Season Preview: Predictions Results

We asked you what was going to happen in 2018, and here's what you thought!

Challenge Cup

Saints are well liked across the board this year and that starts with them being the most popular choice for the Challenge Cup. This is different to the bookies view, with Cup sponsors Ladbrokes having Castleford the 4/1 favourites at the time of writing, and St Helens joint second favourites at 5/1 alongside Hull FC, who you have 2nd, and Wigan, who you've voted 6th favourite. Toronto Wolfpack may be big outsiders but one of you lot picked the Championship outfit to upset the order of things.

Saints own fans are confident, with 73% of them who took part in our predictions backing their own side, although their with the majority of others too. Hull FC fans are pretty confident of going back-to-back-to-back at Wembley - over half of their own fans chose them to lift the cup, and that made up 65% of all the votes Hull got. The few votes that Huddersfield, Salford, Wakefield and Widnes got all came from the most optimistic amongst their own fan bases. 37% of voters chose their own team. 

Me, I'm with the bookies on this one. I fancy Castleford to win a final to fill that missing gap in Daryl Powell's legacy at the club. They have a first team line up that's as good as any one else on their day and they've had the experience of losing a couple of big occasions to draw character from now too.

Super League Grand Final

Saints came out as huge favourites to lift the trophy at Old Trafford this year, with 47% of you backing Justin Holbrook's men. Hull FC also proved a popular choice, thanks again to some optimistic homers, with Leeds and Wigan behind them as the sides with winning experience. Castleford are again the bookies favourites, 4/1 with sponsors Betfred at the time of writing but they're only 5th on our list, a list that saw everyone but Hull KR get a vote. Yes, Widnes got a vote.

Whilst nearly three-quarters of Saints fans went with their own side, they were only 13% of all the people that voted Saints, so it's hard to argue that they were being homers. More than half the Hull fans voted for themselves though, and made up 74% of all the votes for the black and whites.

For Wigan, just under half of their fans picked their own team to lift the Super League title, but made up 82% of votes for the cherry and whites, and I'm in that number. I've gone heart over head and hope for a bounce-back year for a talented squad with something to prove again.

Steve Prescott Man of Steel

Following the theme we've seen already, it's St Helens players that lead the way, with the top three vote getters all being Saints - Alex Walmsley leading the way with 17%, Ben Barba just a couple of votes behind on 16% and James Roby getting 12% of votes. Every Saints Fan chose a Saints player, but so did 45% of all voters.

Ben Barba is the clear favourite with Super League sponsors Betred at 8/1. Luke Gale is second favourite with them but only picked up a couple of votes from you lot. Walmsley is 5th favourite at 18/1, which represents good value based on those who voted in our poll.

The longer shots would be Julien Bousquet, Robert Lui, Mickey Paea and young Olly Ashall. All those outsiders were picked by fans of their respective clubs, so no huge shock there. It would be a huge shock if any of them scooped the award though. Of these four, I could only find odds for Lui, 100/1.

My vote goes to James Roby. He's not won it now for over 10 years, yet when he stays injury free he's consistently one of the best players in the league and the most important player in his side. If St Helens do as well as everyone expects, he'll be as important as anyone in that.
















Promotion from the Championship

Over half of you think the Toronto Wolfpack's rise to Super League will be a rapid one, having them being promoted through the Qualifiers. Leigh Centurions come in second despite being clear favourites to top the Championship ahead of Toronto with the bookies. Then comes the group that I've previously been in, those voting for no teams to get promoted. This year though I think that both Leigh and Toronto have strong enough sides to compete with at least a couple of the likely teams dropping in the Qualifiers from Super League.

Others expect Toulouse, London and Featherstone all have a chance of joining them going up. One person even thought Barrow will reach Super League, a proud Cumbrian I suspect! Half the teams have no chance according to our voters, but I do think it'll be a competitive league this year.

20% of us thought there would be more than one side going up. Two voters really think there will be a changing of the guard, picking three sides to get promoted through the Qualifiers. Of course, that may not matter at all, as we're yet to find out what the structure for 2019 and beyond will be or who will make up each division.

Relegation to League 1

Two votes were required for this question and our voters had a pretty strong feeling that it will be two of three sides that fall out of the second tier his season. Last year's financial struggle sees 55% of people tip Swinton for the drop. Newly promoted Barrow are next most fancied, being picked by 51% of voters to make an immediate League 1 return. Finally, the turbulent off-season has no doubt helped Rochdale get a vote from 50% of our voters.

The most notable thing from this category is that every club, even Leigh and Toronto, got votes to go down. I suspect some of those votes were made in spite more than genuine expectation.

Myself, I think it will be Barrow and Rochdale that make the fall. Barrow because I think this is a tougher division this year so for a promoted side to compete it takes the resources of a Toronto and not a Barrow. Rochdale because an unsettled preseason where you're losing all your best players isn't ideal off field preparation at all, and that after they had a rather poor back half of 2017 on the field.

Promotion to League 1

Bradford are short odds with Betfred to make an immediate return to the Championship and that's reflected with a huge 88% of you tipping them for promotion this year. With two going up, there was a little more competition between the next best sides, but in their 150th year almost a third of voters think it will be celebrated with promotion for York City Knights.

I'm in the Bradford and York camp myself. With John Kear leading a talented young Bulls side that's also added some Championship quality experience, they're nailed on if they avoid a further financial drama. York haven't just got a dual reg partnership with Hull KR, they seem to have taken some of their unwanted players too, players with good experience at a higher level. That partnership between those clubs, plus the special anniversary and feel good factor of a positive end to 2017 set them up well.

Both Cumbria clubs get decent support from our voters. It's not a great shock, and both have made some headline worthy moves in the off-season so they will be interesting to watch, but they lack depth out there to stay the course for me. 15% expect better from Keighley and 13% expect a bounce back from Oldham. Newcastle and Doncaster on the fringes of the heartlands get some support and non-heartland Coventry are probably a bit off challenging but at least one voter sees them up there this year.

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Hear talk about your predictions and more in our 2018 season preview and predictions show! You can get it HERE, or HERE if your an iTunes person, and you can also get it on the League Cast Android app or YouTube.

Keep your eyes on our Twitter feed and Facebook page for when you can get more from SLP.

Mark
SLP

1 to 17: Super League Squads Assessed

We now have all the 2018 Super League squad numbers announced, after Wigan and finally Castleford released theirs this week. So, to whet the appetite for our upcoming season preview show, in this week's blog I've decided to play a bit of a game to figure out how I feel each squad stacks up.

I listed every player in each squad numbered 1 to 17* and I've subjectively ranked them from 1 (best) to 12 (worst), then added up the scores to see who I think has the best squad in Super League.

*other than Hull KR, who don't have a number 2 and have retired the number 6 - so for them, I've just filled in the gaps with who from their squad made most sense.

My best 17
Before I go into the squads vs. squads rankings, I'm going to give you my top ranked player for each squad number 1 to 17.

With shirt numbers 1 to 13, I was obviously looking at players in terms of a particular position on the field too. For shirt numbers 14 to 17, you get a mix of players who play different positions, so it gets a bit tougher to value one over the others.

Here's my side:

1. Jake Mamo, Huddersfield Giants
2. Jermaine McGillvary, Huddersfield Giants
3. Kallum Watkins, Leeds Rhinos
4. Mark Percival, St Helens
5. Joe Burgess, Wigan Warriors
6. George Williams, Wigan Warriors
7. Luke Gale, Castleford Tigers
8. Alex Walmsley, St Helens
9. James Roby, St Helens
10. Grant Millington, Castleford Tigers
11. Ben Currie, Warrington Wolves
12. Liam Farrell, Wigan Warriors
13. Sean O'Loughlin, Wigan Warriors
14. John Bateman, Wigan Warriors
15. Jesse Sene-Lafao, Castleford Tigers
16. Luke Thompson, St Helens
17. Ukuma Ta'ai, Huddersfield Giants

Have a go at the same exercise yourself then tell us yours in the comments! Just a reminder, this is based on squad numbers and not on positions (before people lose their minds over no Ben Barba, or the make up of that bench).

How the squads stack up
Based on my subjective rankings, I get the the following order from best to worst for each side's 1 to 17:

#1 - Castleford Tigers - Score: 74/204
After a really strong 2017, their first-choicers ranked consistently high for me across the squad and a decent looking 'bench' helped edge Cas into top spot from my rankings.

#2 - St Helens - Score: 75/204
Favoured by many to lift some trophies this year, Saints were just pipped by Cas. If Ben Barba hadn't been given the 'famous' 23 jersey they probably would have been ranked top, they have a quality front line squad.

#3 - Wigan Warriors - Score: 78/204
I was surprised how high Wigan ranked overall, with a number of the first 13 not ranking well, but there are still some real star names in that squad. Having a world class player like John Bateman in the 14 shirt contributed to their 'bench' pulling Wigan up my list.

#4 - Leeds Rhinos - Score: 89/204
They won the title last year, so Leeds should be expected to rank high and they do. If I had rolled this out to the top 25 squad numbers, they would have ranked even higher, with some quality depth to their squad this year.

#5 - Hull FC - Score: 90/204
Losing a couple of their best players hits Hull a little in the rankings. They still do have a quality squad with quite a few ranked by me as 2nd or 3rd at their number.

#6 - Warrington Wolves - Score: 92/204
I didn't rank any of Wire's first 13 below 7th for their own number, but only Ben Currie ranked 1st, and a patchy 'bench' cost the a higher spot in my list. If I went to the top 25 squad numbers they would have dipped further, with a few unproven players at the back end of their fairly small squad.

#7 - Huddersfield Giants - Score: 97/204
Their ranking has benefited somewhat from who other sides put in a couple of shirts. The strength of the squad numbers is primarily in the 1-3 shirts and on the 'bench'. They also have the odd favourable comparisons in later squad numbers outside the top 17, as well as some that I rank low.

#8 - Wakefield Trinity - Score: 120/204
This may speak to Wakefield being better than the sum of their parts, I didn't have it in my head they would rank this low. If I'd been comparing Tyler Randell to hookers and not loose forwards, it may have changed a little. They do have some favourable comparisons when I look at numbers 18-25 though.

#9 - Catalan Dragons - Score: 126/204
They have a few 12th places in my rankings, so despite some of their forwards and 'bench' men ranking well, they sit outside my top eight squads. Numbers 19-23 would stack up well against other squads though, so my expectations for their season won't be based on their top 17.

#10 - Salford Red Devils - Score: 150/204
This feels about right for this Salford side, with the club in a full scale reshuffle. Only three of their first 17 players earned a top half rank from me for their numbers.

#11 - Hull Kingston Rovers - Score: 167/204
Their squad numbers reflect the fact that a solid side got them promoted from the Championship, but it's mostly made up of the players who got them relegated or players who've yet to prove it at Super League level. Without Danny McGuire, they probably would have sat last in my rankings.

#12 - Widnes Vikings - Score: 168/204
My rankings for Widnes' players reflect that they were a poor side in 2017 and haven't done a great deal of strengthening in 2018. If I was comparing teams' squad numbers 30+, with Aaron Heremaia and the Albert brothers down their list, that's where Widnes would rank better with their big squad.

I even surprised myself with a few of these rankings, so maybe you'll surprise yourself too. Share your rankings with us in the comments. If you end up with a team scoring anything close to 17/204 or 204/204 then give yourself a long look in the mirror!

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Just to finish, I'll touch on one of the more notable news stories of the week with three big name big men getting cut adrift from the Wolfpack.

I'm not sure quite what went on in Portugal for Ryan Bailey, Fui Fui MoiMoi and Dave Taylor all to have parted ways, with a pleasant goodbye press release I should note, from the Toronto Wolfpack. It's not a great sign at this stage of the preseason for such a big upheaval to take place, but the powers-that-be in the transatlantic venture can't be too concerned seeing as they've given the coach a new contract extension.

Maybe it does leave the Wolfpack a little thin of front-line front-rowers, but Toronto still have quality in their ranks. You would also expect that they have a little cash going spare now and cap space to use up on anyone who becomes available elsewhere. I'm not too worried about how this affects their ability to compete this year and the likely step up to Super League beyond that. They'll be okay.

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Hope you've enjoyed reading this week's blog. It's not long before we'll be back in your ears, as we plan to record our 2018 season preview and predictions show on 29 January. On that subject, make sure to make your predictions so you can be part of the show: https://goo.gl/forms/jZrrvCGFm2MrJxu42

Mark
SLP

An SLP Take on the RFL Upheaval

The story dominating the last week has been the news that Nigel Wood is leaving the RFL after 10 years as CEO and 16 years on the RFL board. This comes after he had already stepped down from the Super League board in December. A sideline to this story that's also made the news this week is Roger Draper, the RFL's Chief Commercial Officer for just one year, also stepping down from his role.

Fans have rejoiced at the Wood news across social media, this in the face of an RFL press release crediting Wood for the development of some of Super League's major events and the geographic expansion of our competitions. Here's my take.

It's easy to find criticism of Wood. Crowds have, at best, stagnated from when he took his post in 2007 - a peak year for Super League average attendances. There have been some highly questionable sponsorship deals for our sport during his tenure. There's been a feeling of getting short changed in TV deal processes, despite securing increasing financial sums at each renegotiation. To fans of the sport, the mainstream profile of the sport seems to have gone nowhere. A number of clubs have suffered financially and questions have been raised over the support given to them by the RFL - from all sides. And, probably most importantly, we've tried a number of different formats during Wood's time and we still don't feel closer to a long-term solution that most are satisfied with.

Much of the criticism will have been exaggerated by personal feelings of passionate fans, but it would be foolish of any person to say there's no merit in lots of the concerns and questions raised over Wood's leadership.

In partial defence of the job he did, he came to his role just as a financial crisis was looming that would hit traditional rugby league communities harder, and for longer, than most places. His whole tenure as CEO has been under the cloud of that financial crisis and subsequent austerity. It's fair to criticise the way he has handled the sport's approach to that difficult period, but he can't be blamed for having to handle it, and no-one can realistically deny the impact of the economic circumstances of the last 10 years, particularly in Rugby League heartlands. Crowds haven't really gone down either, they're about where they were a decade ago. Sure there have been ups and downs, but they aren't in a bad place.

Whilst he wasn't solely to blame for licensing, it's obvious that didn't go well and he headed up that period for our sport. I think the theory behind licensing is strong and personally I like that kind of closed league structure as a concept. There were two main issues with it in Super League that Wood has to share in the criticism of. Firstly, it was a big cultural shift for sport in the UK and one that the general fan base never got behind. Fan buy-in is crucial, research surely would have shown it didn't exist, so any credit for applying a strong theoretical idea that's worked in other circumstances gets totally undermined. Secondly, it wasn't operated properly. The clubs still ran as almost completely autonomous and independent entities, still chasing their own agendas and competing with each other for commercial revenues, junior players and fans in the stands. For licensing to have worked, high levels of interdependence and revenue-sharing would have been needed. The man at the top has to take the hit for not properly applying the good theory.

The RFL is now in a better commercial position than it was 10 years ago, although it's fair to say it's not always been in a strong place during that 10 years. Wood deserves some credit for the position he leaves things in, but it's Draper that earned more credit in the press release announcing his departure. News that Betfred have extended their sponsorship in 2018 to cover the Championship and League 1 covers off the glaring black mark on Draper's record - that we made it to January without two of the four competitions having any sponsor. Clearly there's still problems getting the amount and types of sponsors on board across all levels of the professional game that we would want to see. That's not good, and it leaves work to be done by the new people who will come in, but it's better than the place we were in when a commercial deal was putting pictures on trucks.

So where now? Well a popular appointment would probably have been 2013 World Cup figurehead Sally Bolton, but she's ruled herself out. Blake Solly, who finally seemed to have been getting things together when he moved form his RFL role to his Super League role, has also ruled himself out and is happy back in Australia at Souths.

Ralph Rimmer is getting the CEO job on an interim basis. That makes sense for now, but I really hope it's not one of those situations where the interim seamlessly slips into the permanent role with little apparent thought carried out. It would be a completely underwhelming appointment in my opinion. Every criticism of Wood in recent years leaves a stain on Rimmer too in my view. By all means keep him in the RFL. He's experienced and understands the sport's inner-workings well. Even promote him to a new role if the RFL want. But the top role needs to bring in a fresh view.

We need someone who can add something to what we have, because it's clear there's a lot to be learnt from other sports and organisations. Love for rugby league would be a preferable characteristic, but by no means should it be an essential criteria for the new CEO - we can surround them with enough people who have enough passion for the sport that this aspect is covered off. I'm not up on who fits the bill or has the right credentials, but I really hope the RFL board do know what they want, and that they want something more than what they currently have.

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On the Super League board part of all these manoeuvres, as I write this a nice fluff piece promising the best of intentions has been released - read it HERE. We're hearing noises form the club owners about big changes to shake things up and increase Super League's profile.

I have no doubt that there are some clever people running our clubs, with some great ideas to help our game grow. What I fear is that there are also some self-serving people who might be misguided by individual gains - they might even be the same people as the clever people. The key here is the sport, and the clubs need to work together, become understanding at just how interdependent and reliant on each other they are to find success.

When we look at a way forward for the sport, we can't heavily rely on the incumbent Super League club owners, they have too much to lose to make rational decisions to benefit the whole game. We need to add representatives at that table of all the full-time clubs from outside Super League, and all the clubs with a realistic plan to be a full-time club in the near future. We also need a voice for the rest too, just to make sure they aren't forgotten, but right at this time it's the full-time clubs that need to lead on the immediate next step forward for our sport.

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My last note this week is on Nigel Wood's appointment as Chief Executive of the RLIF. Of course, this news has been treated with outright horror by all of Wood's critics. I'm not so sure I see it the same way. It isn't the same as the RFL role he leaves behind. For a start the RFL and the ARLC run so much of the game in it's two biggest territories that it takes some pressure off the RLIF in those areas. And, some of the undoubted successes of Wood's career have been in the international game. See his involvement in a great World Cup and a successful World Cup bid that's gained significant funding to help make that great too. See the expansion of the club game in Europe and North America. The game is growing internationally, but it's not ready in many of those places of growth to jump into the mainstream. Strengthening the roots in these areas of growth and getting more countries to join in that growth is the stage we're at internationally. Let's not run before we can walk.

Wood wouldn't be great at the step where the international game is running, but right now as it's still learning to walk in many places, Wood's combination of passion for the game - a passion that famously got Marwan Koukash to invest in Salford - and his experience of running a national governing body, as well as his global rugby league relationships, is a really good mix to make a success of his RLIF role at this time. Crucially, he can't hold on to that role too long, beyond where those parts of his skill-set are exhausted in their effectiveness. That's something he may have done in Super League and at the RFL.

As always, thanks for reading. I'm sure plenty of people will have their own opinions on this topic so feel free to share them with us!

Don't forget to make your predictions for the 2018 season ahead of us being back in your ears around 29 January. Make your predictions HERE.

Mark
SLP

Gelling & McIlorum: Who will be missed most?

Every week this year I'm going to try and do a bit of a 'deep dive' into some of the bigger news stories of the week. I start with one close to my cherry and white heart.

It finally was confirmed this week that two of Wigan's first team regulars during the Shaun Wane era have left the club.

Michael McIlorum, 29, will be lost to the club he's been at for 14 years, man and boy. Thankfully he will not be lost to the Super League competition. He'll just now be wearing the colours of Catalan Dragons.

Anthony Gelling, 27, leaves Wigan and Super League after six seasons that saw him rise to the position of 'Man of the People' and two-time SLP Clown of the Year for his fun try celebrations and off-field hi-jinks.

So, which of these players will leave a bigger hole in the Wigan squad?

Gelling has been directly replaced in the player merry-go-round by the re-signing of centre Dan Sarginson. It looks highly unlikely that any new signing will be made to replace McIlorum in the Wigan squad. From that, you could say it looks like McIlorum may be the bigger miss.

However, it could be argued hooker is a well covered spot in the Wigan squad. Tommy Leuluai looks likely to spend more in his international position, interchanging with 2016 Grand Final and 2017 World Club Challenge winner Sam Powell - a big success in McIlorum's absence it must be said - with young rising star Josh Ganson as back up.

Both take with them some big game experience and winners medals from their time at Wigan. However Gelling, unlike McIlorum, was a major part of Wigan's two most recent successes at Old Trafford in 2016 and over the Cronulla Sharks to open 2017, as McIlorum sat out both games through injury. It was 2013 when McIlorum last lifted some silverware, in a try scoring Grand Final win to complete that year's double for Wigan.

Over the four seasons we've been doing SLP, Gelling has featured in 12 more Super League games than McIlorum and has a marginally better win success rate in that time, 68% to McIlorum's 65%.

Gelling is prone to the odd mistake - he gives up 1 more handling error for every two games played than the average Super League centre over the last four years, as well as having an 85% tackle success rate compared to the average for centres of 90% over that same four year period. He does though make up for this with his work rate and output in attack - making 6 more carries and 50 more metres per game than your average Super League centre. In the last four years he contributed more tries, assists, tackle busts, clean breaks and successful offloads than your average centre. He has been, more often than not, a force for good.

McIlorum has a reputation. For hard hits yes, but also for ones that I might call mistimed and you might call dirty, depending on your rooting interests. He actually averages fewer penalties per game during the the SLP years than the average hooker does I'm pleased to report - about 1 fewer penalty conceded for every 10 games played. The thing is though, his hard hitting intentions also see him miss more tackles than your average Super League hooker, tackling at a 91% success rate compared to the average hooker who tackles at 94% over the last four years.

Whilst it isn't completely fair to compare per game averages for hookers in the same way it is for centres, due to some teams using interchange hookers and other playing one guy for 80 minutes, some numbers can still be suggestive, and one thing the numbers for McIlorum suggest is that he isn't as creative as the average hooker - his per game number for tries scored is below the average and his figures for assists and clean breaks are less than half the average. Sam Powell outperforms McIlorum in all of these areas and is much closer to the league average in his creative attacking output over the last four years, as well as his defensive output being better than league average too.

Both Gelling and McIlorum have been part of successful times at Wigan, and both players will undoubtedly be missed in the squad and by the fans. The facts and stats I've mentioned don't cover the intangibles - the times where a big hit from McIlorum has brought the fans to their feet and awoken their voices, or the times where a Gelling offload has been ill-judged, bringing groans rather than cheers from the stands. For these reasons, many Wigan fans will miss McIlorum more.

I'm going to miss both just as much as I'm going to cheer for whoever pulls on the #3 and #9 jerseys at Wigan in 2018. But for me, based on recent experience, I think Gelling may well be harder to replace than McIlorum in the Wigan squad. And to top that off, off the pitch, for us fans of Super League, Gelling has been one of a kind.

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Another topic I was going to go into but decided against a full scale opinion piece on was drugs in our sport. Once again they hit the headlines, with Ryan Bailey of Toronto earning a reprieve from his missed test in May 2017 following legal challenge and, much more disappointingly, former Dewsbury Rams player Donald Kudangirana being suspended for a period of three years and seven months following an Anti-Doping Rule Violation.

Kudangirana tested positive for the presence of the prohibited substances Drostanolone and Testosterone, and their respective metabolites. He was tested out-of-competition, during a Dewsbury Rams training session on 14 December 2016 and suspended by the club in February 2017. This is just the latest in a long line of drug related news stories we've had to cover during the four years of SLP. Hopefully the recent sentences being handing around will serve as a deterrent for any future rule violations. If this news had broken yesterday it might have featured in my hopes for 2018!

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Thanks for reading, look out for more regular pieces like this throughout 2018.

Don't forget, our #AskSLP festive special is still available to listen to on Spreaker, iTunes and League Cast android app if you haven't heard it already. Also, our 2018 predictions will soon be open for you to give us all your views ahead of a new Rugby League season.

Mark
SLP

Rugby League Dreams for 2018

2018 sees us enter in to the 5th season of Super League Pod. So, I thought it would be good to lay down my five biggest hopes for the year ahead, in increasing order of unlikeliness.

1) England to be successful!
Let's start with an easy one, one that stays the same every year - that England are well supported, well covered and successful. The World Cup run was a positive. A test series against New Zealand maybe isn't the big draw end-of-season event that we wanted most for this year but with all three games live on the BBC, all three games spread across the northern heartlands and an England team on the rise, I'm hopeful of a good news story from our international side in 2018.

2) Growth of the SLP family
And I'm not just saying this so we get a bigger box of beer this year, but one of the true highlights of 2017 was the relationships developed with and between members of the SLP listener-base. We really have a great bunch of listeners and contributors that I'm proud to be a part of. The meet-ups increased in terms of number of times and number of attendees. We had people come see us from the other side of the Irish Sea, the other side of the world, the other side of the county and everywhere in between. We know of listeners who helped us and each other out throughout the year, with advice, support, charity donations, design gifts, you name it! It would be fantastic in 2018 to see all of that grow, to see more people get involved in the show and the community around the show in any big or little way that they want to.

3) All our big events to sell out
I've already got my tickets bought for the Challenge Cup Final, the Grand Final and the Summer Bash, as well as a hotel booked for Magic Weekend and my Wigan season ticket re-ordered. I reckon I saw more games than ever in 2017, both for the club I follow and as a neutral, and I don't want to slow down in 2018. I really hope there are plenty of others who feel the same way. I know it's dreaming somewhat to expect our marquee events to sell out, but really rugby league fans as a group and a community should be able to find a way to Wembley for that annual pilgrimage south on the day our sport gets real national recognition. We should also want to celebrate the end of the season at Old Trafford in what I feel is becoming an increasingly well organised event for our sport. Throw in a big weekend in Newcastle shared with all our friends from around the league and you have some great times ahead that we should all try and not miss out on.

4) Expansion to continue, and do so with a clear direction
Toronto were a real good news story last year, with New York and others keen to join the party. Toulouse were almost a Qualifiers team, but for one big injury I feel. London Skolars continued to develop an inviting match day approach and community reach, and there were a few southern wins over northern clubs in League 1 in 2017. Alongside the positives is the absence of Oxford and All Golds in 2018, doubts over the sustainability of others in League 1 and concerns about the South now West Wales side ever having a solid foundation. It really is one of the biggest challenges to place teams outside of the UK in the right places so that they won't be a flash in the pan, whilst also helping expansion sides in the UK reach and build on a sustainable local supporter base. I hope by the end of 2018 a much clearer and stronger sense of direction is reached.

5) Let the moaning all end, or at least take an extended rest!
This is probably the least likely to happen, but lets all find a way to see and express what we love about the greatest game a little more in 2018. Celebrate or at least applaud the remarkable pieces of skill we see week in week out, whoever delivers it (yes, even if it's Ryan Atkins or Carl Ablett). Don't cheer when an opposing player gets injured, or boo when a player for a team you don't like pulls on an England shirt. By all means critique what you see, express all your emotions and comment with balance on any new structure we do or don't get, but do make sure to look for all positives you can in the face of a world full of social media negatives. Find all the ways you can to celebrate and compliment Rugby League, without it being and someone else's detriment. I'm not saying don't say anything negative, just do so with balance and make sure your love for your team and your sport always shines through.

Let's look forward to an exciting 2018!

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Before closing out, I just wanted to add a note on today's biggest news story, with confirmation that Michael McIlorum and Anthony Gelling have both left Wigan Warriors. On a personal level, as a Wigan supporter, I wish both players well. I will miss both of them in their different ways and hope nothing but the best for them in their careers (other than when they play Wigan!).

For McIlorum, I think it's a good time to move on. After injury destroyed his 2016, he didn't have the best of years in 2017. He showed up great in the Cup semi-final victory over Salford and off the field enjoyed a wonderful testimonial year. Over that span, though, Wigan's greatest successes have been achieved with him on the sidelines. Wigan need to find some new direction in attack and rediscover their control in defence, whilst Mickey needs to be part of a team that he can inspire and lead in a similar way to how he helped Ireland perform in the World Cup. The Wigan crowd will miss some of those huge hits he could hand out though.

It's a close call, but I'll probably miss Gelling more of the two - he's an entertainer and a game breaker, you just never knew whether he would break the game open for you or them! I can't see any more development in him within the current Wigan set up, so I really hope a deal can be ironed out that gives him an NRL chance in Auckland. 2017 was, it felt, a stagnant year for Gelling in Wigan's colours. Despite hopes that his defensive discipline and play selection would improve as he matured, he didn't really take that next step. I think in a different environment he has the chance to do that, as he has all the skill and work ethic to be one of the best centres in the game, now it's about applying himself more consistently.

Both were successful for Wigan. They'll always have the medals and I'll always have the memories.

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Thanks for reading!

Our #AskSLP festive special is still available to listen to if you haven't already.

Our 2018 predictions will soon be open for you to give us all your views ahead of a new Rugby League season, and we'll cover your predictions and ours in our season preview episode a week before the new campaign gets underway in only a month's time.

Mark
SLP

RLWC2017: Group Stage Emerging Stars

One of my favourite things about recent World Cups is seeing players you don't know much about emerge as possible stars with exciting futures ahead of them.

After the group stages of this years World Cup, I've picked out some of the players who weren't really on my radar before the tournament, but are now.

I've looked at players nearer the start than the end of their careers. I've overlooked players from the big 3 (Australia, England and New Zealand) and I've also swerved the other home nations, as I already know a fair bit about most of their squads.

Here's my selection of players who, for me, have emerged and could go on to be impressive NRL or Super League talents by the time the next World Cup rolls around in 2021.

Joey Tramontana - Italy & Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, 20 years old, Hooker
Listed at only 5 feet 7 inches, Tramontana is one of the little stars to emerge in this World Cup. The RLWC website had him 5th in total tackles at the end of the group stages, with 108. The Fiji game was his defensive stand out performance, with 43 tackles and no missed tackles counted by the stats men. The USA game was his best attacking display, seeing him score 2 tries in an all-round impressive display leading his team around the field.

One thing that does need to be said is his discipline needs work. He gave up 5 penalties in the World Cup, with a sin bin for throwing a bit of a cheap shot against Fiji a low point for him. However, what this did show is his fiery toughness and lack of fear. Being a small bloke, these are qualities you want to see, and you would hope he'll mature as he gets older to use his fire more constructively. The Bulldogs must see something in that, as he was one of the captains in their 2017 u20s side.

He hasn't made his first grade debut yet, but has been a mainstay in the Bulldogs u20s over the last couple of years. Although there was a u-turn over Michael Lichaa after the coaching change at Belmore, hooker isn't a position of great depth for them. Tramontana has definitely made sure people took notice of him at this World Cup and I expect him to become a part of their first grade plans in 2018, but if he doesn't I'm sure he'll attract some interest from elsewhere.

Ata Hingano - Tonga & New Zealand Warriors, 20 years old, Half back/Five eighth
I've seen Hingano play a bit for the Warriors in the NRL, he's played 15 times in total, but I've never seen him really impress enough to understand the faith they've put in him with his long term deal and letting a number of other halves leave in recent years. That was until Tonga played Samoa in week 2 of the 2017 RLWC.

He played well against Scotland, grabbing a try in a game his forwards dominated in reality. His forwards were great against Samoa too, but Hingano stood out as the best half on the pitch, controlling things for his side and leading them to victory with a lot of maturity. He took a back seat a little to his more experienced half partner Tui Lolohea against the Kiwis, but still put in a competent performance that bodes well for his future. Impressive stuff from the young half overall in this tournament so far.

Mason Cerruto - Italy & Penrith Panthers, 21 years old, Full back/wing
Cerruto is definitely more comfortable at full back. He started the 2017 World Cup campaign against Ireland on the wing, it was his least involved and least impressive performance of the tournament. He was tested defensively by a potent Ireland left edge and only made 76 metres carrying the ball. He then moved to full back against USA and Fiji, making 202 metres and 109 metres respectively, with 3 breaks and a try during those two impressive performances.

A look at his Wikipedia page shows he had spells at u20s level for Wests Tigers and Parramatta Eels, before moving to Penrith. His career highlights so far are mostly for Italy, with 7 tries in his 6 internationals - although all his tries have come against minor sides Serbia, Russia and USA. He also played a big role from full back in Penrith's 2017 NSW Cup Grand Final win, with a try assist and 192 metres on 20 carries.

He's tall and a promising ball carrier. Undoubtedly he needs to work on his defensive skills. He's unlikely to crack the first grade squad at Penrith any time soon, so some of the less financially privileged Super League clubs or upwards looking Championship clubs might want to take a look at him.

Ilias Bergal - France & Leigh Centurions, 21 years old, Wing
Bergal is the only player in my list that isn't signed to a NRL club. He's not even signed to a Super League club, but I think Leigh are lucky to pick him up after his very decent
spell at Swinton - 5 tries in 6 games to help them avoid relegation.

Although France were poor in this World Cup and failed to overcome Lebanon in the group stages, there were a couple of positives and Bergal was definitely one of those. He helped them get out of their own territory, listed as making 419 metres and a couple of breaks, second for France only to full back Mark Kheirrallah in those numbers.

Bergal is tougher and more physical than you might expect. He's hard working too and has reasonable positional sense from what I've seen. I definitely think he's an upgrade to what Leigh already have on the wings so I hope he'll get plenty of game time and should do well at a top Championship club.

Alex Twal - Lebanon & Wests Tigers, 21 years old, Prop
Although he's featured for a Lebanon side that I've found to be set on spoiling tactics in their World Cup underdogs role, Twal is clearly a star in the making.

He doesn't appear to be flashy but he definitely has an impressive work rate. The RLWC website has him top of the tackle counts of all players in the group stages. He leads his side in tackles and carries so far. He made over 100 metres in the win over France, was Lebanon's top metre maker and tackler against England - 52 tackles with no missed tackles - and was top tackler against Australia - 45 tackles, although 1 missed tackle upsetting his record.

A Parramatta junior who earned NSW and Australia junior rep honours, he signed for Wests Tigers midway through 2017 and they gave him his NRL debut in Round 17 of 2017. He played from the bench for each of their last 9 games, averaging almost 100 metres and 28 tackles a game, with one of the best tackle success rates in the NRL for 2017. It's just, by that stage Wests were irrelevant, so I didn't catch much of their action!

It's no surprise that he's signed up to 2020 and I expect him to ease the loss of Aaron Woods a little bit for the joint venture.

Viliame Kikau - Fiji & Penrith Panthers, 22 years old, Back Row/Prop
Listed as a prop, Kikau start each of the group stage games in the 2nd row for Fiji. He scored 3 tries, had 1 try assist, came close to 500 metres (491m) with over 10 metres for every carry. He made 4 line breaks, which from what I can tell is the most of any forward during the 2017 RLWC group stages. The only negative number is his 8 handling errors. It does have to be qualified by pointing out Fiji have enjoyed arguably the easiest run of fixtures, playing USA, Wales and Italy.

His stats look great. He passes the eye test too, listed at 195cm and 119kg, he's tall and muscular with plenty of athleticism. He looks strong, powerful and pretty quick.

Fiji born and raised, he got his break in the u20s with North Queensland and won 2015 honours as prop of the year and RLPA NYC Player of the Year. He debuted for Fiji in 2015 and then moved to Penrith, making his NRL debut earlier in 2017, marking the game with a try. He's played 9 times in the NRL now, all coming off the bench for the Panthers. He was also part of their NSW Cup Grand Final winning side, playing the full 80 and making over 100 metres. He's signed up for 2018 at Penrith.

I've not watched much Penrith footy in 2017, so he hasn't stood out to me before the World Cup. The wider running role that Mick Potter has been giving him is showing more of what he might be capable of. If he doesn't get more play at Penrith, other clubs in NRL or Super League should come calling.

Taane Milne - Fiji & Wests Tigers, 22 years old, Centre
Although he only has 1 NRL try and 1 try assist, Milne has found himself playing 18 times so far in the NRL over the past two seasons. He's made over 100 metres in all but one of his starts, but he's mostly only appeared from the bench to grab a few minutes here or there. Maybe that will change now he's left the Dragons to join Wests Tigers.

If his World Cup form so far is anything to go by, they'd be making a mistake by not giving him more game time. He has 4 ties, 7 try assists, 5 breaks and 11 offloads from the three group stage games. Admittedly, playing for Fiji means he's had the easiest run of group stage opponents he could have faced, but that shouldn't take too much away from what has been an exciting and skillful display so far from the player Benji Marshall said had one of the best flick passes he's seen. He's certainly made me take notice of his skills.

Kato Ottio - Papua New Guinea & Canberra Raiders, 23 years old, Centre/Wing
Ottio's stats from the World Cup group stages are okay, although not as impressive as some of the others in my list - still a try, 2 breaks, 6 offloads and 338 metres aren't bad. It's just that I find him really exciting to watch, like the entire PNG back-line have been in this World Cup so far.

He's not quite the youngest of that back-line, but I know more about centre-partner Nene McDonald from his 60+ NRL games despite him being a couple of months younger than Ottio. He's yet to make his NRL debut for Canberra, but probably wound have if it wasn't for serious injury towards the end of 2016 that ruled him out until a few months into 2017. When fit, he has been a stand out on the wing for the Raiders NSW Cup feeder team the Mount Pritchard Mounties, scoring 29 tries in 23 games in 2016, making the NSW Cup Team of the Year at wing.

Tall, fast, skillful and powerful, Canberra have him signed up through 2019. He looks the part and I think he'll be a big NRL weapon on the wing once he gets a chance.

Justin Olam - Papua New Guinea & Melbourne Storm, 23 years old, Wing
With 4 tries and 458 metres, Olam has been a star for PNG in the group stages. It's true that he has an error in him, he isn't the polished performer quite yet, despite being the oldest of the emerging stars in my shortlist, but he's a hugely exciting watch.

He isn't the biggest winger at the World Cup but he's one of the most powerful and exciting ball runners. He hasn't been massively tested with his Word Cup opponents yet, although did face the impressive Ireland left side attack and saw them go scoreless.

He's yet to make his NRL debut for the Storm after moving to them from the PNG Hunters for 2017, but he has made the extended bench on occasion. Most of his work since his move has been backing the Queensland Cup for the Sunshine Coast Falcons, where he faced his former side the Hunters in the 2017 Grand Final, coming out on the losing side.

Thanks for reading. Look out for our special podcast episodes during the off season. For iTunes users, head HERE. For the rest of you, you'll find us HERE.

Mark
SLP

How to win in Super League

Listeners to the show will know that we do what we can with the free stats available on the Super League website. One thing that I've been looking at in the off season so far is which of these stats seems to be most important to winning games in Super League.

In a simple breakdown, I've looked at every winning result over the time that the show has been running (so, from 2014-2017). I've counted up when the winning team had the most a particular stat count, when the count was equal between the sides, and when the winning team had less in a stat count than their opponents - then turned these into percentages of the games with a winning result (i.e. not a draw).

The below two charts show the results of the simple process.
The first chart is the basic stats: Tries (T), Tackles (TK), Marker Tackles (MT), Missed Tackles (MI), Tackle Busts (TB), Attacking Kicks (AT), Carries (C), Metres (M), Average Gain per carry (AG), Clean Breaks (CB), Runs From Dummy Half (DR), Errors (E), Goals (G), Missed Goals (MG), Offloads (OF) and Penalties Conceded (P).
The second chart has four stats adapted from those basic ones: Tackle Success Rate (TK%), Goal Success Rate (G%), Positive Impact Plays (TB+CB+OF) and Negative Impact Plays (MI+E+P).

Chart 1

Most of the headline results are fairly obvious - the team with the most tries and goals wins almost all the time. You'd also expect the team making the most metres, the most tackle busts (so also the fewer missed tackles) and most clean breaks to win much more often than lose.

• 86% of games are won by the team who scores the most tries - only 12 of the 684 games in the period were lost by the team who scored the most tries.
• 85% of games are won by the team who kicks the most goals (although 52% are also won by the team who misses the most goals!).
• 79% of games are won by the team who makes the most metres, and 71% by the team who makes those metres at the best average gain.
• 71% of games are won by the team who makes the most tackle busts (and, as a complementary number, 71% are won by the team with the fewer missed tackles).
• 70% of games are won by the team who makes the most clean breaks.

It's also clear that using your energy with the ball rather than without the ball is fairly important for success - the team with the most carries and making fewest tackles has a much better win rate than the other way round.

• The team with the most carries wins 69% of the time.
• The team with the fewest tackles wins 71% of the time, the 5th highest indicator of all these stats.

What is interesting is that errors, and in particular, offloads and penalties aren't as decisive as we might think.

• The team who makes fewer errors has won 61% of the time, so it's still an important factor in winning, but it's only the 11th most decisive stat of the 16 shown in Chart 1.
• The team who makes the most successful offloads only wins half the time.
• Similarly, when a team concedes fewer penalties they only win half the time.

 Chart 2

These results are a little more interesting still.

This shows having an overall better tackle success rate is very useful, but not as important as not having to make as many tackles in total.

It also shows that kicking at a better success rate than your opponent isn't that important, as long as you're taking more kicks at goal like Chart 1 shows.

Finally, it shows that whilst positive and negative plays are both important, it's more important that you don't make the bad plays, as making more of those has a greater impact on whether you win or not. Now, from Chart 1 we know that it's probably the missed tackles part of this that will hurt your chances most, so this shouldn't mean teams can't take risks in attack - it just means any mistakes in attack have to be backed up by a strong and secure defensive line.

Whilst this isn't the most sophisticated analysis you'll ever see, it is still somewhat informative. In games between evenly matched sides, take a look at who leads the way in the stats that count most when picking a winner.

Thanks for reading. Look out for our special podcast episodes during the off season. For iTunes users, head HERE. For the rest of you, you'll find us HERE.

Mark
SLP

SLP 2017 Season Review Show - How to get involved

With the Grand Final slipping into the rear-view mirror, the time is coming to wrap up another season of SLP!

We'll be bringing you our Season Review show on/around 24 October, when we'll look back on last February's predictions (good and bad!), as well as giving some stats and views on each Super League side, and most importantly we'll be including your views on the year that we've just seen. We won't have a show without your input!

There are three ways you can get involved, and we would encourage you to do all three!

1. SEND US AN AUDIO REVIEW OF YOUR SIDE'S SEASON (by email to superleaguepod@gmail.com)

We're looking for just 2-3 minutes on your overall takeaways from 2017 as a fan of your club.

Make the review your own, tell us what you want people to know about your team's season! Some example topics if you're struggling might be high and low moments, best players and performances, youngsters who have made a name for themselves - whatever you feel needs to be said.

You should be able to record them on your phone or other devices easily enough, then email them to us at superleaguepod@gmail.com. We need your reviews in by Sunday 22 October to make the show.

If you don't follow a Super League club, or follow more than one side, don't worry, you can get involved too! We're happy to get your takes on your Championship and League 1 sides too, and we'll give you our under-informed takes on your sides as well! Please send us separate reviews for each side you support.

2. VOTE IN OUR ANNUAL LISTENER AWARDS, a.k.a The Sloppies - Vote HERE!

Our Awards try to cover the good and the bad of the Super League season. We give you a short list, but you also have full freedom to give us your winner if they aren't listed by us. Voting will close on Sunday 22 October at 9pm UK time.

We've brought in a new category this year, so look out for that, and we've also introduced an entirely non-mandatory listener feedback section as well, just to help us get a bit more insight into our listeners. Don't worry, any feedback you give won't be shared with any other party, and if you don't want to answer any question, you don't have to.

3. PICK YOUR SLP SUPER LEAGUE DREAM TEAM - Vote HERE!

We all know the real Dream Team is the SLP Dream Team! We've given you options from putting our heads together to allow you to pick a team you'd be proud to see pull on SLP jerseys. Voting will close on Sunday 22 October at 9pm UK time.

We know that you'll all leave club bias to one side to help pick the best team you've seen this season, or we at least hope you'll try to!

After that, all you'll have to do is wait until the show is released!

Cheers in advance,
Mark & Tom
SLP

Picking at the Bones - Who might get picked up from relegated Leigh?

Leigh's brief stay in Super League has ended so now attention turns to the future. Often that has meant a large player turnover, whether relegated sides stay full-time or not. For Leigh, player turnover will be nothing new after a couple of years in which they've used over 50 players. It's inevitable they'll lose a few players, so let's have a look through their squad and see who'll be candidates to move on.

I'll start with a player who hasn't even got there yet. Bryson Goodwin has a decent track record with 6 tries in 9 internationals for New Zealand and 76% career kicking success. Although he's a little off a 1 in 2 try strike-rate, 71 NRL tries in 178 games over 10 years means he's likely to have other suitors if he can get out of a Championship contract with Leigh. Widnes aren't deep at centre, Wigan could be in the market for a goal-kicking centre, and Warrington and Catalan will be having big squad overhauls. *Edit - We now know that Warrington have taken up Goodwin's contract*

Now I'll be looking at the playing side that fell out of Super League in the Million Pound Game.

If they weren't at Leigh, senior players like 36 year old Mickey Higham and 34 year old Danny Tickle probably wouldn't have gone around in Super League this season, so I don't think they'll be on anyone's wishlist even if they wanted to make themselves available. Harrison Hansen, although a little younger at 31 - he'll be 32 when 2018 kicks off - and with a strong Super 8s showing, may have suitors but I think he's most likely to stay at Leigh. Glenn Stewart is another nearing the end of his career. He wasn't as influential in attack or as hard-working and successful in defence as he was in his year at Catalan. He's contracted to Leigh next year and I'm unsure how many sides will be in the market for a 33 year old on an apparent decline, but he offers good leadership that someone like Salford may look for.

Of the other forwards from the MPG, Liam Hood and Lachlan Burr may be the most likely to attract some interest, unless Catalan go on a French player round-up for Antoni Maria. Both Hood and Burr are in their mid-twenties. Hood has generally saved his best for when the TV cameras were around this year, so teams who might want a back-up hooker with a change of pace may see him as an option, Wakefield or one of the Hull sides maybe. Burr has been one of Leigh's most consistent metre makers, especially in the Qualifiers, and was their best offloader this year. He's a player Catalan or Widnes could benefit from, but Huddersfield would be a good fit I think.

In a bottom four side that has ultimately gone down, both MPG halves have impressed me in 2017. Ben Reynolds impressed me almost every time I saw him, he's a dual run/pass threat with 9 tries and 9 assists over the season, along with a 80% kicking success rate and a good all round kicking game. If he can be attracted away from Leigh, the side that relegated them in the MPG that would be an ideal fit - Catalan will need a running threat to replace Myler and it looks as though they'll need a goal-kicker if Walsh leaves. Josh Drinkwater contributed double-figure assists, showed control in the kicking game and kicked a healthy 3 forty-twenties and showed with a strong Qualifiers record that he can be a good goal-kicker. Widnes, Salford and maybe Wigan could be in the market for a game controlling half back if he hits the market.

In the MPG backs, Ryan Hampshire may have found his best level for now as a Qualifiers level player, but offers good utility and has great speed, so someone like Catalan or Salford who lack backs depth could have interest. Matty Dawson, who has done a little better than I expected as Leigh's top scorer with 15 tries in 29 games, and James Clare who showed up well with 7 Qualifiers tries are also probably in the right place. Both on loan centres might be wanted back at parent clubs. Matty Fleming has earned valuable game time, Ben Crooks has been one of Leigh's best players and if Castleford don't see him improving their squad, Leeds may want centre depth or Widnes could be in the market for that position, and Warrington is an outside chance for me too.

Outside of that, there are a few others in the squad who may interest clubs if they seek a Leigh release.

Daniel Mortimer is obviously experienced in the NRL and fits the bill of many previous Hull KR or Salford signings, but I think both clubs may have learnt from being burnt on similar types of player before. I'm not convinced what the market for him should be, but he'll get another club if he wants one probably. Samisoni Langi made the SLP stats round-up every time he played apart from his first game. It was a fairly small sample size and he didn't contribute as many tries or assists as Leigh would have wanted, but he averaged over 100m a game so clearly is an impact player - Widnes, Warrington or Catalan could be looking for a new centre, and Huddersfield, Leeds or Wigan could want depth there at the right price. Eloi Pelissier feels to me like quite literally the player Catalan were missing this year. Zip, passion and enthusiasm in everything he does, even if that does sometimes slip over the line into penalties or diving. If bridges haven't been burnt, he needs to get back to the Dragons. I can't see another clear landing pad club for him, maybe Warrington who need to replace Brad Dwyer. Mitch Brown has arguably been Leigh's best this year, with the most carries and metres, as well as a rich try scoring form in the Qualifiers. He can play across the back line and do a good job, he brings experience and determination as well as ability and versatility. I imagine lots of sides will look at him. Widnes might be the best fit, where he can play centre and back up full back.

One last player to discuss is Jamie Acton. Yes, he's a thug and a liability given his disciplinary record - 2 sin-bins and 5 charges in 2017, 14 games missed due to suspensions as a result. However, they won a third of his 15 Super League regular season games, no Leigh regular had a better win percentage. His 105 metres per game is also the best of any Leigh regular in the 23 game regular season. 4 tries is good for a prop and he has reasonable defence. If there's any coach up to the task of calming his reactions and focusing his aggression in the right way then Acton belongs in Super League. Sadly, I'm not sure if there is. *Edit - we now know that Acton has committed himself to Leigh*

My guess is about half of the twenty players I've singled out above won't be starting 2018 in the Leigh squad. I suppose one thing relegation does is spice up the off-season transfer market!

Mark
SLP

2017 Grand Final SLP Meet Up

A few people have asked about a Grand Final meet up, so we've decided to put some plans in place for anyone who wants to grab a beer with us before the Saturday's big game. We appreciate it's fairly short notice, but do come say hi if you can.

Our plan will be to get to The DOCKyard at Media City for roughly 1:00pm.

This pub is located close to MetroLink Line D & Line E, close to local bus routes and close to car parking at the Lowry Outlet shopping centre, amongst other places to park. It's roughly 1 mile walking distance away from Old Trafford.

We will then make the walk to Old Trafford at about 4:15pm, which should give us time to grab a beer or two in the Fan Zone before heading inside the ground for kick off.

Get in touch with us if you're going to be at the Grand Final on our Twitter or Facebook. If you'll be there and want to contribute to our Instagram also get in touch!

Cheers
Mark & Tom
SLP

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