Im out, had enough of that useless lump of lard ruining our game.

Call me a cynic but I don't think it will be long before they announce they like the three divisions of eight too much and stick with that for the full season.

I don't like it and would of preferred a 1 up 1 down protected in the first season for the promoted and parachute payment to the team relegated

think it will be devastating for the two that go down this season and finically ruin the game in general but hey ho Nige knows best

I would've preferred one up one down, but I let's see how it works out. At this stage I don't really understand how this kind of announcement leads to some folk deciding they're not going to watch their team anymore.

IMO the worst performing team in any league sport should be replaced by the best performing over a season of home and away matches. How could it be possible for a team to finish 9th, just outside the play offs possibly on points difference, and be relegated. I'll still go of course, I could never walk away from the team I love but I see us becoming more of a laughing stock sport if it doesn't take off rather than the growth that we all want to see.

Ideally, 1 up 1 down (or 2) would be fine, but RL is far from ideal.
The gulf in finances between the top 2 tiers is such that even a dominant side from the KPC couldn't compete in SL without wholesale changes, which become a financial gamble on staying up.
Likewise, the relegated team take a big financial gamble on keeping their team together, & full-time, to ensure being promoted again the following year (ala Cas X 2).
The new system will reduce that 'all or nothing' mentality. You will have to develop a team in the second tier which is competitive with the bottom end of the top tier in order to be given a chance. If you fail, you know how far you are from the required standard and you can build again the following year.
The SL play-offs will be top 4 only, so finishing 9th means you are 5 places short and very unlikely to make it. Also, if you finished 9th, you have been better than all the other teams in the middle 8 over 23 games. This makes it highly unlikely you will finish 5th or lower in that group. Even if you did finish 5th you would get a second bite of the cherry in a one-off game.
Only the bottom team of SL, if they are particularly weak, are under any real threat of demotion. The purpose of 4 SL teams in the middle 8 is to set the minimum standard for promotion to the top 12.
The criteria for playing in the top tier are difficult to achieve, but clear and decided on the field of play. To achieve that standard will, of course, require a well run business behind it, but that remains in the background rather than the be all and end all as it was with Franchising.
The fundamental problem with British RL is still that we don't have enough money to run a full-time professional league. This is compounded by the fact that to attract, or keep, top-level players we have to compete with the NRL and RU, who do have the money.
Franchising meant that any new team would,realistically, have to start at the top. The profile of the sport is not big enough for anyone with enough cash to even consider taking that gamble. The new format means that there is a system in place to reach those standards at a pace which matches the ambitions and finances of the club. Hope is what makes sport tick.
I lived in South Wales in the 90s when Cardiff & Swansea were both struggling along in the 4th division in dilapidated stadiums. Now they're both in the premiership. Do you think that would have happened if the premiership had been a closed-shop franchise system? Would the money backers suddenly decide to invest enough money to buy a franchise?

Not against the idea - something had to change though.

This is the one baffling me. It only takes a couple of injuries to key players too, we've seen that over the years. Imagine trying to explain to someone that a team who finished 9th in a league of 14 got relegated at the end of the season. It may happen, it probably will happen.

That isn't how it works though
In the league of 14, 13 and 14 are relegated

The year after in the league of 12, 9th is taken to a pool of 7 others below them to play 7 more games to find the finishing position. If they are still 9th then no problem. If they lose their games they are in danger. But that is the same if after a 2/3 of the season the 9th place team lost the rest of their games anyway.
Same applies to 8th. That is only 2/3rds through the season. If they are still 8th after the next 7 games they are not in the playoff for the grand final

So the thing about finishing 8th and 9th seperated by points difference possible going to Grand final and relegated is not in fact the case.
In the new system, that is only part way through the season.

A better way of seeing it for me is, after 30 rounds you have 16 teams in order. The bottom 4 will be relegated, the top four will play off for GF

I think once it is under way, people will be happy with it as it is complicated in theory but when you have the teams in the league to use as examples it isn't quite as hard.

Think something had to be done to give hope to those outside the closed shop.
Quite like the format.

Also cannot see how people not getting season ticket is going to help the club they supposedly love!
They are even getting more games for their money!

Although what you are saying is of course correct, the point is, after the first 23 games, 9th and below cannot advance within the league and instead are forced to play in a relegation play off and the team in 8th at the same point could become champions.
Of course the team in 8th at the end of the season wont be champions and neither will the club that wins the 2nd group of 8 be relegated but, after 23 games IF there are 4 or 5 teams fighting for 8th spot, which has been the case in the last few seasons, many of these have to battle for their top flight survival, despite the fact that they could be 10 or 12 points better off than the bottom placed team at this point in time.
Just think back 2 seasons ago, when we finished the season with 7 wins on the bounce.
Under the new system we would be in the relegation pool and yet for a short while 2 years ago we had the chance to make the GF.
You will no doubt argue that with the same form, we could win the 2nd pool final but, it is ridiculous to have 4 top flight teams having to play in a relegation pool and of more concern, is the fact that we will very likely be in this pool for a number of seasons to come.
It's like a game of forced Russian Roulette and we all know how the eventually ends upa026.gif

There is no final for the middle 8, the only playoff there is 4th vs 5th for the last promotion slot. You've also got to remember that the playoffs will only be the top 4 teams, so the likelyhood of reaching them from 8th after 3/4 of the season is pretty much zero, nevermind from 9th.

In reality it at least gives teams finishing 9th something to play for, the team finishing 8th will just be going through the motions for the rest of the season!

What has the team finishing 9th got to play for ?
Apart from the risk of relegation, it will be like getting a "I ran in a race" sticker that they give to 5 year olds at school sports day.
Who wants a cup for being the best of the worst ?

To stay in SL the next year.

A cup for the best of the worst? Should there be no prizes outside the SL GF & CC final then?

And you can apply that whole sticker comment to anyone that doesn't win one of those 2 trophies.

The point is, if you start a season in a competition, then that is what you are competing for ie SL League Title.
There can (and should) be only 1 winner, although we already have 2, with the Leaders Shield and GF Winners.
If you start in league 1, then you are playing to win that competition.
It should be enough for clubs, to compete all season and know where they are in relation to other teams.

As for staying in SL, if you don't finish in a relegation spot ie bottom, or 2nd bottom (if there were 2 relegation spots, then you shouldn't be relegated.

If you take a look at the historical SL tables, you usually see that there are 1 or 2 teams that are poor, in relation to the others and most of the rest, broadly speaking, are pretty competitive.
Ok there may be a clear leader or, maybe 2 or 3 teams clear at the top but most of the league is competitive but, this clearly isn't good enough for the people running the game.
And bearing in mind that we have 2 teams dropping out at the end of the season, it is quite likely that the 4 teams in the "relegation" pool will be close to the 8 (in terms of points on the ladder) and yet 4 of these clubs have to play in a pool with 4 pretenders from the second tier.
You seem happy with this but, it is fundamentally wrong.

I'm happy to watch Rugby League, whatever the format. If the new structure is a failure it will no doubt be binned in a few years....Heck, if it's a raging success it will no doubt be binned in a few years too! What I do believe is the new format brings about the return of promotion and relegation with much less of the disastrous yo-yo effect.

This year the 2 clubs facing relegation are going to be hit hard & find it tough to get back into super league, but after that the remaining 12 teams will be unlikely to change often.

All clubs were in favour of a drop to 12 teams and promotion & relegation being returned. Bearing that in mind is it any surprise that the majority of clubs that voted for the new structure, which means they can finish bottom of SL year in year out and still never be relegated, happen to be those that will be in the mix at the bottom end of the table?

Most people believe, rightly or wrongly, that promotion & relegation are vital for the game in order for it to progress and stop stagnation. The new structure allows this light at the end of the tunnel yet should in theory be the most stable structure at the top end, Super League.

If championship teams can get promoted playing against SL teams in the middle 8, whilst playing at half the salary cap, then they fully deserve to be in super league & should provide good competition when their cap is doubled, this as opposed to possibly being promoted when they're better than the championship but still a long distance from even the bottom clubs of super league.

It's seriously weighted in favour of SL clubs staying where they are, after this season of course...But if the structure is stuck with & more money comes into the sport maybe in time the cap in the championship will be raised and we'll see 2 competitive leagues instead of half of one.

Time will tell but looks like an interesting format to me. Don't want to sound gloomy but In our present predicament it could be that an end of season battle against relegation will offer more excitement than playing out closed shop dead rubbers.

Can't believe these people saying "I'm not getting a ST" or "I'm gone". I would bet on the season ticket being the full set of 23 SL fixtures, just 4 games fewer. If you really don't like the idea just treat it as the full season just like before with the knowledge you would be in SL the following season........except you might not be. Did someone say they weren't getting one this season, why it doesn't start till 2015...the only difference this season is 2 relegated.

Quite clearly this SIMPLE system is to complicated for yorkshire people. See you in the Championship in 2015 when you WILL have a chance to return to SL with the games new structure

Thanks for that.
It must be really simple to pour scorn from the top of your ivory tower.
Enjoy your top 8 super, super league

I am often amazed by the inferiority complex of Lancastrians, so much so making a comment on something usually has to involve some sort of disparaging element putting down their county neighbours.

It’s very easy to understand, it’s just some people don't like it, not too dissimilar to the whinging that’s been emanating out of Leigh for the past 6 years. They couldn’t understand a brand spanking new stadium was only part of the licensing criteria and not the be all and end all.

so the 8 that are walking away from the game took the time out to come on here to vote that they walking away

how strange

That's irony for you

Not really the new format starts next season. Season tickets are already bought for this year so stuck with it for another season. Yorkshire folk ain't gonna waste whats already paid for!

Too much tinkering for me