Quote ="Uncle Rico"Well more fool them Chaz in my opinion. they could have actually promoted both parts of the competition if they upped the ante for the League Championship and then particularly with the expanded WCC Competition, offered a best of the best series to challenge the Aussies and a big pot of money for the Play Off Final akin to the way The Premiership treats top 4 and Champions League in Association Football
Yes I know that it will never happen but I happen to think that it's a bit short sighted. BTW Let's hope Widnes haven't been saving themselves for the Play Offs we'd never hear the end of it.'"
I would be more than happy to see the league champions recognised and celebrated, ( after all I'm an old fart pre-dating SL by decades) my point is that the marketeers have taken a cynical view on this issue and looked to maximise revenue by extending the season (via the playoffs). Doesn't anybody find it rather strange that the 'league leaders' are given a plate (not a cup) and that there is virtually zero razamataz at the presentation ? Sky don't want any distraction from their end of season GF. Club chairmen need the extra revenue from the knockout element of SL, as do the RFL.
So there is a problem. Either the league leaders trophy is important, or it isn't. If it is important then you celebrate, throw publicity at it, it and award a proper trophy. If its not, you adopt our current approach of giving the leaders a plate behind the stadium toilets at the end of season. If it's not important, then you sacrifice some games to ensure you get to the playoffs in the best possible shape - because the only real prize is the GF. Which brings us back to why a significant number of fans will say that some games are 'meaningless'.
Whether or not the new structure will answer some of these problems will be interesting to see. Certainly the RFL have placed additional value behind finishing close to the top of the regular season, so that is a step in the right direction.