So the MPG doesn't take people's livelihoods into consideration but relegating 3 teams does? You do realise that in any P&R system, even without the MPG, and even without the Super 8s, there will be a game that seals the fate of the relegated team. That game, whether it be a regular fixture or a Super 8s game or something else will be capitalised on and marketed and will be crunch time for the club(s) involved. If it came down to 12th having to beat 1st in a regular league game in order to avoid relegation there'd still be some saying they didn't have a fair chance in such a one sided game.

great post

Leave the qualifiers alone they're working a treat.
What's needed is more work on the top 8s to make them more exciting at the beginning, question is how do you do that without playing about with the points each team starts with?

There is a massive difference in being the bottom club and getting relegated, compared to having an all or nothing game.
Emotions are sure to be running high and there is massive tension in the build up and all through the game, especially if it's close.
If it had been a blow out score, there wouldn't have been the same kind of scenes at the end.

The new structure has contrived this fixture and ramped up the pressure on all concerned, is it really necessary ?

If we must have this crazy structure then ,perhaps the top 4 of the Middle 8 should go straight into SL and the bottom 4 into The Championship.

There seemed to be inadequate stewarding in Hull yesterday and lessons need to be learne.

Not sure about playing with the points as it would lessen the original 23 rounds.

For me one thing has to be moving the Challenge Cup final to earlier in the season. We start the Top 8's and people are looking at two teams who have reached the final and looking at their form pre match and then particularly post Wembley and to have the Final right in the middle of the 7 extra games just feels like a bit of a comedown with regards to the games either side of it.

I think moving the cup final is a good idea and thinking a bit more about it, next season Leeds should be back at the top end so really we could have 6 or 7 clubs on similar points when the super 8s starts which is what we need to make the comp exciting for everyone who loves watching rl

That's just the way sport goes really. Not every MPG will be a golden point game, some will be a one sided SL win over a Championship side. In football I've seen teams have the title won with a few games to spare and I've seen Aguero score in the last minute to win a title. I've seen Leeds Rhinos win a GF with 20 mins to spare in 2007 and seen it go down the last tackle in 2015. Leeds won the LLS with Hall's try in the last second last year, in 2004 we won it with 3 games to spare. North Queensland in the NRL last year won in extra time after Thurston hit the post with the last kick of normal time, several years ago the GF was won by Manly in a 40-0 scoreline. Ryder Cup golf is on, been some big winning margins recently and also has the Miracle of Medinah in 2012 (will need similar today if Europe are going to win).

Some seasons the fight for the top 4 spots will be close, some times it won't. Only two years ago in 2014 with two rounds left the table looked like....

Saints - 38
Cas - 34
Wigan - 33
Wire - 33
Hudds - 33
Leeds - 32

People are being too quick to overreact and probably just showing their pre-determined thoughts on the system to be critical because the top 4 was settled early. That's just sport and you can't guarantee closeness every time.

No there isn't. Even in a standard league format you could still easily end up with a single game that decides the fate of two clubs - we've had them before and the last one wasn't all that long ago. Any such game would still be hyped up and would probably be dubbed 'the million pound game' by the media even without the 'formal' title.

Oh - and Rovers did finish bottom of the new League structure. They did so by virtue of losing yesterday's game. The season didn't end last week.

You mean like the Million Pound Match between Cas & Wakey in 2006?!?

I would keep the structure as it is, but then have the bottom club in SL relegated, the top club in the Championship promoted and a play off game between 11th in SL and 2nd in the Championship, then if the SL loses they can have no excuse for losing to a Championship team.

This is exactly what I would have in terms of relegation. It is similar to the Scottish football system I believe.

Yes we should follow Scottish football, the pinnacle of sport.

I don't like it because of the Scottish football link, they just happen to use the system I like.

We were in Super League for ten years. We spent a total of one week at the bottom of Super League in ten years. This year, we finished above Huddersfield in the regular season and above Salford in the eight's.

Within this system, we have been relegated, we knew the rules, but I defy anyone to justify that we've got the correct system in place as a sport.

I've seen teams in football only just sneak into a playoff spot at the last minute. Teams only fall into the bottom 3 on the final day and teams win Champions League titles without actually finishing their league as Champions (Liverpool finished 4th and 30 points behind the Champions to qualify for the CHAMPIONS League in 2005 they won)

It's not perfect but it's a hell of a lot better than relegating a team who have come bottom of the elite comp and promoting a team who have been playing against part timers and teams with a much smaller salary budget. At least with the current system you have to justify your place over 7 games.

In 2006, Cas didn't finish last and were relegated (to make way for Catalan) - everyone knows the rules at the start of the year.

I was against the new structure right from the start and I'd prefer we had something else. But the whining about massive unfairness and won't somebody think of the poor players is, frankly, pathetic. It's sport. Sport isn't fair. The system we have is unnecessarily gimmicky but no more inherently unfair than any other. And the RL players whining about livelihoods and mental health maybe ought to take a look at what happens to ordinary hard-working families every day of the week.

I have sympathy with the players, I have a lot more sympathy with the admin/backroom staff who may well be losing their jobs without the option of another club to go to.

But we can't have it all ways. Many players, coaches, club officials complained at licensing for being a closed shop. Well this is the alternative.

The fact that it's a one-off game is a red herring. That's irrelevant. The issue is relegation itself, not the manner of relegation. Would it really make any difference to Hull KR had they lost all their games and been condemned to relegation 3 weeks ago? Not at all.

Hull KR had 30 rounds of SL in which to avoid this situation, they didn't. The only people to blame for that are the players, coaches and officials at Hull KR.

Slight case of pot calling kettle there.
Nobody from Cas was happy about the nature of Castlefords relegation that year, many other RL supporters thought it was harsh.
I didn't hear any Cas supporters saying "it's ok, we knew the rules".

Having said that, this system was approved by the clubs and so we have to get on with it but, I dont think there were too many other options put forward.

The "mental" aspect is massively increased by having an all or nothing game every season, is it really necessary ??

Most clubs (and their supporters) are able to accept finishing last and being relegated but, the new structure doesn't do that.
It heaps all the pressure on 80 minutes of "sport" and great as this may be for the neutral or armchair viewer, it's very, very harsh on the players and staff.

Although clubs can and must make plans for winning or losing the MPG, can you imagine going into work on a particular day, not knowing if you have a job at the end of the day.
The only thing close in the real world is when companies announce that there are going to be a number of redundancies but dont tell staff until Friday afternoon.

The main point here is that t (the MPG) is just not needed to decide the weakest club in SL although we would then have to go with 1 up 1 down and most SL Chairman, are probably "happy" to have one last chance but, it's still very harsh for everyone else.

You've completely ignored the point I made.

You do it by having more competitive teams. Hopefully Leeds and Huddersfield in the mix next year. The tighter the table, the more every match matters.

If the points are carried forward to the super 8's is it fair teams that teams who finish with more points in the regular season can't have a points advantage in the middle 8's. Why not handicap teams that finish 11th and 12th and 3rd and 4th in the championship with a -2 points deduction in the middle 8's. There just isn't any consistency between the formats with one slate being cleared and the other not. To take it a stage further why not give the top 4 a 2 point advantage over teams 5-8 to keep the super 8's more interesting for longer?

And you try to say that the final game that "seals" relegation is akin to the fete of the loser of the MPG.
Unless it happens to be the last game of the season against the other club(s) in the mix, there is no comparison.

Mind you, clubs could always bust the salary cap and have players playing for "free" to avoid such a fete



There is absolutely no comparison in being mathematically "relegated" part way through the season when measured against the jeopardy of the MPG.
My club have been in 2 of these games and come out on top on both occasions but, I wouldn't wish the game on anyone.

When a club has been isolated in bottom spot (or a relegation place) in the run up to the end of the season, it's far easier for everyone to accept and clubs, players and fans can "get used to the idea" and make plans accordingly.

The current system may provide an entertaining finale to the promotion/ relegation issue but, it's unnecessarily brutal