That's the luck of a draw. I can accept that.

I don't like it, cant agree with it. I think it will be the death of the game.

People say attendances are dropping and interest in the game is waning. Then do something about the referee's, disciplinary or salary cap. Don't mess with the fixtures which have followed the same general format for years and years.

A lot of fans will be confused by this (me included) and to be honest it just p's me off.

The game desperately needed something to spark it up as the current system is jaded in my opinion - too many nothing games. Whether this convoluted structure is the answer I'm not sure - it could certainly increase end of season excitement. Will have to wait until we've seen it in action to be sure. Much as I like Magic Weekend as a spectacle the extra game just doesn't fit and it's a big problem when the points from that extra game alone could make a big difference.

I don't mind the magic weekend although I would prefer a random draw rather than having to play a derby game every time.

The playoffs can still confuse me though, so I'll reserve judgement until next season. I just know that I have no faith in the RFL to get things right but there's enough negativity on here just now

I like it, only problem I see are a few cricket scores between bottom 4 sl, and top for championship, team finishing 9 in sl will probably demolish team finishing 4th in championship, no one wants to see those kind of games, maybe should of only had top 2 from championship

On the other hand though the top 4 in the Championship may have a higher morale than the bottom 4 SL sides which could make for interesting contests.

Can't say I like the cc exemption either. Devalues the competition more in my opinion.

re: magic weekend. I would have everyone play each other once in the league, then schedule 1st v 2nd, 3rd v 4th etc. Obviously, magic weekend would have to be a couple of weeks later so everyone could arrange tickets and travel. Seems simple and fair, so highly unlikely to happen.

So if you finish in the bottom 4 of SL and play in 'the Qualifiers' group, surely you start from 0 points?

still think it will be to much for the 3 and 4 placed team in the championship, think the top team will be very dangerous though, I wouldn't like us having to beat Leigh at the end of this season to stay in super league

Absolutely mental, carn't see it ever happening that all 4 champs clubs go up but you just never know.

Only thing I can see happening is that when clubs get to a point in the season where they mathematically carn't make the 8 then they're likely to start resting players for the super 8 games because last thing you want going into the super 8s is injuries to some of your best players, the resting of players could then have an effect on the rest of the league if that team still has to play teams from the top 8 who are vying for the highest place then can achieve, the other teams in the top 8 arnt going to be happy your not playing a full strength team against there top 8 rivals.

Franchising never worked at all so things had to change.
The format seems good and does mean teams should be fighting to win each and every game and not resting players here and there because final standings are not that important at the minute (Within the top 4)

If we took this season for example we would still be fighting to get points because finishing 9th or 10th means an extra home game.


It also gives all the clubs in the lower divisions something to fight for and in turn stops the majority of those dead rubber games.

Glad they are keeping the magic weekend but i think it should be drawn on the previous seasons league standings, or the standings 1 month before the magic weekend.

1st v 2nd , 3rd v 4th etc

I think the bottm 4 teams in sl will all have a chance of sneaking into he 8th spot up until last couple of games of the season, so cant imagine t been a problem

Rest players, lose games and finish 10th or 11th and have an extra away game. It is designed to make all games competitive.

Ah yeah of course, I didn't take into account the home and away part of the equation.

Does this mean the Challenge Cup will be pushed to the back of the season as Round 5 of the cup will have to be after Round 23 of the league?

Why would it have to be after round 23 they take the placings from the previous season so this years top 8 will only enter the cup at round 6 (last 16)

I assume it's the top 8 from the previous season not the current one.

Ah ok

To me they're separate comps so one shouldn't impact the other

It is a seperate comp but I think what they are trying to do is make the games more competitive and avoid a lot of the annihilations that we currently see.

I was against these changes when they were announced but happy to accept them with an open mind now, the game is going stale.

tonight's game for example is pretty much dead rubber, Cas still need the points to finish top4, but even if we went on a miraculous run and finished 8th we are a million miles from Old Trafford. Under the new structure tonight's game would still be important for Cas to finish top4 as it is now, but we would be fighting for our lives to avoid ending the season against Championship teams and potentially losing our SL place.

The Magic game still makes for a lopsided fixture list. It should be every other team home and away. Someone will have to take on Wigan three times whilst someone else get the luxury of playing us three times.

Also, as Doc Brown says, two teams could play each other three times in the 'regular' season, once in the 'Super 8s', once in the play offs and once in the Cup. Far too many.

with the big clubs now getting more big money spinning games, the Magic Weekend either needs to go back to its original objective of showcasing RL to non-heartland areas or it needs to be scrapped.

An example that could have happened this season

We will play rovers 3 times. We could also have faced them in the cup and twice in the play offs making 6 games.

So in effect no different to this season.

I'm going to wait for someone who can spell structure to comment first, then we can have a conversation

Great contribution to the thread as always.