leeds owl:ArthurClues:Trebor1:
I tell you what, the Leeds Salford and the Wakey Hudds games were blo*dy dreadful adverts for SL... absolute bore fests and poor quality games.. watched some highlights of the Wakey game, it was an appalling spectacle for TV... no crowd, very one sided, poor standard of RL.. awful.
And that's why we should be very cautious about moving to 14 teams. I know 13 home games against different teams would be a big tick in the box for supporters (including me) but the novelty would soon wear off if 4 of those games were 40 or 50 point blow outs. Personally I think that if you want to raise standards you actually lower the current number of participating teams, to 11, which would provide a 21 game SL including a magic round. You could add another 3 home games by incorporating another Cup Comp (early season) perhaps on a conference basis, with championship clubs included, which would be free to season ticket holders.
Why would supporters only want 21 games a season ? The whole idea of spectator sport is that the speccies work hard all week and then have something to watch and look forward on a regular basis. The more regular, the better. It ‘s time to stop kidding ourselves that everything should be aimed at a small number of pro teams prospering while the rest can go and wither on the vine. The R.F.L have done a great job of destroying the amateur game which has in turn led to a decline in professional standards, and for a long time seemed intent on destroying some of the “smaller” clubs in the professional game. Give the like’s of York and Fev a go and let their fans have a taste of the big time or at least the chance to dream. Superleague has become stale and boring for the best part, but this season has been a breath of fresh air seeing more competitive teams. The lower standard overall hasn’t bothered me one bit.
There still ways of giving spectators 27/28 games, without diluting the standard of the competition further, it might just have take a little more effort and imagination from the powers that be. Anyway,we are where we are now with an extra 2 clubs, possibly 3, if Salford don't make it, for 26. Good luck to those teams in trying to build a squad, without the SKY money that the existing SL clubs will not want to share. Surely a better way to build is to do it from a position of strength, which has been the NRL way. By comparison our approach is built on a house of cards, which will fall over with the first faint gust of wind.
