Phil Clarke explains why the new format in Super League will make the game better than ever
Thursday 5 February 2015 11:09, UK
Ok, a new year and a new format. What’s it all about?
For some it’s a radical restructuring, the first of its kind for a major team sport in the UK, a way to make every minute of every match matter. Every team in every game needs to win.
It’s almost like bringing ‘sudden-death cup drama’ to a league format. The aim is to foster a more intense competition, raising the standards and making rugby league at all levels even stronger. Every sports fan loves the excitement of a knock-out competition and this is the first time that I have seen a league format attempt to recreate that. It sounds perfect.
Critics of Super League in recent years have pointed to the fact that the majority of the regular season was meaningless. When Leeds Rhinos won the Grand Final in 2011 after finishing in fifth place in the table it somehow devalued the previous 27 game season.
Winning matches in May was no longer essential, just desirable. It forgave failure and awarded a second chance to teams not good enough to make the top four (in 2011 Warrington had finished the regular 27-game season with seven wins more than Leeds).
In the latter stages of the season, some of the teams at the bottom of the table had nothing left to play for other than their personal pride. There was no reward and no punishment for winning or losing.
This season sees the return of promotion and relegation, but hopefully in a sustainable way. In the UK, both football and rugby union are wrestling with the best way to allow clubs to experience those ups and downs without causing the clubs to go into financial meltdown. The next three years will tell us if this is the answer.
Live First Utility Super League
On paper, it feels as though the administrators have devised a better season for every fan of every club. It feels fair.
The next challenge now falls to the clubs. Will we see a difference?
If you look at the top half of the Super League table for the last three years you notice a familiar pattern. St Helens, Wigan, Warrington, Huddersfield, Leeds and Catalan have consistently made the top eight places after 27 Rounds.
The odds are that they will be there again. However, it’s important that the other clubs don’t assume that a new fixture structure gives them a better chance of making the top eight when we get to the end of July this year. It won’t be that easy and with just 23 games there is less room for error.
Five of the other six clubs starting in the First Utility Super League this year have recent experience of top-eight play-off football. In the last three years they have all made the top eight with the exception of the Salford Red Devils. It is achievable for them all to, at the very least, make it into seventh or eighth, and quite possibly into the top four if we use Castleford last year as their example.
Damaged credibility?
But just making it into the top eight is no longer enough. As a sport I think that we damaged our own credibility by allowing eight teams into the end-of-season play-offs. The top four is the right number, with home advantage to first and second.
On paper, it feels as though the administrators have devised a better season for every fan of every club. It feels fair.
Sudden death with no second chance will hopefully encourage larger crowds than we’ve seen at recent play-off games. Those games need to feel special and that has not been the case in the last few years. We need to create the atmosphere that you see in the Football League play-offs when they get far more than an average gate to witness their teams at the end of the season.
The 2014 Grand Final was the best that I’ve experienced. The energy and atmosphere created by the band James, the history of the event, the stadium and the fireworks provided a perfect setting for a perfect game.
It had everything that you need for a match that you will never forget. If you like rugby league and have the chance to attend this year then I would strongly recommend that you get your tickets early. It was one of the best sporting occasions that I have ever witnessed.
I’ve watched a few pre-season friendlies over the last three weeks and had forgotten how much I love rugby league. Not only is it back this week, it looks like it could be even better.
