A question for all you well informed types out there.

Is the structure for this year's SL play-offs the same as the last two years or has a decision been taken to adopt the version used by the NRL (i.e. 1v8, 2v7 etc in week 1).

I seem to recall reading something along the lines of a change has been made but can't recall whether it was fact or rumour/suggestion.

Sorry in advance if this question's been posed and answered before.

Same as last year.

The NRL has adopted the system we use though, but without the club call.

They need to devise a system that means Saints don't play Wigan unless it's in the final.

Saints could have 3 games to come against Wigan, all away. We're away to them in the last league game and depending on league position and play off results could play the twice in the three weeks after that to take it to 6 Saints-Wigan games this season, 4 at Wigan and 1 at a neutral venue.

I actually liked the 1v4 idea in principle back in the day when 8 was first discussed but having seen it in action I think I prefer the 1v8 system tbh. Hudds were poor back end of last year but they were shafted to a point compared to Leeds' run over 2 games, I think the 1v8 system is a must

How were Huddersfield shafted when compared to Leeds when one of the teams Huddesfield had to play WAS Leeds and at home?

If I was Wigan now and I had the choice of playing Warrington away than Leeds at home or Hull at home then hudds away I know which two fixtures I would choose

As if you'll finish in the top 4

writing off Saints = schoolboy error

.. Except in the Grand Final

Tut, tut.............you should know by now, every year its whose going to beat Saints in the Grand Final.

I hope Leeds and Saints finish 7th and 8th and still make the GF yet again. The entire league campaign has become a joke as the Championship is decided by a 4 week cup competition. Only something ridiculous like that would force the RFL to change the format.

The current format gives an advantage to teams in 5th and 6th over 3rd and 4th in that 5th/6th play lower opposition at home to gain momentum and confidence and 3rd/4th either get battered or lose narrowly in a bruising game. Has teams 3rd/4th ever both got through to week 3 under the top 8 format?

Saints finished 3rd last year

You didn't read the sentence properly!

Yeah it wasn't fair that Hudds had to go play Warrington away in the playoffs and Leeds didn't have to play @ The Halliwell Jones at all in last year's playoffs............oh wait....
If it was the 1v8 system then Hudds (4th) would of played Leeds (5th) at The Galpharm in last year's playoffs but again that didn't happen either in last year's playoffs..........oh wait....

top 5 playoff.. simple as that

week 1;
A - 2nd v 3rd
B - 4th v 5th (loser out)

week 2;
C - 1st v winner A (Winner to Grand Final)
D - Loser A v Winner B (Loser Out)

Week 3;
Loser C v Winner D (Winner to Grand Final)

Each position is better than the next..

The fact is this year saints could finish 12 points behind wigan in 4th, win at wigan, and they take all their advantage, as we did last year with 2nd/3rd.

Why is it 8 team play off there aren't 8 good teams in super league, there aren't even 4 real quality, consistent teams. The league is the weakest it has been for a long, long time thanks to the low intensity games including widnes, london etc.

Get the league back down to 12 and look at bringing it down to 10

The whole system rewards mediocrity. 8 out of 14 teams is too many in the first place but then splitting those 8 teams in to a top and bottom 4 means that 5th and 6th get easier games than 1st and 2nd, how does that work!? The way the 2nd chance system works also means repeat fixtures are likely. I think it should be a top 5 (or at a push 7) where 1st place gets week one off and a simple top v bottom knockout system. The club call is just silly and needs scrapping ASAP.

I also can't believe the NRL have implemented a similar format to ours! I know the McIntyre system had its critics down under but it was much better than this.

Original top 5 format was the best IMO. A very significant reward for finishing top or second. Having said that I still think last year was an anomoly and this season we will see two teams from the top 3 in the final. Leeds were going to be a wild card last year down the table after their awful start. Not this year - or then again......

While I agree on a top 5 format, you might say that if Wigan (assuming they finish top) can't beat a team at home that they finished 12 points ahead of in the league table then they don't deserve any further advantage.

If they finish top by 12 points, they would clearly be the best team in the league. No need for a play off competition at all

What?? Hudds played Leeds after taking an absolute pasting around the paddock from us. Im sure it'd have been a better game at the galpharm in week one than the flat affair that took place in week 2. It's all opinion but I think Hudds were at a disadvantage coming to us in week one as opposed to playing leeds at home

The only part I dont like is the 1v4 2v3 game in week one cant see the point of.dead rubbers.

And the attendances reflect that. Sudden death games and take out a week of fixtures.

I want top 7 League leaders bye into semis 2v7 3v6 4v5.

Keep clubcall and they cant pick the next highest placed team and it does reward finishing higher in the league.

Id chuck the bottom two into the NL playoffs as well.

Or they could of used the Wire defeat as a serious wake up call, had they faced Leeds in week 1 they could well of put in just as much a poor performance as they did against Warrington. As for the flat affair that took place instead in Week 2, Leeds took a 16-0 lead before being pegged back to 16-12 then surged ahead again to a 34-12 lead before Hudds scored 3 tries in the last 10 mins to get within 6 points @ 34-28, hardly flat was that game.

You could also say Leeds (4th) were at a disadvantage going away to 1st place Wigan in 2010, except they showed up and won. The playoffs format didn't let Huddersfield down they let themselves down (as did Warrington, Wigan, Catalans, Hull & Hull KR), Saints were in that same situation as Hudds (a week 1 away game to a top 2 team) and they reached the Grand Final. Catalans faced the same situation as Leeds but they didn't get 'rewarded'. The real problem with the playoffs is that in the last 4 or 5 years only Leeds, Saints and Wigan have truely gone into the playoffs with the right attitude and belief that they can win it no matter what fixtures they faced, until more teams approach it with the same genuine 'Yes we can win this' frame of mind then it doesn't matter what format the playoffs are.

I've heard a bucket load of complaints since last years GF about how the 8 team playoffs reward mediocre teams, when infact in the first 2 years of its introduction the top 2 teams have gone on to contest the GF ('09 Leeds v Saints....'10 Wigan v Saints) the 1st place team winning both times, so how about until this 'rewarding mediocrity' theory is proven to be more than just a one off can people calm down and stop making out as if its the norm.

Funnily enough i remember when Leeds & Saints contested the '07, '08, '09 Finals after both teams finished in the top 2 spots everytime, that you had fans complaining that it was boring that the top 2 ended up contesting the GF everytime and how they would like to see someone from outside the top 2 reach a GF for a change. Also the Aussies lovers over here who love copying everything they do wanted us to copy them with a top 8 playoffs and people wanted to see other clubs get the oppotunity and experience of playoff rugby instead of the usual same teams.

I see exactly what youre saying but theres a difference between saying its a wakeup call and getting yourselves up from a beating. Hudds arent the only example of teams going out like a battered puppy from 3rd and 4th, in fact i reckon more went through from 5 or 6 than from 3rd or 4th over the last couple of years? I dont know? 1st should play 8th and so forth, its the best way and a better reward for finishing up there

A top five system is the way to go and it should have never have been changed from a top five in the first place.

We shouldn't reward mediocrity anywhere. Both Salford and Castleford made the top five in previous years now a top eight finish is enough for the smaller clubs.

Its like schools. If we are going to drive standards in SL up, raise the pass mark don't lower it.