Re: 2018 | The Final 5. : Thu Jul 12, 2018 8:55 pm  

Terrible results for us tonight, lose tomorrow and I reckon that’s middle 8s pretty much confirmed for us, with 10th a possibility.

Thats what happens when you’re playing something bad you’re relying on othervteams losing around you.

Tomorrow is massive.

Re: 2018 | The Final 5. : Thu Jul 12, 2018 8:58 pm  

Tomorrow is a must win game.
8th and 9th place looks to be between us and Wakefield.

Re: 2018 | The Final 5. : Thu Jul 12, 2018 9:02 pm  

Wakey and Huddersfield meeting in the final round could work for us, but for that to matter we need to win our games. A massive couple of home games coming up.

Re: 2018 | The Final 5. : Thu Jul 12, 2018 9:08 pm  

Tomorrow is theoretically out hardest remaining game. Get a win and it really drags Wakey into it (and I suspect we survive), lose and I think it will be all over.

The final round will be very interesting as TMR says, the Hudds v Wakey game could send them into the middle 8s if we win tomorrow.

Re: 2018 | The Final 5. : Thu Jul 12, 2018 11:21 pm  

Some interesting and challenging games coming up for several teams. Both at the top and the bottom of the league . Yet this format which seems to work may be scrapped.

Re: 2018 | The Final 5. : Thu Jul 12, 2018 11:37 pm  

Backwoodsman wrote:

Some interesting and challenging games coming up for several teams. Both at the top and the bottom of the league . Yet this format which seems to work may be scrapped.

I wouldn’t confuse the interest with it working, we have clubs busting a gut (and their bank balance) signing (disgraced and sub standard aussies) players to help them, we also couls see one of the biggest clubs in a relegation battle, it might sound exciting but we are not a big enough sport to support all of this. One up one down maybe but we as a sport cannot afford to lose a side that finished 9th in a 12 side league just because theyve had a bad year, and im not just saying that because leeds look like being involved, i said the same last year when Warrington and Catalan were in there.

Re: 2018 | The Final 5. : Fri Jul 13, 2018 5:40 am  

Win or not, we desperately need to start playing better. We are a high chance of ending up in the Middle 8s, and if we do end up there, we need to be going into those games playing far better than we've shown recently.

Re: 2018 | The Final 5. : Fri Jul 13, 2018 6:37 am  

christopher wrote:

I wouldn’t confuse the interest with it working, we have clubs busting a gut (and their bank balance) signing (disgraced and sub standard aussies) players to help them, we also couls see one of the biggest clubs in a relegation battle, it might sound exciting but we are not a big enough sport to support all of this. One up one down maybe but we as a sport cannot afford to lose a side that finished 9th in a 12 side league just because theyve had a bad year, and im not just saying that because leeds look like being involved, i said the same last year when Warrington and Catalan were in there.

Whilst I agree about clubs overspending to stay in Super League I disagree about 1 up 1 down being good for the sport. Too much of the season would be meaningless for too many teams. The current 8s format keeps the season going for everyone.

Re: 2018 | The Final 5. : Fri Jul 13, 2018 6:49 am  

The balance between giving the clubs some consistency in terms of being able to plan for the future with some financial certainty and keeping things exciting is a tough one.

I'd still be in favour of Franchising, to give them the knowledge that they are not about to lose their revenue streams, and add new franchises when appropriate based on open and transparent criteria. However this doesn't address the stagnation that can occur at the lower end of the table and the lack of interest this brings. We've still only had 4 teams win SL (Leeds, Wigan, Bradford, Saints) and I think it's almost mission critical that someone else breaks that cycle (Warrington or Cas look most likely).

If we did go back to Franchising, how do we keep it interesting to those in the bottom half of the table?

Re: 2018 | The Final 5. : Fri Jul 13, 2018 7:12 am  

christopher wrote:

I wouldn’t confuse the interest with it working, we have clubs busting a gut (and their bank balance) signing (disgraced and sub standard aussies) players to help them, we also couls see one of the biggest clubs in a relegation battle, it might sound exciting but we are not a big enough sport to support all of this. One up one down maybe but we as a sport cannot afford to lose a side that finished 9th in a 12 side league just because theyve had a bad year, and im not just saying that because leeds look like being involved, i said the same last year when Warrington and Catalan were in there.

Bang on the money. Its a ridiculous format and as you quite rightly say the game doesn't have the finances for it. We have to have stability for clubs to bring in sponsors money but at the same time give others hope of joining the elite. Not easy but this current system is not the answer.