Geoff wrote:
Not exactly; what he's saying is that the League comp ends after 23 games, with the LLS being awarded on that basis, then a completely separate competition starts after that, with the top 8 qualifying for what is, in effect, a return to the old Premiership trophy.
No, its much more akin to the recently abandoned top 8 playoff system whereby teams who were poor all season were rewarded for that with a crack at the main prize little different in terms of advantage gained to the teams at the top. No real advantage to finishing high in the league.
The "league" is deemed unimportant and the lesser trophy than winning the GF. So under the Widnes system there is no incentive to finish high in the league or try and bust a gut winning it if at the end of the day you aren't doing your chances of winning the GF any good at all.
It's all about the status of the competition. In the past the league was the one to win and the premiership was a bit of an end of season extending cup competition of lesser status. Unless the top 8 and "premiership final" (i.e. the GF) revert to being the lesser competition there is no way the league rounds where points don't count towards the top 8 will see teams busting a gut. Teams that win the league will always be deemed to have won it because the ones with the clever coaches rested players and didn't try for it and once a top 8 slot is secure you will even have
fans arguing the club rests players because they want it to win the GF more than the league.
I think crowds for league games would plummet towards the end of the season and the number of dead rubbers increase.
At least where the regular season points count you have incentive to get as many as you can to make getting a top 4 place more likely. I think it is about the best aspect of the new system.
I still think the best playoff system if you are going to have one was the top five system first tried. Plenty of incentive to finish at the top of the league and rewards for higher placed finishes and five teams was enough to be given the crack at the final. Extending the number of terms beyond that can't do anything other than devalue the foregoing league competition as it makes it too easy to qualify whatever system you use.