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Thread: Fed up with loop fixtures

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    Default Fed up with loop fixtures

    I’m tired of loop fixtures.

    I hope they change the rules for one season only. No relegation from super league and two up from the championship, probably top two or top with second and third playing off for the second promotion spot. That leaves a 14 team top league in 2021 with bottom team relegated. Regular season with 13 home games, 13 away games plus magic weekend. Followed by a top seven playoff following a system similar to the current top five playoff.

    Challenge cup starting much earlier with all the super league clubs joining in a round with 32 teams.

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    Twenty-seven weekly rounds before you even thinking about the play-off’s, Challenge Cup, WCC and any Internationals is just too many, IMO.
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    It should be 26fixtures, the play offs, and the challenge cup. I’d scrap the MW it’s rubbish. I’d also get rid of the Golden Point in league games.

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    Top 7 play off? Madness.

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    In The North Stand With All The Old Folk Belgian Saint's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pasty View Post
    I’m tired of loop fixtures.

    I hope they change the rules for one season only. No relegation from super league and two up from the championship, probably top two or top with second and third playing off for the second promotion spot. That leaves a 14 team top league in 2021 with bottom team relegated. Regular season with 13 home games, 13 away games plus magic weekend. Followed by a top seven playoff following a system similar to the current top five playoff.

    Challenge cup starting much earlier with all the super league clubs joining in a round with 32 teams.

    Never liked the idea of loop fixtures. But, I don't like the idea that a team finishing 7th could end up champions.

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    I'm also fed up with them. The top and bottom of it is that we should have a 14 team league and play each other twice and anything else is gimicky nonsense. If we must keep MW which I don't think we should it should be 1 v 2, 3 v 4 from the previous season. That's 27 fixtures.

    Keep the cup as is, that's another potential 4.

    Then the play off's as is, another potential 4.

    So a potential 35 games in a season, then internationals for the best players. That's too much in my eyes although for most it probably won't end up that way.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Angry Dave View Post
    I'm also fed up with them. The top and bottom of it is that we should have a 14 team league and play each other twice and anything else is gimicky nonsense. If we must keep MW which I don't think we should it should be 1 v 2, 3 v 4 from the previous season. That's 27 fixtures.

    Keep the cup as is, that's another potential 4.

    Then the play off's as is, another potential 4.

    So a potential 35 games in a season, then internationals for the best players. That's too much in my eyes although for most it probably won't end up that way.
    I think you may be right

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    Quote Originally Posted by Belgian Saint View Post
    Never liked the idea of loop fixtures. But, I don't like the idea that a team finishing 7th could end up champions.
    Fair point.

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    Agreed. There's far too many games. Far too many games against the same opposition. Familiarity breeds contempt.

    But I don't see clubs willing to be "progressive", to risk a guaranteed income by creating anticipation with less games.

    However, we can't have a straight home & away system, as "play-off footie" is based on the premise of an uneven fixture list.

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    For me the season should start at the end of February and not the end of January its meant to be summer rugby not 25% winter, have a 14 team superleague with the magic weekend game giving 27 games. In the magic weekend we could have a draw to see which club plays who and for the challenge cup super league clubs should enter one round earlier to give amateur clubs the financial chance of drawing a big team.
    I would also have a top 3 play off with the league leaders going straight to the final, you could also have a bottom 3 play off the bottom team automatically going straight down to relegation.

    That way you've got around 30 games tops for the successful teams, the clubs at mid table would have to take a financial hit of 2 home games but that's tough luck and they would need to raise their standard which is what we need in the first place.

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    Quote Originally Posted by STIDDY View Post
    For me the season should start at the end of February and not the end of January its meant to be summer rugby not 25% winter, have a 14 team superleague with the magic weekend game giving 27 games. In the magic weekend we could have a draw to see which club plays who and for the challenge cup super league clubs should enter one round earlier to give amateur clubs the financial chance of drawing a big team.
    I would also have a top 3 play off with the league leaders going straight to the final, you could also have a bottom 3 play off the bottom team automatically going straight down to relegation.

    That way you've got around 30 games tops for the successful teams, the clubs at mid table would have to take a financial hit of 2 home games but that's tough luck and they would need to raise their standard which is what we need in the first place.
    Excellent ideas.

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    Loop fixtures are boring. 14 teams (home and away) and the Challenge cup, plus (instead of the Grand Final) an Anglo-Aussie championship, their top 4 against our top 4.

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    Quote Originally Posted by antwnsaint View Post
    Loop fixtures are boring. 14 teams (home and away) and the Challenge cup, plus (instead of the Grand Final) an Anglo-Aussie championship, their top 4 against our top 4.
    I can’t see either Super League or the NRL being willing to give up on the receipts from their respective Grand Finals while the wrangling over where the top 4 series of games would be played would probably be unresolvable.

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    Quote Originally Posted by antwnsaint View Post
    Loop fixtures are boring. 14 teams (home and away) and the Challenge cup, plus (instead of the Grand Final) an Anglo-Aussie championship, their top 4 against our top 4.
    Why on earth would anyone want that?

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    Would love us as a game to build over the next 5-10 years towards something bold and a bit different. If I’m totally honest, I’d love to see an eighteen team Super League made up of three conferences, especially seeing as we have and are growing towards a number of teams based outside of the UK.

    The “Worldwide” Conference could hold Catalans, Toulouse, Toronto, Ottawa, New York and one other, with the other two conferences being based upon geography in the UK. You play each team in your conference home and away (10 games) and then the other twelve once in a season (22 games overall).
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    Quote Originally Posted by STIDDY View Post
    For me the season should start at the end of February and not the end of January its meant to be summer rugby not 25% winter, have a 14 team superleague with the magic weekend game giving 27 games. In the magic weekend we could have a draw to see which club plays who and for the challenge cup super league clubs should enter one round earlier to give amateur clubs the financial chance of drawing a big team.
    I would also have a top 3 play off with the league leaders going straight to the final, you could also have a bottom 3 play off the bottom team automatically going straight down to relegation.

    That way you've got around 30 games tops for the successful teams, the clubs at mid table would have to take a financial hit of 2 home games but that's tough luck and they would need to raise their standard which is what we need in the first place.
    Not sure about the relegation play off at the bottom, but I like the rest of it.

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    Ask the NRL what they would like us to & allow them to take whoever they want to their comp. for nothing in the middle of the season. A maximum of 17 players from each club

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    Teams should play each other home & away and then, after all these games have been played, the top 8 go into a special league with their points carried forwards, then play each other again; the top 4 then play-off (1v4, 2v3) to decide who goes through to the GF. Meanwhile the bottom 4 teams go into a new league with the top 4 from the Championship and.... oh, hang on...

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    I've got a radical idea...perhaps too radical.

    Each team plays each other at home and away and the side with the most points at the end of the season are the champions. It'll never work!

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    Quote Originally Posted by RV12 View Post
    I've got a radical idea...perhaps too radical.

    Each team plays each other at home and away and the side with the most points at the end of the season are the champions. It'll never work!
    No, no, no, that's a stupid idea. I mean how is a team that's not had a great season going to have a chance of winning anything that way. I can't think of any other sport or team who's playing at anfield tonight who would be allowed to be so far ahead simply for being the best team.

    The playoff's have been given a good go over here and it's fairly obvious not many fans like them. Fair enough the grand final is more of a success but that's only because it gives fans a day out and there's no other option. I've voiced my opinion on this many times but I'm sick to death of the gimicky aussie crap that Sky are so determined to punt. I know we need their money but not at the cost of our game.

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    Quote Originally Posted by RV12 View Post
    I've got a radical idea...perhaps too radical.

    Each team plays each other at home and away and the side with the most points at the end of the season are the champions. It'll never work!
    It would take some thought, there would need to be some big changes IMO. You’d certainly need a lot less games and more breaks during the season IMO. It would be tough on the players given how physical the game is now, to get up for so many do or die games each year given what they put their bodies through each week. Obviously with a salary cap, when teams do have injuries, they do suffer. Players would put operations back until the end of the year and play busted. I’m not sure how willing the top teams would be to pick young players either, particularly in key positions. I think we’d potentially see more five drives and a kick than we do now as well but I guess it depends on what you want to see out of a game of rugby.

    I’ve always liked the top three idea. 1 straight through, 2 v 3 for the other finalist.

    Thought last season was pretty good though I have to say.

    I just think we play too many games and parts of the season drag because of it. 31st Jan - October is a bloody long season.
    Last edited by Tez the Saint; 2nd January 2020 at 20:28.
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    Quote Originally Posted by RV12 View Post
    I've got a radical idea...perhaps too radical.

    Each team plays each other at home and away and the side with the most points at the end of the season are the champions. It'll never work!
    Madness. Far too revolutionary, look at the mess football is in. It would never work.
    Surely we need a top 12 play off.

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    Although the top 5 is much better than the top 8 fiasco its still not ideal in terms of winning consistency, the gap between top spot and 5th spot has been near enough getting wider in 4 of the last 5 seasons.

    2019. Top 52 pts..............5th 30 pts
    2018. Top 42 pts..............5th 23 pts
    2017. Top 50 pts..............5th 32 pts
    2016. Top 43 pts..............5th 31 pts
    2015. Top 41 pts..............5th 32 pts
    2014. Top 38 pts..............5th 35 pts

    Only the 2014 season justifies a top 5 play off on merit, the 2017 season for instance Leeds did sod all for 60 to 70% of the season and Castleford were outstanding for around 90% but Leeds were Champions because of the play off system.

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    For all the abuse we got in 2018 for “not celebrating” the LLS enough, what did people expect us to do? What was the benefit to us for that? Another home game and a shiny dinner plate. If there was a real incentive on offer, like an automatic place in the Grand Final, you’d have seen more of a celebration and it would hold more prestige.
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    The game isn't strong enough to field fourteen teams, Saints had a good increase in attendance last year but it was on the back of having three home derbies v Wigan, and three games v Leeds. They still had five attendances below 10K. If those games had been say Featherstone, Toulouse and Widnes it would have had a big effect.
    Also factor in t.v revenue, the "pot" would be shared out between fourteen clubs, can you imagine the clubs voting for that? One of the reasons the Toronto bid was accepted was that it now means the t.v. money is split eleven ways.

    IF we had a fourteen teams strong enough then maybe yes, but at present it won't work.
    Last season if we' had a first past the post system there would have been little interest from July onwards, even as it was the main focus was on the relegation and that can't be right. Football isn't the same, clubs are still competing for Champions League places (big money) or play off places in the lower leagues, but then again they have twenty four teams in those lower divisions.

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