is it not time for a real re-think of how this comp is worked out?
only two "close" games today out of ten!
teams getting thumbed by cricket scores before the league has begun is no us to anyone.

Exactly.
Risking injuries on this sort of sh/te before the meaningful games begin is just silly and all for a money-spinning excercise that has quite frankly failed most clubs.

This current format is much worse than the last.

So your format would be ?