest clubs can take full advantage but other clubs, with potentially less income as the pie is split more ways, being relatively disadvantaged.

You'd assume they are timing the changes to coincide with a new TV deal, which runs to the end of 2019 IIRC. There needs to be a substantial increase in that TV deal or the RFL need hauling out of Red Hall and shooting quite frankly.

The Salary cap will also need to increase at some point due to the pressures of Union and the NRL, but also the fact that the lowest paid young players in SL aren't actually on that much more than the Minimum Wage given the way that has increased and the cap has stayed stagnant, not when you consider the physical effects of playing SL and a short-career.

This 200 million pound tv deal only kicks in this year.
I think in 2015 when the deal was done the sl clubs dipped into to sort some money worries out that they had,not sure they dipped into last year.

Is 2019 or 2021 not sure ?

your right its end of 2021, only the RFL could tie us up for so long at a time when rights for other sports have gone upwards in price rapidly due to competition for rights.