Re: For the live of God,Allah or whoever-McDermott GO!!! : Mon Sep 24, 2012 11:47 am
The Eagle wrote:
I disagree. Its only skewed by Leeds' win last season. Before that the grand final had been won by a team from the top 2 from every season bar one since its inception. The most consistent team over the season still tends to take the main prize
The argument is that the current Top 8 play-off system dilutes the regular season fixtures and renders them meaningless. It's about re-establishing the importance of the regular season fixtures in order that league positions actually matter a lot more as opposed to rewarding mediocrity throughout the regular season. A Top 5 play-off system would be my preferred option.
Taking Leeds as an example, all they need to do during the regular season is pick up sufficient points against mainly whipping boy SL rabble and the rest takes care of itself. It doesn't matter how they perform against the top sides during the regular season as they are still going to finish 5th, and by doing so, they are rewarded with two more fixtures against whipping boy SL rabble in the play-offs.
I never had any doubts that Leeds would progress to the Semi Finals under this current play-off system. All that is required of them is to beat whipping boy opposition twice (that's a given) and then peak for 2 games against meaningful opposition at the end of the season, just like last year.
The reward for finishing 5th is way too cushy under this play-off system. The reward for finishing as lowly as 5th ought to be having to peak for 4 games against teams that finished higher on the ladder (all away from home) - a daunting prospect, but if it were to be achieved, there could be no doubting the validity of the 5th placed team being crowned worthy SL champions.