The CC fixtures are confusing me - do they mean that the top eight of SL this year will enter the 2015 CC competition in what is now called the 5th Round but in 2015 will be called the 6th Round (whatever it's called it must be the "round of 16"icon_wink.gif. Then from 2015 onwards, whoever is in the Super 8 of SL will enter the following year's CC competition in the round of 16?

If it does mean this, a team from lower divisions are only even going to play against a team that is perennially in the top 8 of the SL if they make it to the round of 16. We'll not get any games ending with Wire scoring 80+ points that have kick started a spluttering campaign like in the last few seasons.

The main problem with any WCC is that teams are coming into it cold ,straight from pre season with probably a very different team to the one that qualified them to take part.
I would think a better way would be to put the emphasis on top of the table being champions ,top four from here & down under in the WCC & remainder of SL teams to play off for a sky end of season trophy ,final at OT.That would still produce some good competitive matches.

So, I think I'm with it.

Can (and how many, if so) any League 1 teams be promoted into the Championship? and conversely, can (and how many, if so) any Championship clubs be relegated into League 1?

The more I think about the restructure the more i like it. The big problem that most people have seemed to have with the current structure is the perceived apathy to the weekly rounds as clubs only really have to be in the top 8, which for the better sides hasn't proved to be a problem. The issue the rfl had is that when it was a top 5 or 6 there were too many dead rubber games which also didn't engage the fans.

Under the new system the teams at the bottom will find they are in a promotion battle after the first 20 rounds, the top 8 face a really big battle to make the 4 and there is the potential for well run clubs in the championship to make the transition to the top 12 having already played superleague sides and proved their worth to get there. Also the sides who find themselves in the bottom tier have a trophy to play for rather than just trying to avoid relegation or being happy to make mid table.

There should be very few dead rubber games under this format, I really like the way the rfl have thought outside the box on league structures. Also good luck to any team with any aspirations to make the top 4 if they think they can show any apathy to the weekly rounds, this season has shown that it is not easy to make the top 4. With only 3 points separating 1st and 5th every single match should be viewed as a must win.

Now all they need to sort out is the standard of the officiating and the removal of Eddie and stevo and everybody will be happy.

Every game would also be meaningful if top meant champions.

At the top it would, the trouble is that there is a chance that when mid table teams have nothing to play for ie no chance of finishing top and no chance of relegation they could become very easy to roll over, meaning that even games that would have a say in the outcome of the winners trophy could become dead rubbers.

I honestly think they have got it right in terms of trying to give every team of the 24 something to play for. Entertaining games right down the leagues should give the fans some good entertainment, regardless of the tier they find themselves in.