The Super League’s Super Eights system is a new innovative idea as of this year, but it has some question marks raised over it.
The slogan for this system is ‘every minute matters’, yet I’m not entirely sure it does, because for some sides within the top tier of the Super Eights there’s too much to do, even with seven games to go until yet another split to decide the Grand Final contenders.
In its current format, the top tier of the Super Eights retain the points from the first 23 rounds of Super League, whereas the second tier or ‘Qualifiers’ as it’s known has the points wiped clean so that the top of the Championship has a fair run at trying to gain promotion to Super League from those four Super League clubs in the Qualifiers.
The current format has seen it become almost impossible for the sixth, seventh and eighth placed sides in the Super Eights top tier to gain a spot in the top four, as Warrington Wolves start with a four point handicap, Hull FC start with an six point handicap and lastly, Catalan Dragons start with a mammoth eight point disadvantage. Because of this, there has been a distinct lack of attendance from those teams’ fans, and also a lack of true determination from those teams, with Warrington suffering two defeats from two rounds in the new Super eights phase, one being an absolute hammering at the hands to first placed Leeds Rhinos 49-10.
I believe that in order to retain interest from all within the Super Eights top tier there should be no points carried over, but instead the only advantage being the four home games the top four after 23 rounds get. This will not only provide those teams outside the top four with a realistic chance of reaching that all-important fourth spot, but it will also mean that the likes of Wigan Warriors whom at the start of the current system had a five point advantage over fifth place Castleford Tigers, a reason to stay completely focussed once a top four berth has been accomplished.
If the system stays like it is next year, then some teams may just give up, if they are like Catalan Dragons and are eight points away from fourth before the second phase has even started. This would be terrible not only for the sport in terms of attendances, but also in terms of viewing figures. No one will want to see a side so far behind face off against a side already assured of a place in the third phase, as it’ll only result in a walkover.
Ultimately, as it stands it isn’t worth it for the likes of Warrington Wolves, Catalan Dragons and Hull FC to even try and compete, because even after two rounds of the second phase Hull FC and Catalan Dragons haven’t made any ground up and Warrington are actually worse off, with a six point disadvantage on fourth place. Whereas in the second tier ‘Qualifiers’ all the teams still look competitive, all because the points are wiped before the start of the phase, so the lesser sides feel they have every chance of getting promotion to Super League.
For next year, the only adjustment that needs to be made, and I stress that it’s only an adjustment and not a complete overhaul, is having the Super Eights phase of the competition a ‘clean slate’ so it reduces the risk of blow-out scores and hopefully increases interest and attendance. The concept is a good one but only half of it seems to work, as fans throughout the sport feel the Qualifiers are more exciting and better to watch. The same could be said with the above tweak of the current system to make it viable for all the top tier teams involved.
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