That half hearted performance all year would lead to a loss of productivity for the company and therefore a loss of sales. Fine for you short term a disaster for the overall health of the company.

But in addition to that playing half heartedly does not negate freak events such as the flu effecting your performance.

As for people not complaining when there was a top 5. I'm assuming you are saying this as you missed the complaints from other teams who lost the GF after finishing top.

The problem is that the league structure is too even. You need a more uneven league structure to justify a playoff. So the older league structure in the UK that had a playoff was because the league was too big to have home and away every game.

I think (I maybe wrong) but the old league structure was play everyone once, then the top teams played again and the bottom teams played again. Actually very similar to the 'new' structure but without the pretense of the league starting as 2 separate leagues.

The top 5 was the best system we've had but we'll never return to anything like that because it would mean less games for SKY. SKY are the ones lurking in the shadows pulling all the strings with the RFL as mere puppets. Everytime theres been a major change in the structure of the league it has resulted in more games. Who do you think orchestrated the latest shift? The new structure will once again result in more games overall. The game as a whole pretty much has no control over the direction it takes because without SKY there would be no game, it would go bust.

I can see where you are coming from but the bottom line is the Grand final has grown to a stage where RL simply couldn't afford to go without it. It's the biggest day in the rl calender and draws more attention from the media and floating supporters than any other RL game. It's what the CC final used to be. No other RL game get's as much attention from other top sportsmen/women and high profile people in general, you only have to circulate twitter on grand final day.

Great post FlexWheeler

And while all of the changes keep happening, the fans of the spot are expected to smile and nod their heads, like a certain insurance company's give away toy,
oh yes.

I agree the GF is the top game and we need the exposure. But financially we need a league system the fans can follow as without it the game is a basket case.

Yup, agreed. Which is why the top 5 system was good because in reality if you didn't finish high up the table your chances were alot slimmer, so the week in week out games carried alot more weight but you still had the big end of season show piece.

Also, if you finished 5th you were not rewarded with a home fixture in week one to ease you in.You had to play 4th away, followed by 3rd away then the loser of 1st vs 2nd away. A much harder route, which is why it was probably never done but if it had been, would have been seriously earned.

if your top after 27 games youve earned it. i'd say a lot of you are forgetting how good saints were before they lost key players. many teams in the past have won the league but been poor in end of season games(the old premiership and old challenge cup finals) due to decimated squads

Not under the current system.

they'll have earned the league leaders shield

Which means nothing under the current system.

QED: don't bother going to watch RL, as it means nothing.

Sounds like a plan to me. Seriously though, I don't mind hearing the arguments of the keep the cap low brigade, but any talk of great teams and/or the expectation that we might see one (e.g. If we only make yet another change to the league system or whatever) is ridiculous. We've decided, for better or worse, that UK (and France) RL is a relatively low rent sport. We'll see average teams with scattered stars here and there. That's all we're prepared to let people pay for.

how can the LLS carry any weight when the fixture list is uneven and most of the teams competing for the title don't really care about it. It means nothing.

Talking about jokes and the top of the league, I never get bored of reading Phil Clarke's predictions for this year:

SALFORD RED DEVILS
Dr Marwan Koukash is about to find out if his financial clout can help bring Salford back to life after a turbulent 2013. Coach Brian Noble's squad, led by local lad Adrian Morley, will be expected to challenge for honours this year, a far cry from the situation they found themselves in 12 months ago.
Phil Clarke predicts: 1st

CASTLEFORD TIGERS
Castleford have added plenty of new faces during the winter months as head coach Daryl Powell, who took over midway through last season, looks to get the Tigers roaring again. A big season lies ahead as they aim to retain their top-flight status beyond 2014.
Phil Clarke predicts: 11th