www1.skysports.com/rugby-league/ ... -from-2015

www1.skysports.com/rugby-league/ ... -from-2015

I didn't like the licence system - I totally understand the reasoning behind it but a promotion and relegation adds spice to SL and the championship

How on earth are clubs meant to offer season tickets with this?

Plus as well unless the fixture list is drawn from the very start of the season with a 1st V 3rd type draw and fixtures to be played on the same day fans are going to be buggered if they want to try and work in holidays and things of that nature.

Too complicated for my liking, keep it simple with a straight two down from the bottom and then 1st in the lower league automatically promoted and then a play off system between 2nd, 3rd,4th & 5th with the deciding final as a curtain raiser for the SL grand final.

Teams play a full Regular Season in their leagues so yes they can offer Season Tickets ,
11 Home & 11 away + 1 Magic Weekend Game =23

below is an except from the Policy Review pertaining to the ' Middle Teir ' Play Offs :-

PROPOSALS 5.1.14 From 2015 the Super League (Tier 1) will comprise 12 teams.

5.1.15 From 2015 the Championship (Tier 2) will comprise 12 teams


5.1.18 After 23 rounds the season Play Offs will commence with the 24 teams splitting into three groups of 8

5.1.22 Each Play Off group will comprise 7 fixtures.

5.1.23 In the Super League Qualifying Play Offs (the middle

the four teams who have qualified from the Championship will receive the benefit of 4 home game fixtures.


5.1.26 In the Super League Qualifying Play Offs no Semi-Finals or Grand Final are envisaged. The first three teams in this ‘mini league’ will qualify for re-admission into the Super League competition for the following year. However, at the end of the Play Offs series, the team ranked fourth will play the team ranked fifth in a one-off game to determine the last Super League place for the following season

Considering the RFL have trouble finding their Asses with both hands, is nobody concerned that they may be punching above their weight with these ideas?

Surely this is going to make the whole sport a lot more interesting. Problem with existing format is that once you've lost a dozen or so games you have nothing to play for. Players lose interest, fans lose interest and it all becomes meaningless well before the seasons over.

Problem with 2 up and 2 down is the relegation battle will only really involve about 3 clubs. This new format will engage everyone from the first week to the last.

I think the C and A have been missed out of the thread title.

Carp confirmed? Oh please no, I'd rather watch Union than fishing.

anyone got any idea on how this will be sorted tv wise with sky having superleague and premier having the championship or will be it just be alternated when superleague and championship mix

According to the addendum to the policy document, both SKY and Premier sports had been consulted Jul, Sept 13, so must have reached accord who gets to show what.
Seems we've gone from the sublime to the ridiculous. Finish 8th chance of reaching the grand final, finish 9th, chance of being relegated.

So now an increased chance of SL being weakened with "clubs desperate for SL success at all costs"??

I'm on the fence with all this at the moment. I foresee more questions and problems than I do answers. It would be nice if the RFL engaged the fans and rather than just stick a stale framework out for all to see, actually told us why it will be better and answer the questions we have. A lot of people are suspicious of such drastic change, especially coming from an organisation such as the RFL, who has a poor track record of making good decisions.

Its now confirmed so we all have to embrace it.

Personally I have changed my view and feel it will be very good for Rugby League as a whole as interest maintained until the very last game.

I agree .
I feel I should be instinctively against this and probably would be if I didn't have such high hope for our season.
The fact that Heatherington is involved also grates as he seems too influential at the moment.
RFL generally makes poor decisions but made a very good job of the World Cup organisation.
So,I'm open minded but have a sneaking suspicion it could work out quite well !

It's too early to make any assessment based on the lack of facts revealed thus far.
The 3x8 clubs makes 24 - so as there are more clubs in the 3 divisions what happens to 'the spare' ?
Is there relegation from Championship 1?
What are the financial alterations to assist those both promoted and relegated,and where is the money coming from?
Will there be a sponsor for 2014 and 2015?
How long will this latest system remain in place?

Not to mention player pathways,reserve sides,dual registration and Under 19's,20's or whatever.

How many meetings have they required to finally confirm what they have just about ratified?

It doesn't leave much time to make any other important decisions to progress the sport.

We could end up with a scenario where Salford and Swinton are in the same pool, say Salford had too win to be promoted you can see the conflict of interest for the Doc already.

Well the Hetheringtons have had these conflicts for years - Leeds v Hull - now Leeds v Wakey. All will be OK.

With their son-in-law now the Chief Exec.at Widnes there could well be further controversy should Wigan not play their recognized strongest squad on the artificial surface,at Widnes,and lose thereby condemning another club to relegation.
The fixture list shows that game at the end of August.

[urlhttp://media.therfl.co.uk/docs/Policy%20Review%20-%20September%202013.pdf[/url
Policy Review Doc in full.

The is still a 3rd league - Championship 1 with two clubs going up to the ( SL2 ) comp ..


Re finance :-
They are reducing the minimum ground capacity requirements to qualify for SL
Yeah Cheers for making us knock down the Willows you B***t**ds , now franchising doesn't matter and you can qualify with a cowshed .



Remaining 12 SL clubs get slightly more cash
top 2 clubs in the Championship ( the two relegated SL teams from 2014) with get 900K (< half the SL allocation )
Clubs 3-4 ( Top two clubs from 2014 Championship get more as yet undisclosed )



reading between the lines , I get the feeling the top 8 will get stronger and distance themselves from the yo yo middle 8 teams who could find themselves in SL 1 year Tier 2 the next & vice versa.
rather than strengthen the comp it will make the task of offering extended contracts to good overseas players & and potential club trained future stars virtually impossible as you revenue streams could drop by millions as you lose 900 K funding & face 23 rounds against championship fixtures .

With the attendances for play-off games in Super League not the best,how will play-off games against part time opposition improve things? Should the part time players progress will there be enough time to get them up to full time fitness levels for the season ahead?
Should the sport find the resources to fund a relegated club with parachute payments will it give that club an unfair advantage against other Championship clubs?It could result in a yo-yo future for some clubs.

Has the idea for change come about due to pressure from Championship clubs or because licensing and clubs avoiding debt has failed,or because the international players want fewer but more intense games?
Are any of those questions answered by the announcement yesterday and has any consideration been given to financing the development of younger players and attaining the level of the players representing Australia at international level?

Just have to suck it and see until the next change.It doesn't strike me as progress on any of the topics raised over the recent years and the financing of it also concerns me.
Supporters of Championship clubs may be happy with their prospects of promotion but the idea may fail to generate better sponsorship and interest from non-rugby league followers.

if we were to have a decent run in this extended season ,our end of season could overlap with the start of sales , who would get priority if we both had a friday night fixture ? would we get sent to leigh again

Whilst it means everyone will have something to play for I cannot see how this will help clubs financially.

There is already a reduction in games due to Super League being reduced to 12. If you come 8th in Super League, which means you would be away in the first stage of the play offs, and get knocked out, your season ends early and as a club there is only the income of 11 home games. Not much to sustain cash strapped clubs over 12 months.

Unless, I am mistaken and the top 8 are to form a mini league too?

Surely the format for the playoffs will have to change, otherwise the 7th and 8th placed clubs could play 23 games and those 9th and below 29 games. This would give the lower placed clubs an unfair reward of an extra 3 home fixtures for failing to make the top 8.

The playoff format will have to change otherwise the 7th and 8th placed clubs could be financially disadvantaged for performing better during the regular season. It would be a total non starter because no club could survive with just 11 home fixtures. The only way around this if they wanted to keep the existing format would be to compensate 7th and 8th placed clubs with 250K each.

Why the RL have to try and complicate matters is beyond me.

A straight forward reduction of SL if that's what is wanted and then promotion and relegation, two down with the bottom club relegated and the Champions of the Championship promoted. Second bottom of SL then plays second in the Championship in a play off to decide who gets the SL place.

I'd then look at allowing both clubs promoted a 12 month break from being included in the relegation battle the following season.

The top 8 in superleague, will play a further 7 rounds after the split (aka everyone will play everyone once) taking the number of rounds to 30. I believe the top 4 get 4 home games and 3 away games, and similarly finishing 5-8 means you'll play 3 home games and 4 away games. It means the minimum number of home games increases from 13 currently to 14 and the maximum of 14 currently (when magic weekend is considered a home game) to 16 (magic a home game, and finish in top 4). It also means, if your in the top 8 you will play the traditionally ... Better supported clubs ... Shall we say ... Which will positively skew the attendances (Wigan and saints are, supposing both finish in the top 8 guaranteed to play 3 derbies instead of the 2 now, which will draw a much bigger crowd etc)

From then the top 4 will compete in an actual playoff (1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3 ) winners straight into the grandfinal.

The bottom 4 in super league will drop out, and join a new middle 8 league with the top 4 of the championship. Unlike the top 8 everyone's points are reset to 0 and will play 7 games, with the championship clubs having 4 home games and the super league ones having 3. Teams who finish 1st 2nd and 3rd are ensured promotion/ safety (depending on who they are) and after the 7 rounds, the 4th placed side will play a one off match against the 5th placed side, with the winner taking the last remaining spot in the super league the following year.

Clear?