Like others I haven't really paid attention to the structure since it was announced and only looked into it yesterday and I have to say I really like the idea.

It certainly cannot be any worse than the lethargy we currently experience throughout the season and it gives every fan and team something to play for throughout the year.

I have learnt over the years that most of the vocal negative fans are idiots who when things change read the headline without reading below and make their mind up based on that.

The code is in the doldrums for 6 months of the year, anyone can see that, and despite the odd derby only the start of the year and the playoffs generate any real excitement and intensity.

A change is needed and we have it, I applaud the RFL for recognising this and giving it a shot. For all the things they get wrong when they make major decisions like this they tend to have a positive impact on things certainly in the short term. Long term we may need to review it but lets see how it works out before slamming it.

It's very simplistic to say franchising has worked and you have conveniently left out what had happened to crusaders, Bradford and pre-Koukash Salford in the same period.

The flaws of the current system are obvious and have been discussed to death on these boards over the years. Most notably:

- Too many teams in the elite division for the number of quality players available, resulting in too many mis-matches and blowout scores (addressed by the new system)

- Playoff format that includes too many teams and rewards mediocrity without giving enough merit to finishing top, has resulted in teams taking their foot off the gas mid season in an attempt to peak for the playoffs (addressed by the new structure)

- Licensing may have "worked" in your view but the RFL were always too spineless to kick out the under performing clubs, this new format at least provides a route for the better performing championship teams to get in to the top division.

My only issue with the new format is keeping the magic weekend as an additional fixture, which is pretty much going to guarantee we end up playing one team 4 times in the league, on top of a possible cup and playoff meeting. It should have been better incorporated in to the season IMO.

My concerns are commercial.
How is a club going to sell season tickets for a competition when almost a quarter of it will be played not knowing who or when you are playing?
How are the RFL going to schedule the last seven games when the likes of Wigan, Huddersfield, Hull and Leeds groundshare?
What about fans (I'm talking about ME and I suspect many others) who book their holidays around their clubs fixtures?

I asked Gary Hetherington these questions at a Wigan v Leeds U19 game last year when this system was first mooted.. He wouldn't or couldn't give me any answers.

IF fans decide to stop buying season tickets and go on a pay by match system then I suspect attendances will be hard hit.

There wasn't much wrong with the old top 5 system, which really rewarded the team that finished as League Leaders. There was never enough talent available for a viable top 8.

I don't understand why they can't use the magic weekend for that uneven fixture in the 2nd part of the season, it's set up perfectly for it?

Because that is logical and this is RFL.

Not only that but a long weekend means 4 games Saturday, 4 Sunday and 4 Monday, every fan there, it would be a cracking laugh and 16 games of rugby.

I agree, but I guess it's ground availability (start of the football season) and the uncertainty of knowing which teams would be in the 8, leaving ticket sales a lottery.
Also would a top four team really want to give up home advantage at that stage of the season, especially if it were 1v2, 3v4, 5v6, 7v8?

and it would skew the season so that all the big events are at the end (unless they move the cc final to the May bank hol)

The 1v2 format brings tight games, forfeiting your extra home game is a small sacrifice in a silly convoluted system anyway.

Is there a way of timing it so that the first fixture of the 2nd half is the magic extra uneven fixture?

That gives teams technically 3 weeks to sort out tickets and fixtures for the fans

My preferred new system was a league of 12 with that old top 5 system and relegation being brought back in to play. That would have brought back more competative fixtures throughout the season and given everybody something to at for.

The questions you raise above are all concerning and are the sort of things you'd think the RFL would have answered in that press release yesterday but they basically just reiterated things that a lot if people already knew.

Hopefully this gamble works out.

Season tickets simply MUST include the post-split matches. They may increase a little as it would include 14 or 15 games, but if they don't then those attendances will be comparable to the currents playoff and challenge cup matches.

I don't really understand the holidays argument, you know from the start we will have a game every week after the split, regardless of finishing position in the first part of the season.

This system isn't perfect but it is definitely better than we have now. If they'd have reverted to a top 12 with one up one down P+R they'd have been slated that it's already been tried before and didn't work. If they'd have stuck with franchising then clubs like Leigh and Featherstone would have little to strive for whilst some established SL teams continue to rest on their laurels and perform poorly both on and off the pitch. This system offers a decent compromise IMO.

If Season tickets just cover the 11 games teams will get at home before the split then sales will drop off dramatically and once teams go in to the groups of 8 they'll be playing in front of half their usual crowds like in the play offs. That simply can't happen and surely won't!

It's an ideal opportunity to work out a new season ticket structure now IMO. A way of incorporating all fixtures in to one ticket. I'd pay more to have that option and save money in the long run.

This is actually the elephant in the room that there has been no information on. Have any of the clubs been asking their existing season ticket holders their opinions? Have the supporters clubs reps been asked about anything? Being cynical, it's a fantastic opportunity to complicate the ticket structure & increase the overall cost.

This is interesting:

Another thing that hasn't been mentioned in the press release is the structure for the academy for 2015. It's probably more important for the future of the game than changing to the 12 x 12 to 8 x 8 x 8 format.

The present one system u19's has been an abject failure IMO.

A bit of info about how Leeds' season tickets will be structured next year... www.rhinosmemberships.com/memberships

A bit of info about how Leeds' season tickets will be structured next year... www.rhinosmemberships.com/memberships

I'm all for change but only if the change is for the better and I can't really see where the improvement will come with this merry-go-round. The system isn't new therefore the RL haven't dreamt it up themselves and lets face they never introduce anything new its always hand me downs from the NRL or manipulated from other sports. I won't condemn it entirely but nor will I greet it with open arms. One thing it has guaranteed is that after 35yrs as a Wigan supporter my season ticket won't be renewed as I don't pay super league prices to potentially watch my team play championship opposition at the back end of the season.

First round out the super 8s should have been Magic Weekend IMO. Other than that really happy with the move. Top 8 play offs were a joke and I've always hated that the regular season has been so unimportant. Look at the league table this year, the battle between us, Saints, Leeds, Cas, Wire and Hudds to make the top 4 would be really fierce and potentially make our last two games (Leeds and Wire) must-win. As it is I expect us to rest quite a few and not really throw everything into winning either with the play offs round the corner. Ideally I'd have preferred the play offs to be like so as well:

Week 1 - Qualifiers
A 1 v 2
B 3 v 4

Week 2 - Final Eliminator
C Loser A v Winner B

Week 3 - Final
D - Winner A v Winner C

That system means you have to beat everyone who finished above you to be champions, guarantees either 1st or 2nd will play in the grand final and makes winning from 3rd or 4th a more challenge (3 wins on the bounce when 1st or 2nd can win 1, rest a week then win another or lose then win 2). When it comes to the play offs there's not a lot of reward gained by finishing higher than 4th under either the current system or the new one which needs looking at IMO.

This is the attitude that completely baffles me. So you're expecting Wigan to finish in the bottom 4 next season then, because that's the only way we'll face Champs opposition next year? If anything you'll get more value from a season ticket because you'll get to see 3 or 4 games against Leeds/Saints/Warrington/Hudds etc in place of the London and Bradford games.

But if you prefer watching us beat Bradford 84-6 as opposed to a close game against top 8 opposition in a more meaningful league system then you go ahead and get rid of you're season ticket.

And your reply is exactly as I would have expected. Of course I don't expect Wigan to be in the bottom four. I don't like the concept of this proposal, a proposal that has already failed in football. I used to look forward to playing saints twice in a season, they were the games that I really couldn't wait to arrive but this new concept means we could be playing them five or six times in a season, that's what I don't like and no its not born out of fear its born out of monotony. We are slowly turning super league into the Scottish premiership. I don't consider it a meaningful league I consider it a pointless league, a league that will have the same teams competing in the same top eight positions every season, all it does is to give the championship sides more opportunity to enter super league end of. I will hold back on purchasing a season ticket next season because I won't pay for something that I don't agree with.

Why we can't just have a 12 team league with 22/23 games I don't know.

Why do we have to do the top 8, bottom 4, top 4, bottom 4 nonsense?

Some teams in the top 8 will have more home games than others, then of course the top 4 Championship sides are playing against full-time opposition with more money to spend on the salary cap in a bid to be promoted to a league that they don't have the money/time to prepare for.

Not exactly a fair system that gives every one the same chance is it really?

I couldn't agree more

A few good points there, I suppose we’ll have to wait and see if the answers are forthcoming, or maybe in the end someone at the RFL HQ my just take the phone off the hook. Only time will tell, so I’ll hold on before passing judgement.

But everything that you disagree with has been a problem under the current system also, why is it taking the move to the next structure to decide everything is pointless? We played Saints 6 times in 2011 and 4 times in 2012 under the current system, why weren't you jacking in your season ticket then? This year we have had the most competitive race for the top 4 and top 8, with only 2 whipping boys who are gone next season.