On my long and lonely train ride from ANZ Stadium yesterday after witnessing my Dragons crash and burn, I had plenty of time to ponder about life, and more importantly, rugby league.
Heading into the final round, only the Cowboys and Dragons could still qualify, but neither really deserved to be there.
The Dragons’ record of 12 wins, 12 losses, should have seen them well out of contention, but they came very close to qualifying, and in fact, they led the Bulldogs by six with just 15 minutes remaining.
The Cowboys have battled on bravely without Johnathan Thurston and qualify following a loss to the Broncos and the Dragons going down, hardly reason to get excited is it?
A top six would ensure only the best teams qualify for the business end of the season and would reduce the finals period to three weeks. This format would ensure that teams aren’t making the finals with inferior records, see the Titans of 2016 which made the finals despite losing more games than they won.
Over the last ten seasons, teams have needed 14 wins to finish sixth, on six occasions, which is a pretty decent season and deserving of a tilt at the top prize.
(AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
Go all the way back to 2002, and the Dragons made the finals despite winning just nine games all season, an embarrassment to the NRL and something that should never happen; we should be rewarding consistency, not mediocrity.
Based on the 2017 season, both the Panthers and Cowboys wouldn’t be playing next week, and neither deserve to with 13-win, 11-loss records, whereas Manly, at sixth, have a pretty impressive 14-win, 10-loss record and deserve to be there.
Having eight teams qualify for the finals in a 16 team competition cheapens the idea of actually qualifying because you know your team has a 50 per cent chance of making it. By introducing a top-six finals format, they would really have to earn their spot.
A top six, based on 2017 standings, could see Melbourne take on Manly, Roosters take on Sharks and finally the Broncos and Eels doing battle in week one, with the two lowest placed losers eliminated.
Yes, that’s right, if both Melbourne and the Roosters are upset in week one, I’m prepared to see them eliminated; this is the NRL, not backyard footy.
That reduces the competition to four teams, essentially bringing the preliminary finals forward a week, the winners advancing to the decider.
I’ve never been a fan of teams getting a second chance in the finals. I know they should be rewarded for great seasons, but the reward is that they head into the business end of the season in top form, and will be very hard to beat.
Adam
Guest
Season definitely needs to be shortened and Iike your idea of a rep period, we could play Origin then as stand alone fixtures and some Tests as well. I'd reduce the season to 20 games, no byes. These players are paid big bucks to play, and TV networks are pouring millions into the game so no byes for me, just a 10 week sprint, rep period, another 10 weeks and a top 6 finals, none of this top 8 rubbish.
Adam
Guest
As opposed to now when teams start Mad Monday when their season ends? Nothing changes, just a more competitive fight for finals instead of teams like the Panthers and Cowboys limping in.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Great comment Jara...
Beergardener
Roar Pro
I've only really been interested in the games involving two top eight teams in the last few weeks. E.g. Tigers vs Warriors held very little interest for me, even Parra vs Souths was not very exciting as Parra could basically only finish 4th. Sorta-separate but sorta-related issue, and this is just the way I see it, is that as a Brisbane fan I see a lot of games as being between JAST (just another Sydney team). I like to see non-Sydney teams make the finals and win it, or lose it in the case of Melbourne cos I hate them. With less teams in the finals, my other problem would be that there would likely be less non-Sydney teams (statistically less likely as there are less of them), and so the fairytale wins would be rarer.
Beergardener
Roar Pro
Which leads to two (separate) weeks off, dulls momentum. Also still gives a second chance to the loser of the 1vs2 game, something the author said he's against
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
I don't think the NRL needs to shorten up the top 8. Apart from the facts stated above about fan involvement, extra games and revenue etc etc, there's also the thought that with expansion expected to come in twos, and after the force axing I'd say it'll come sooner rather than later. Having those extra two teams will pretty much negate any arguement about mediocrity being rewarded (which if we're honest isn't really an issue anyway). A More important issue is the length of the season. I think the NRL needs to shorten the season to 22 matches per side. Play 12 straight rounds with each team getting a bye, have a three week break for rep footy, then play the next 12 rounds with each team getting a bye. Bye rounds coming in middle of each block of 12 rounds. 4 round finals series as per usual. Need 2 or 4 more teams to make it happen though to offset the rounds lost with more games. Still pretty long and a bit of a burden on the star players but I think it's feasible.
Paul Chapman
Guest
Sorry, I meant 10 teams not 12.
Paul Chapman
Guest
Adam the present system of 8 teams in the semi finals keeps a lot of interest by clubs & fans (supporters). Your top 6 would leave too many clubs with "dead rubbers" like the old top 5. 12 teams would start their mad Monday as soon as they realised that they were out of the top 6. If it ain't broken don't fix it.
Dan
Guest
The Queensland Cup has a top six format. The top two play each other in week two and the winner goes straight to the GF. The loser from the top two faces the team that's left standing from the bottom 4 for another shot at the big dance.
Jara W
Guest
One win?!? Hard to put too much weight on gauging a teams success based on that. The draw is uneven. "Success" could be achieved as simply as not playing Melbourne at home. The Origin period, not playing every team twice, turnarounds. Really you could argue positions on the NRL ladder are subjective. And I'd say Top 8 is a great tolerance for that.
Kilgore Trout
Roar Rookie
The top 8 finals system is probably one of the things in the NRL that doesn't need changing . Anything that keeps more teams and fans interested for longer is a good thing . History shows that it's all about making the top 4 anyway . The quality rises and as a bonus , plenty of players get finals experience that will serve them well down the track . Implementing a relegation system however , would really up the ante .... but in a limited marketplace it's never going to happen . It would be a way for the Bears to get back into the NRL though . Glebe and Newtown as well !
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
Not before Glebe and the Newtown Jets.
Albo
Guest
I am happy with the current top 8 system. Particularly this year when there is only a couple of wins difference between 7 of the 8 teams and the competition was alive till the 2nd last game on Sunday. It keeps more interest for more clubs right to the end of the season. Sure the bottom half rarely progress past week 2, but I am not so sure that will be the norm this year. If you don't have a top 8, I'm not sure why we would bother with a finals series at all ? Just have premiers as first past the post ? But then risk losing a lot of interest early in the season if a team like the Storm dominate like this year.
Big Daddy
Guest
Amen to that.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Booooo!!! ? Hope you're well and good luck for the semis!
Wayne Lovell
Roar Guru
I'm not taking your bait today Baz?
Nat
Roar Guru
Over the last few weeks, the only interesting points of discussion were around who were going to fill out from 2 to 8. Given a particular result or scoreline, either Broncos, Parra or Easts could have dropped into the bottom 4 While Knights and Wests games were dead rubbers, Raiders, Saints, NQ and Panthers fans were on egde - right up to 6pm Sunday. Surely, as a spectacle, the more teams and fans invested leading up too and into the finals is more attractive on the whole?
Magnus M. Østergaard
Roar Guru
West of Sydney Magpies (Perth) and North of Sydney Bears (Brisbane) perhaps TB?
Magnus M. Østergaard
Roar Guru
Why dont we just take it all the way to first past the post and not have a finals series? I wouldnt have a clue how a top 7 will work tbh just throiwng them out there. I dont have a problem with the current top 8 and I havent seen any reasonable arguments to even consider changing it.
Magnus M. Østergaard
Roar Guru
As a Cowboys fan, we lose them for maybe just 1 game next year with only another 1 being affected by a short turnaround. Im not worried at all. Morgan played 23/24 games this regular season.