weighman wrote:
If C1 is split in 2 , would probably have to play each other 3 times.
I would get rid of the League Cup & play each other twice.
You know it mkes sense , about time the clubs stood upto the RFL .
I agree we need to knock the League Cup on the head. I was looking at the structure of the different leagues the other day. The Super League start in the first week of February with their Grand Final around 10th October. There are 36 weeks between the start and end date.
Super League teams play 23 games in the first part of the season (everyone home and away plus the Magic Weekend). They play 7 more games in the Super 8s bringing the total to 30. They have two more games if they get to the Grand Final, plus the Challenge cup which could be another 4 games. They have an off-season of 16 weeks.
We need to consider the players' welfare at our level as they're not full-time but we also have to play enough home games for fans to stay interested otherwise people find something else to do on a Sunday.
If Championship One was split into two leagues of eight and we played each other home and away twice, it would produce a 28 game season. There could then be a play-off semi-final and a final; that would give 30 games. We could also realistically have two Challenge cup matches, possibly three. That would bring the total to 32 or 33 games. That would be 32 or 33 games in a 36 week season, if we started and finished at the same time as Super League.
Championship sides have a 32 or 33 game season. They play 23 games (including summer bash) plus seven more after the league splits. They have two or possibly three Challenge cup games as well, bringing their total to 32 or 33 games.
Surely we could have a season that involves the same number of games as the Championship. It would mean getting rid of the iPro Cup to accommodate it.
Keep the format simple: Have an 8 team league with everyone playing each other home and away twice; ditch the iPro cup.