Re: Watched Warrington thrash Widnes and go top of the leagu : Sun May 27, 2012 7:37 am  

Not seen the Wire/Widnes game and I agree that the format of Magic Weekend should change.

But would there be as much moaning if we had beaten Widnes earlier in the season?

Its ok to say that the RFL [and fat boy Wood] have got it wrong, but so did Shaun Wane and some of the players when we lost to the Chemics.

Re: Watched Warrington thrash Widnes and go top of the leagu : Sun May 27, 2012 8:25 am  

I've seen the QF of the challenge cup been quoted. I think this is not a bad call, however there are a few practicalities that cannot be ignored.

The money from the extra fixture will be lost to all SL clubs.
The money for a full 2 days on sky would be lost.
Would 30k fans turn up for 2 quarter finals?
The practicalities of playing the CC QF at a stadium that's free. City would not have been available given that was the weekend they had their final premier league game.
Sky and the Beeb sharing camera and Tv crews, screens etc.

This years QF's

Wigan v Saints
Leeds v Leigh
Warrington v catalan
Huddersfield v London

Whilst Saints and Wigan would have brought their fair share at 15k. London and Catalan would bring close to nil, Huddersfield? Leigh?

You may get a decent turn out from Leeds and Warrington, but given Leeds lined up against Leigh I can't see it. The whole concept would be smaller and have less money. However the idea is not without merit and a smaller scale version could be done with the CC quarter finals regardless of MM staying or going, just at smaller stadia and on a Footy free weekend, closer to the semi's. DW could do it but so could say everton, Leeds, Birmingham with Aston Villa etc.

Re: Watched Warrington thrash Widnes and go top of the leagu : Sun May 27, 2012 8:29 am  

The RFL has to change the format for match allocation as the current system of using mainly derby games for the Magic weekend unfairly skews league positions & points differences.

I think that match allocation should be made using the league table at the close of play from the prior round eg 1v2, 3v4, 5v6, etc.

Using that system the RFL could more or less guarantee a full round of competitive matches making great entertainment and possibly attracting new fans to the sport, the whole purpose of Magic.

More thumpings like Wolves handed out to Widnes just serves in people switching off their TV or creating even more empty seats like those seen at the Etihad yesterday.

Re: Watched Warrington thrash Widnes and go top of the leagu : Sun May 27, 2012 8:34 am  

MattyB wrote:

Whilst it is a disgrace the league can be settled on unfair advantages, the fact we played a weakened team and lost to a woeful Widnes side negates against any whinging we should be doing today.

I disagree totally. Widnes beat Wigan fair and square and I have no issues with at all. The imbalance comes from wire playing them 3 times in the season whist everybody else plays twice. If we have to have this extra fixture then the RFL need to do all it can to ensure a fair and balanced league for all clubs.

If wire win the league leaders shield on points difference there isn't anything on the planet that will convince me that they won it fair and square. Saints fans must be more angry about it than anybody!

Re: Watched Warrington thrash Widnes and go top of the leagu : Sun May 27, 2012 8:42 am  

That's the whole point, the current method for allocating the extra fixture is skewed.

If the RFL used league positions from the prior week to allocate matches this arguement wouldn't exist.

Re: Watched Warrington thrash Widnes and go top of the leagu : Sun May 27, 2012 8:58 am  

The derby idea is still a good one, it is just that Warrington are benefiting from a weak Widnes team that have just returned to SL. When Widnes are a strong team again there will be nothing wrong with that as a fixture.

Other than derbies I do like the idea of 1v2, 3v4 etc for the magic games. That is the fairest in terms of form and should be better in terms of league position interest and competitive games. Wigan vs Warrington this weekend would have been a cracker! Warrington have had a slower start this year but I guess they have learnt their lesson from last year that the GF is won in October and not by thrashing teams in March. I expect they will be competing for all three trophies this year come the business end.

Re: Watched Warrington thrash Widnes and go top of the leagu : Sun May 27, 2012 9:13 am  

I just dont think there should be an extra game as it falsely distorts the league table. Just do away with the extra game and make the weekend a 9s competition with all the best players, get a decent sponsor, split the prize money amongst the players etc and it would be a great event and it would be competitive. It really would be something different in the RL calender too.

Re: Watched Warrington thrash Widnes and go top of the leagu : Sun May 27, 2012 9:17 am  

Agree with all the posts about the unfairness of the fixtures. It doesn't matter what system is going to be used at the end of the day if there's going to be one extra fixture thrown in it's going to be unfair. Of course, the counter argument is that those twwo points don't matter as we have a play off system to determine the champions not a who finishes top system. Which is a whole different debate: Bring back the Premiership.

Re: Watched Warrington thrash Widnes and go top of the leagu : Sun May 27, 2012 9:58 am  

I think a draw should be made one week before, 2 bags, 1 bag has the top six in the league table, and 1 bag with the bottom 8, games are drawn from the bags and a ball could be drawn from a third with the day the games to be played. Sky could decide the order of the game play, or scrap the third bag if you want, what ever, but I think some kind of draw like this would be better than the farce we had on Saturday.

Rock 'n' Roll..

Re: Watched Warrington thrash Widnes and go top of the leagu : Sun May 27, 2012 12:13 pm  

Bergen Bulldog wrote:

That's the whole point, the current method for allocating the extra fixture is skewed.

If the RFL used league positions from the prior week to allocate matches this arguement wouldn't exist.

That was my point mate. I completely agree with the thread and think fixtures based on league positions would be better. I was disagreeing that if Wigan had beaten Widnes I'd think any differently.