Thursday were here last year though and would remain under a different system because Sky want them.

I think in terms of crowds you have to give it a few years. The old system drove some away over a number of years, you weren't going to get them back straight away in a single year by just introducing a new format. People will have needed to see it in action first before being attracted back, especially considering many had doubts about this new system at the start of the year.

It's not needed.

We have a great first 23 rounds then for some reason we extend the season for another 7 games plus semis and GF so we have 10 weeks after the split and the excitement dies out especially when half the games have no meaning.

A much easier and simpler to market would be an intense 23 rounds with a top 6 play off series with straight knockout games. No 2nd chances or club calls. Maybe 2 leg quarters and semis to add a few more games and drama

i know thursdays were here last season, if it starts hitting clubs financially they will look at something else to try and get the crowds back, people wont pay for meaningless games


personally i wasnt a fan of the concept when it was first announced and nothing has convinced me to change my mind yet

No they didn't.

HTH.

There are a few things that need addressing. Much as Derek lives up to his name- he has a point about the cap. Those from the championship aren't going to be able to compete, they may win the odd game but can't sustain that over all the qualifying rounds.
Imagine if we said to hull KR, Widnes, Salford and wakey-
right, well done lads up you go back into superleague- oh but you can only spend 1 million on players whilst the other 8 teams in the competition are going to spend 1.82illion. Is that ok?????

That reason is money. 11 home games isn't enough for one season.


It's a fair comment. It doesn't apply to all, and ironically I've enjoyed Hull's Super 8 games far more than the regular season game despite knowing we've no chance in making the top four, but I can see why some wouldn't be attracted to them.


Doesn't solve the money problem of only having 11 home games to make money from. Clubs need money.

I'd like to see the play offs and GF at the start of August, straight after the split. Move the CCF back to May and try MW at start of season again.
After the GF, two groups of 4 (with one cross group game) to play 4 games. Expand the NRL playoffs to 12 teams. Straight knock out.
Top 2 NRL and top of each group to come in at quarter final stage. Others to come in round before. SL teams to play away no matter what (for now).

The money is in the NRL at the moment. We need to get a part of that in some way I reckon. They'd increase their TV value over here if it had more to do with the British game and that would help us gain from it.

It's been a great year of Rl.

Some great matches, I agree we are rewarding mediocrity to start going much below the top 4.

Warrington had enough money to sign sandow at the end of the season. If they spent it earlier they may have been in with a shout.

For me.the signing deadline needs moving to maybe 4 weeks before the split.

1 point between the top 4. No clubs going bust this year. Next year's attendance and season ticket figures will be a.good reflection of whether the public have bought into the concept.

I think it's worked well. The top and bottom have been exciting and there is still all to play for with 1 round remaining. OK the mid table teams don't have anything to play for but that's their problem, not the system.

Anyone who thinks every team will have something to play for in the last round in every season is deluded. It's impossible to do.

Still a few issues to iron out, the transfer/signing deadline needs to be brought forward. I'd like to see the salary cap raised for the championship clubs (but try and put in some safeguarding options to avoid boom & bust if possible)

But i think it's worked well and i wasn't a fan of it when it was announced.

Change the points scoring system in the super 8s.
3 points for a win would mean it is more possible for teams outside the top four to catch those in the top four IF they can perform well enough in the super 8s.

I like this idea.

There has to be aa fighting chance for teams below the top 4 to make the semi finals.

Does anyone think we may get a season where we have a team finish 8th who mathematically can't even reach the top 4.

That will be real bad.

Why does there have to be a chance for 5-8th to make the finals? They know at the start of the season how the structure works, if they are too far behind after 23 rounds they have to deal with it, we shouldn't bend the structure in their favour. reward the best teams for being the best teams and its up to the ones in the group behind them to improve and give themselves a chance rather than rely on the structure to help them.

Problem some teams have is mindset.

We need to be in the top 8 after 23 Rounds
Then
We need to be in the top 4 after 30 Rounds

If they take the approach that they should be in (or as close as possible to) the Top 4 throughout the year then maybe they wouldn't find themselves so far adrift come the Super 8.

Look at Hull for example. Throughout the season it seemed their focus was just trying to stay ahead of HKR and Widnes.....not keeping on the coat tails of Wigan, Hudds etc. That is their failure, not the system.

40 points looks like the target you need to achieve to be a Top 4 team. Target that at the start of the season.

But what do the clubs who don't make the top 6 do from July onwards? Surely they cannot have a seven month off-season?!

I really like the new system. I think it's been a great season so far. I can't remember a more intense regular season for a long time. Four teams have a possibility of topping the table going into the final regular season round. With bigger prize money than ever before for finishing top and for each place higher in the table you finish, a chance for the top two to have home advantage in the semis, plus Wire and Cas are going to want to finish the season on a high and scupper a home semi game for their opposition without either team actually having a chance themselves.

It all still shows that games aren't meaningless for almost all teams even in the final week, also that there've only been a handful of "meaningless" games (even with teams who couldn't make the top 4 they were still playing teams who could most weeks so all those games had something big riding on them, only really games like Wire v Catalans yesterday that really had nowt riding on them) where in seasons past teams have cruised through a whole regular season and still knew they'd make the Play-offs and string a few wins together with a fresh squad and you could get second chances if you lost as well.

There was a huge lack of jeopardy. Now you have to do well most weeks to have a chance and the no second chance of the Play-offs is going to be intense and making the GF more of a prize than ever before as it's never been harder to get there because as Cas Wire Catalans and Hull have experienced this season, every minute has mattered to make sure you're in with that shout and none of us are.

But they'll also be relieved that there's no chance of getting relegated. A team could finish 9th on points difference and then go down with a terrible run of form or an unprecedented amount of injuries and see themselves finish 6th in the Qualifiers and be in the Championship the year after. I'm sure a club would rather have nowt to play for in the Super 8s than have hat threat.

Speaking to Fax fans last week before and after the game and to a man they were unanimous that despite the fact theyd lost every game up to then ( and expected to lose to us ) theyd enjoyed the structure

Just perusing t'other forum and spotted a good point, had we had 1 up 1 down then quite possibly Wakey could have imploded weeks ago, yes they still might drop out of SL but have been at least been able to fight to the end

As for top 8/4 the system doesn't need to chance - clubs approach to it does

Leeds seem always to know just how to maximise efficiency in the table, being well placed in previous years to the playoffs and now this year knowing top spot had most benefit, only slightly dented by winning the CC but still able to claim top

This season was always a case of finish high as possible after 23 rounds, some clubs deciding being in the top 8 was ok, and are adrift now

Cas and Wire weren't up to top 4 this season, I'm sure next will be different

Super structure

Next years gonna be even better

That is a point I had thought about before. Like last year, Hull have had nothing to play for at the back end of the season (we missed out on the top

. However, it didn't seem as bad this year as we had at least achieved something by being in the right side of the split. Last year just felt like a disappointment all round.

If we continue in mid table, then it will become a drag, but we know now what we need to do to get it the top four and that's play better all year, not just hope it comes together at the end of the season. Teams will learn and evolve as the structure ages.

The top 8's have seen 230,888 fans at 24 games averaging 9,620 a game, 8% down on those home clubs average and 9% down on comparable fixtures earlier in the season. 3rd games don't seem to be as attractive as Blake Solly thought!

The Middle 8's have seen 100,254 fans attend 24 games averaging 4,386 a game which is 5% UP against the seasons averages. Where there was a comparable fixture there is a 3% drop in attendances. Where a SL side has visited a Champ side the attendances have been 26% UP on seasons averages and the drop is 10% when a Champ side visits a SL one.

The Bottom 8 has seen 23,230 fans attend 28 matches at 830 a game, which is a disappointing 30% down on the seasons averages and 15% down on the corresponding fixtures

Overall crowds are down against both seasons averages and comparable fixtures where available by 11% which is disappointing given that these games are now pre-paid in many cases.

The "new" fixtures in the middle 8 are the saving grace of this system, where fans have shown that they will turn out to see unique fixtures rather than a third meeting between teams, but something needs to be done to get the SL and lower Championship clubs fans more engaged.

Those are the figures to work with so far. It's hard to say that it's because of them being third fixtures though. Are fans not used to the new system yet? Is marketing poor? Has having more games on TV not helped?

The uniqueness element is a good point and why I would like to see us work towards a new competition to move on to (a step up in the World Series) but that won't happen.

The worry for me is the apathy at the bottom! The fans of these 8 clubs had 3 or 4 more chances to see their teams play RL before the Winter break, but they chose not to attend. These bottom 8 will get less funding again next year and there's a fair chance that the surviving 6 and the 2 new teams may well make up the bottom 8 again. Same for SL. The top 8 could well be very similar (as it has been for 4 seasons now), meaning the only real excitement is the middle 8's.....and if Bradford get hammered by Wakefield in a couple of weeks, then the concept is off to a pretty bad start.

Recycling the same fans is what the RFL are up to here and that's not a long term strategy that will deliver.

Ahhh their is someone with single season figures, what a surprise.

Answer honestly, do you think the RFL introducing a new system is going to magically get the crowds up or are fans going to have to see it in action first?

They drove them away, you don't get them back with a click of the fingers and a tag line......it takes time (especially when most doubted this system post kick off). If in 3 years time the crowds are dropping and dropping then fair enough.

Also as I always say take each club individually. Warrington for example, were their crowds up in 2011 because of the structure or because they were playing great rugby? Similarly have they dropped because of the structure or because of their poor on field play?

If they were playing the way they did in 2011 then I'd hazard a guess that their crowds would be up on what they've been this year.

What figures would you use?
How about the number of sold out SL games this year?
The Bottom 8 are an afterthought, the top 8 are the same as they have been for the last 4 or so years and the scramble in the middle is hardly gripping the nation.....after the RFL gave this the "big i am" at the seasons KO they have gone pretty quiet on the PR front of late.
I'd suspect that they've not had the response they expected from fans and as I say, all they've done is milk the same supporters.