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

Structuring the Future: a different way forward for Rugby League

Changes are coming in 2019 it seems. As ever, views are split and no-one agrees. But all the ideas I've seen are things that we've seen before already - a load of tried, tested, moaned about and moved on from structures.

Personally I'd stick as we are, with very minor tweaks, but if change is in the air my suggestion is one we haven't tried yet, but is hugely successful in America. Here it is!
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Super League

• Super League to be made up of two conferences of 8 each
• Sides play within their conference home and away (14 games)
• Sides play inter-conference opponents once - rotating the home/away game in alternating years (8 games)
• Magic Weekend will see sides play the other conference side who ended the previous year in the same position, i.e. 1v1, 2v2 etc. (1 game)
• Playoffs: 1v4 and 2v3 in each conference, winners playoff in conference finals, then winner of each conference play Grand Final.
• Promotion & Relegation can be retained, if desired, by having the bottom side of each conference playoff. They would be replaced by the winner of a Championship Grand Final. (I wouldn't allow P&R in Year 1, to let things settle)

Here's an idea of how it might look, based on current league placings and ability to run as full time clubs in 2019. I'm not a marketing guy, so the conference names are just me spit-balling, but you get the idea.

One thing you'll notice from this structure is there's a lot less games than we currently play. Super League sides currently play 23 regular season games, 7 'Super 8s' games, then potentially a semi and a Grand Final. 30 to 32 games, plus up to 5 in the Cup. In my structure they play 23 league games, then potentially 3 finals games, as well as up to 5 Cup games.

That opens up the schedule for some extra games. Those games could be:

• Additional 'On the Road' rounds, as part of the actual season of course - inter-conference games between say the top 4 from each and bottom 4 from each, other than your Magic opponent, so 3 more regular season games. They could be played as double headers in places like the Midlands, London, South West, Cardiff, Dublin, Edinburgh etc.
• An expanded World Club Series (although we might struggle to get NRL buy-in!)
• International games, with France, New Zealand or Pacific Island nations all possibilities.
• An Origin Series - Lancashire v Yorkshire, with Cumbria v the South or something as a curtain raiser.
• You could also work in an 'All-Star' game, with players from each conference other than the Grand Final sides, as a Grand Final curtain raiser maybe, to further encourage fans of all sides to attend.

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Championship

At the moment I'm not convinced we have the depth of quality below the full time clubs to have the same structure in the Championship as in the Super League.

I would suggest for the Championship:

• A 12 team league, featuring based on current clubs and current standings:
• Featherstone, Halifax, Batley, Sheffield, Dewsbury, Rochdale, Swinton, Oldham, Bradford, Barrow, Whitehaven, York
• Top 4 playoff, 1v4 and 2v3, followed by promotion final at neutral venue - potentially as Super League Grand Final curtain raiser or part of some other 'event'.
• Bottom side will go down to League 1.
• Fixtures would be made up of:
• Home & away v all (22 games)
• 'Summer Bash' fixture against closest finishing opponent previous year (i.e. relegated side v final loser, losing semi finalists, 5v6, 7v8 etc.) (23 games)
• I would strongly consider reinstating a cup competition for this level if clubs feel 11 home fixtures isn't enough to sustain required revenue levels to compete.

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League 1

It's really tough to make a call on what to do with League 1 right now, with a some uncertainty surrounding the existing clubs like All Golds and Oxford.

If we assume no change for now, we're left with 12 teams: Doncaster, Keighley, Newcastle, Workington, London Skolars, Hunslet, North Wales, All Golds, Coventry, Oxford, Hemel and South Wales.

The obvious solution is to copy the Championship set up. That would work well in some ways, but with such low central funding - and crowds - at this level, I think it needs a unique solution given the distances travelled. 

I would have a north and a south division, with inter-division play, to help the Southern teams progress still. 

• Sides would play their own division 3 times, with 7 home games, 7 away games and 1 to be decided - it could be neutral for example. (15 games)
• Sides would play once against the other division - 3 home and 3 away, based on odd or even finishing position the year before. (6 games)
• The playoffs would consist of 3 North sides, to reflect their generally stronger capability to compete if promoted, and 2 South sides. The top finishing North side gets a 1st round bye. In the 1st round QF1 sees South 1 hosts North 2, and QF2 sees South 2 hosts North 3. In the 2nd round, SF1 sees North 1 hosts winner of QF1, and SF2 sees loser QF1 hosts winner QF2. In the 3rd round, Loser SF1 hosts winner SF2 for the right to face winner SF1 in the Promotion Final. 
• With Promotion & Relegation to/from the Championship, the make up of the divisions will have to be fluid.

It would look something like this:

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Entry to the League

New entrants can enter in one of three ways. All have to be approved by a majority of member clubs.

1. Application to join League 1 as a new part-time club. They join the most appropriate division and fixture scheduling is adjusted as appropriate. No club will be forced from the structure. 
2. Application to join Championship as a full-time club. Their will be a requirement to financially compensate the club displaced into League 1. No club will be forced from the structure.
3. Buy-out an existing club at any level, directly replacing that club in the structure.

I would say 1 & 2 type of entrants need to be ratified by kick off of the season before the one where entry would occur, to allow for confirmation on any structural adjustments. Type 3 entrants will need to be ratified by Super League Grand Final day of the season before the one where the entry/change will occur.
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Anyway, that's my idea, if we have to change things. I actually think you could apply my Super League structure to the NRL too. Let me know your ideas too!

Mark
SLP