Lamenting the Super 8s - by Alan

So the Super 8s are pretty much dead, with a return to a one-up, one-down approach to promotion and relegation. Putting aside the public spats over the announcement, it would be fair to say we’ve seen such a variety of systems in place since the start of Super League, I thought it would be remiss not to reflect on the merits of this departing approach.

I’m choosing to focus on the Middle 8 'Qualifiers'. As the mechanism to determine promotion and relegation from Super League, it could be argued that this is where the stakes are highest.  The Championship Shield 8s and Super League Super 8s have a relevance to the teams involved of course, especially if you are fighting relegation to League 1 or staking a claim for Old Trafford, but for some teams these games can be little more than fixture padding until next season.

I would argue that the primary measure of success is determined by the level of team movement between Super League and the Championship, with a secondary effect of providing exposure to a higher level of competition for Championship clubs.  If this could be achieved whilst maintaining a level of fan engagement - and therefore revenue generation - I’m not sure why you would seek to change the structure. So, how have those measures worked out in the three years to date?

Team Movement between divisions:

• 2015 – no movement, Bradford losing Million Pound Game (MPG) to Wakefield
• 2016 – Leigh promoted, Hull KR relegated losing MPG to Salford
• 2017 – Hull KR promoted, Leigh relegated losing MPG to Catalan

So, in three seasons we have had two years where one team went up and one came down. Indeed, the MPG in 2015 was close to the same outcome.  The better funded teams in the Championship have been able to compete with their Super League opposition and come out on top.  I think 2018 could see this to an even greater extent! It would not surprise me to see two or even three Championship teams promoted this year.

But what about the other teams from the Championship?

Championship Participants in Middle 8 Qualifiers:

• 2015 – Bradford, Leigh, Halifax, Sheffield
• 2016 – Leigh, London, Batley, Featherstone
• 2017 – Hull KR, London, Featherstone, Halifax

So, in three years, if you exclude teams that did win promotion, six other Championship teams have featured in the Middle 8s.  Whilst Bradford have faded away due to other reasons, you have seen London given a platform to test themselves to see if they are ready to step back up to Super League and the best semi-pro teams have also had the chance to go against some of the bigger names and gain additional TV exposure. In 2018 you have added Toronto and Toulouse to the mix, making qualification to, and potentially promotion from, the Middle 8s the most competitive to date.

Outside of the expansion seen with Toronto - and possibly New York to come - this is surely the best way to make steps towards establishing a larger pool of competitive teams, that could see progress being made towards a Super League of more than 12 teams, and maybe eventually we could avoid the endless debate about repeated fixtures and uneven schedules.

In effect this new proposal removes that stepping stone, and in the short term we are likely to return to the usual merry-go-round of players between the team promoted and the one suffering relegation.  As Sheffield and Bradford have proven, not every team who has tasted the Middle 8s is likely to be a candidate for promotion to Super League anytime soon, or possibly ever, but do we really want to extend a gulf between the divisions?

One factor in the decision is reportedly the uncertainty it creates for Super League teams, and the impact on revenues. So how did that effect the two biggest names to fall into the Middle 8s? In 2016 Leeds Rhinos hosted four Middle 8s matches, with an average attendance of 14,514. In 2017 Warrington Wolves also hosted four Middle 8s matches, with an average attendance of 9,300. Neither of those figures spells doom to me. They may be down slightly on their Super League averages but perhaps they should have played better during the year!

In summary, I don’t see how this reorganisation will address any of the fundamental issues affecting the game and in effect it raises the drawbridge to Super League to all but the best resourced.

But what do you think?

Alan Cale
SLP

Thanks for reading Alan's blog post, I think he's glad to get that all off his chest! If you want a bit more from SLP about the likely move away from the Super 8s, and about Robert Elstone's first press conference as Super League CEO, listen to our latest SLP Short with top RL journo Gareth Walker: https://www.spreaker.com/user/superleaguepod/slp-short-004-elstone-in-super-8s-out