https://www.rugby-league.com/article/62 ... up-in-2025

https://www.rugby-league.com/article/62 ... up-in-2025

I think its a good move - group stages would have been a disaster. Theres no silver bullet to save the cup but I think the most helpful step would be to find a way of incorporating the cup into the season ticket. Right now the clubs can't afford steps like that.

Love the idea. We could get Saints in the 3rd round while Keighley tackle Hunslet. Great incentive for the lower league clubs now to go deep into the tournament. What we don't want however is a super league club against a lower league side at Wembley. Great for a story but would be a terrible one sided advert. At least Saints can accuse the draw of being rigged when we draw Workington.

Only if Saints get relegated and Keighley or Hunslet replace them in superleague.

"It means that clubs from the Betfred Championship, League One and even the community game will have more chance to secure a glamour tie at home to Super League opposition, as the Third Round draw will be seeded to guarantee each of the Super League clubs travel away to one of the 20 Second Round winners."

Ohhhh yes. 4th round then

Maybe it was a different article but the way I read it was [i"If a Super League clubs draws a lower league team, they will play away,"[/i not a guarantee that they will play a lower team.

I read it like that too. This is RL in a nutshell, launching a new concept and us as fans still don't know the full details



Also the extra game is due to be played in Feb I believe. SL clubs will just use this as a replacement for a pre-season friendly so will probably rest their big guns. May not be the money spinner crowd as first envisaged if its an Academy/Reserve team playing.

Not sure how you would get 20 into 12 as well, it would be unfair to potentially load it that way, but this is the RFL so who knows

Bearing in mind that im assuming the Third Round contains 32 teams here, then there should be two bags of balls (refuse to say ball bags

) at the third round draw. The first bag contains remaining lower league clubs (×20) the second bag contains SL clubs (x12), the first twelve balls pulled from the first bag guarantees both separation and an 'on the road' fixture of a SL club. The remaining eight balls are pulled in order from the first bag ensuring four lower league fixtures. It's so simple even the RFL couldn't screw it up.

Sure they will have a good crack like

I'm not a fan. Seems to be the use of a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

1. Why, in this modern age of "player safety", are we adding another competitive fixture into the mix?

2. Why, after years of being told there's more to rugby outside of SL, are the lower divisions now so keen to integrate?

3. Why should the SL side have to play away? As great as it is as a fan to potentially see some new grounds - is it not the same, but in reverse for fans of the championship teams? I bet some of their lads would love to run out at a Wigan, Saints or Leeds.

Would it not just be more sensible to add our reserves into L1? On a good day there are plenty of stars that could be playing for our reserves. Robin Park would be one of the best grounds in that league too.

They would be competitive on a good day but it would mess up the league as there is a drastic difference in quality of a reserves team week to week as players get loaned out, called up due to injuries etc. I know the quality of every team fluctuates but nowhere near the way reserves teams do. One week Keighley are facing Farrimond, Walters, Forber and Eseh, the next Oldham (fighting with Keighley for top spot) are up against a load of kids.

Not sure which League 1 ground you think Robin Park is better than? I'm not saying it's unsuitable for League 1 but I can't think of a League 1 ground it's better than.

I'm not in favour of this change to the CC either. A weakened SL team hammering a league 1 team away is a waste of everyone's time.

Unsure of the rationale for doing it to be honest.

Its completely pointless given the low quality of the teams that Super League clubs could be drawn against.