If theres P & R from the Championship, then the 3rd 8 should be the "Don't come last League".

What's the sponsorship situation? Super League & The Championship have different sponsors, what's going to happen when they morph into 3 competitions?

I've always thought "XIII" was a good marketing tool.



e.g XIII Super League

XIII Championship

It's no wonder there's been so much confusion if they are going to call the top 8 division the "play-offs" and then have a 4 team playoff to decide who reaches the GF. So the top 8 are the playoffs to the playoffs and the middle 8 are the playoffs to be in next season's playoffs to the playoffs. Catchy

I think that's hit the nail right on the head. There are far too many people on here thinking there's an 8 team playoff when reality it's top 4.



IMO They should call the 2x12 SL1 & SL2, or SL1 & Champ1. After the split, the bottom and top leagues retain their name and the middle league is named something different - SL Qualification Group or something along those lines.

Or you could use a bit of common sense and just realise that the top 8 is the first stage of the play-offs, and then the semi finals are the second stage.



Seriously, it's not difficult no matter how much you try and make it out to be.

It's not the first stage of the playoffs though is it? It's basically the league carrying on less 4 teams. If points were reset or something I'd be inclined to agree but the only thing that happens is 4 teams are removed, so they can play for next seasons SL spots.

Finals series league one

Finals series league two

Finals series League three

I'm not saying it is difficult, but why call the top 8 team division "The Playoffs" when there is then another set of playoffs to decide who reaches the GF? The 8 team division is a mini-league where everyone plays each other once, that's not a playoff. I've seen loads of people on here and Twitter confuse the two and state that it's an 8 team playoff series. It wouldn't be difficult to call them something different.

The top and bottom 8s are surely just extensions of the regular season rather than the beginning of the play offs so Super League, Super League Qualifiers and Championship makes sendse I suppose one issue is determining what the winners of the 3rd 8 are actually called. You can't exactly call them the Championship Champions given they're effectively the 5th best team in that league.



edit - I've got it





1. Super League

2. Super League Qualifiers

3. The Ricky Bibey Cup

winners of bottom 8 will be "best of the rest"!

If you actually read the proposal, you'd know that the 3rd eight will be playing for the Championship Shield.

If you actually read my post, you'd know I think that's daft because the winner of the third 8 is only a mid-table team in the Championship

It's not "another play-off". It's the second stage of the same play-offs.

You are making it seem more difficult than it is.



Do people at the World Cup get confused after the group stages because they're no longer in a group stage competition?



Basically are you saying that if it was called the SL Second Stage or something then people would get it better? Personally I think people are playing dumb to give themselves a reason to not like it. That is the negative world RL fans live in.

If you reread the post I've just quoted, you'd realise it doesn't make sense.



The Championship Shield doesn't mean you're the Champions. I don't see what's stupid about it.



I'd hazard a guess (but haven't seen this confirmed anywhere) that the Championship champions would be the team finishing top after 23 rounds. The rest is just an end of season cup comp.

So again, are you saying it would somehow be easier to understand if it had a different name? I'm lost as to how people can find it so difficult in the first place. It's far simpler than what we have now!

Surely if you win the Championship Shield you should be the best team in the Championship. It's got to be the Ricky Bibey Cup for me, it's time the RL world formally acknowledged the outstanding performances of the 2x challenge cup winner. Anything else is simply a travesty

The points carry over in the top half of the league, it's not part of the playoffs, it's a continuation of the league. It's not a qualification from a group stage to a knock-out comp. I happen to like this structure (mostly at the minute anyway, and pending funding/season ticket announcements anyway). I just think it's stupid calling the top eight the playoffs and then following it with an actual playoff series to decide who the finalists are.

Maybe it would, you're the one that seems confused on the matter?



I find it simple enough as is to be honest, but it's obvious that not everybody does.

Why? Err... why? If you win the Championship, you should be the best team in the Championship. If you win the Championship Shield, you're entering a different competition.



I really don't see how you can keep confusing the two. It is a secondary competition. It is not the primary competition for the best teams. If you win it, you're the shield winners, not the champions. The champions are the winners of the Championship, not the Championship Shield. Just like winning a cup competition makes you the cup winners.

You're entitled to your view, but the RFL agree with my opinion that it's the first stage of the play offs.

In what way am I confused on the matter? I understand how it works and what it's called.



I honestly think the people that don't get it haven't even tried because it will get in the way of their moaning about it.



I have friends who are casual fans of the sport that get it after listening to it explained on the radio. These same people still don't fully understand the current play offs.



Difficult? Only if you're looking for an excuse to moan.

Elite Eight



Elimination Eight



Shield Series

888.com should've been the new sponsor

You're about 4 months too late with that joke