This is exactly what a lot of supporters, past players are saying, because the way games are orchestrated the weaker teams have been given a better chance of triumph....but the RFL will try to convince us its all levelled out because of the Salary cap.

The slowing down at the p-o-t-b and the refs making sure everyone is in place on penalties eliminating the quick tap which could sometimes if the teams were not paying attention result in a try. Is a backward step for me and i don't understand the reason for changing it.

Another thing im seeing is carbon copy tactics. All the teams just seem to be the same. 5 drives and a kick rugby with whoever has the dominant pack wins.

The playoffs should be reduced to 5 teams too, 8 is far to many and rewards mediocrity.

We've played like this all season and last season for that matter.

Think it shows the lack of consistant quality throughout SL, we wouldn't have won a game in the NRL this year.

The only games I can think of worthy of quality were:

Leeds v St Helens and Leeds v Catalans

I,m struggling to find anymore.

KR v Wire in CC

I'll take entertainment over technical quality any day. It's why I've always preferred watching the English Premier League over Serie A.

The difference is that when a Premier League side play an Italian team it could go either way.
When we play Australia or NZ we usually know how it's going to end.

When England football play somebody good we usually know how it's going to end.

Making it the top 8 is a replacement for relegation. Just a poor one.

As a very rough idea from the top of my head, would it be worth reverting the playoff system competing for the SL title to the top 5 and then establishing a second playoff series for the also-rans for positions 6 – 10.

This could be for the SL Shield (for want of a better title) and whilst not as desirable and being in the actual playoffs proper, it keeps the competition interesting for the teams outside the top 5 whilst also exposing other teams to a little bit of intensity that perhaps they would not ordinarily experience in the regular season.

Think of it as a similar system to the qualification requirements to the Champions League and the Europa League in football.

This ensures that no matter how unlikely, a team perhaps finishing with more losses then victories will never have the chance to be crowned champions.

I'd go one further.....lets get rid of the ball.

No it doesn't - in any league system it is possible (though improbable) to finish second (or any position below first) with more losses than victories. Even the team finishing top could only have the same number of victories as losses (if all the teams finished that way).

Are you Kevin Penny's agent?

Having worked hard all season , fonished top of the table , which shows you are true champions . Then lose it to the Rhinos , well i think that makes a mockery of the season really .
And this is not sour grapes to any Rhinos fans out there ! . There are a great talented side . But how can they be crowned champions , when we finished top of the table , after working hard all season to get there , and then not allowed to be called champions .

Scrap the playoffs ? ... Too right , the sooner the better .

...never gonna happen. RL has always been better when you win the championship in a winner takes all battle against the second best team in the comp.

Here's a mad idea, what about some kind of handicap system to fully reward the final league placing of the teams?

Perhaps something like the lowest place team gives the highest placed team a start equal to the difference between the number of league points they have each accumulated over the season plus two?

So, using current league positions/points, 1st v 8th, Saints would get home advantage plus 14 points start from Hull (26 - 14 + 2) in the first round of the play offs.

That might make things a bit more interesting..........

Still not right though .

Simple. That's how sports work everywhere else in the English-speaking world. Australian leagues use playoffs to determine their champions. So do American ones, New Zealand ones and Canadian ones. So did English RL for most of its' history. Using playoffs to determine the champions rectified the bizarre scenario of naming a champion, then having playoffs for a secondary trophy (aka the Premiership). The fact is that English RL has always had playoffs, and under SL they put things right again. The Grand Final winner is the real champion in my eyes and always will be.

Ive seen lots of good games this season.

People who are knocking things are probably doing so because the sport is comparatively speaking at saturation point re tv coverage.

Certainly compared to the past when we were fed TV scraps and had to taste them like it was our last meal.

The only thing i will say is that the entertainment value will increase with more quality players in the league. Hopefully with the fine crop of young halves coming through in the league that will stir things up a bit.

I've personally never understood why this country has such an aversion to playoffs. Rugby Union fans hate them and Football fans won't even entertain the idea of having them. Many countries have at least one high profile championship game and until the SL introduced the Grand Final I felt that we were missing out.

Back on topic I don't think that having 8 teams has lead to any significant reduction in intensity compared to previous seasons. Teams in the top half of the table know that finishing in the top four will give them a better chance of reaching Old Trafford and the teams at the bottom know that they still have a hope of making the 8, and still theoretically having a chance of winning the SL title.

Would it really

The English have cup competitions, culminating in a final. Other countries, such as America, and Australia do not.

Cup competitions are to make the second half of the season more interesting for those teams not likely to win the league.