Whether a team takes part in the NRL finals or not more often than not defines whether they’ve had a successful season.
Yet the common theory is that if they’ve finished in the bottom half of the eight, they have little chance of winning the competition.
On top of this, with the system we now have in place, it’s nearly as important to finish in the top two, as in some years the teams finishing fifth and sixth have an advantage over third and fourth – they play at home against much weaker opposition, so feasibly could come into the next game much fresher.
(Oh, that reminds me, it’s also a pretty complicated system!)
The first week of the finals creates a final six that, as it stands, can be viewed as a giant waste of time. It’s also unfair on the top teams, who battle it out in Week 1 only to shuffle the order around to work out which teams earns a break the following week. But haven’t the top two already earned a break?
Let’s cut to the chase – ditch the final eight and go to a final six!
A top eight weakens the integrity of the competition in that it rewards mediocrity. It’s not uncommon for the eighth ranked team to have a negative points differential. Do we really want that in a premiership team?
I’m not attacking any team in particular, only the system itself (even though, as a proud descendant of Danish Vikings, I am appalled at the appropriation of my culture).
(Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
There are many who complain that the season is too long. Well, here’s a week less for you!
As to the main arguments in favour of an eight…
It creates interest
Does it, though?
If your team manages to claw its way into eighth, do you really think you’re going to the big dance? And as I’ve suggested, do they even deserve to?
Have Raiders fans started to book their accommodation in anticipation of being there when Mal Meninga blows the horn they borrowed from the Minnesota Vikings? Maybe they have. Good luck to you!
And do you not have interest in your team anyway, regardless of where they stand on the ladder? Wests Tigers were already guaranteed the wooden spoon last Sunday, yet Leichhardt Oval was packed with over 10,000 fans – mostly wearing gold and black.
And this year there were plenty of teams vying for sixth place right up to the end of the season, so there would’ve been just as much so-called ‘interest’.
It creates the possibility of a fairy-tale finish
Look, I don’t want to sound cold-hearted, because I’m not – dogs and cats love me! But I don’t care!
Cinderella deserved to be at the ball. Snow White deserved to wake up. Rapunzel deserved to be rescued from her tower (although why she didn’t just cut off her hair, tie it to something and climb down herself, I’ll never know).
But the team finishing halfway down the ladder doesn’t really deserve to be our champion.
The finals is a new competition
Well, yes, sort of… but it isn’t.
The NRL makes revenue from gate receipts
And there you have it! Money rules – I wouldn’t be surprised if we got a final ten in a few years! It’s the same reason why we have the grand final in a stadium where you need binoculars from even the best seats, and the same reason why we have a night-time decider (even though it would still be the highest rating program of the year if was played in the daytime).
Alright, you’ve convinced me! I can’t compete with that. The eight is here to stay and there’s nothing I can do about it!
Go out and enjoy, and may your team make you proud in victory or defeat.
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Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
1. The NRL put a team into the home of Australian Football to expand their market. They only had to show Victorians that a RL grand final is great contest unlike the AFL grand final the day before. 2. There have been others. In 1963 the referee was seen betting on a Saints victory after having lost three games to Wests. In 1985 Jim Comans told Steve Mortimer that RL would be a memory if he was sent off again. In the grand final Peter Kelly knocks out Graeme Wynn with a coward's punch from behind and is not even penalised. Can you explain that Tim?
zonecadet
Roar Rookie
Soccer juniors DO NOT watch the A-league at all and certainly don't attend games. They watch all the overseas leagues. RU doesn't matter, very niche sport. There are more than enough juniors playing RL in NSW and QLD - that's where money needs to go but that doesn't mean you don't have teams outside of those states. The NRL is a professional money making league, that's all that matters to them really. The juniors just happen. Now if they really cared about juniors (and the mothers of juniors) they'd stamp out the thuggery and do something about concussions..... every wobbly legged player that the TV beams into our lounge rooms is doing more to dissuade parents that RL is the game for their boys and/or girls.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
Why do you think the NRL put a team into Melbourne?
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
It would be interesting to hear what Tim thought of the 1985 grand final where Peter Kelly knocks out Graeme Wynn with a coward's punch from behind and is not even penalised.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
The NRL should be concerned about juniors. Who's going to play the game that NRL is selling to the broadcaster. The kids playing AF, RU and Soccer will watch the game they play. That shrinks the RL market.
zonecadet
Roar Rookie
So when the "got Bellamy" was that the NRL too? Following your logic the whole Salary Cap scandal would never have happened as it presented a real threat to the existence of the club.
zonecadet
Roar Rookie
The NRL doesn't get TV money (their lifeblood) based on how many juniors there are anywhere, let alone Melbourne. It's about eyes on the screen. Melbourne is a bigger market than Perth.
zonecadet
Roar Rookie
Confucius say "no team beats another 4 times in a season". Simple. Storm finished 4th in the just their 2nd season. Dragons finished 6th. Dragons did well in those early games but fell short when it counted most. Play the game again, they maybe win, maybe not. Hard to believe anyone could live with the belief the NRL 'fixed' the Grand Final and is still following the game. Did the 'fixing' stop there or do they do it every now and again for fun? BTW, how'd the Dragins go in 2000 down in Melbourne in the GF rematch? Another 'fix'?
zonecadet
Roar Rookie
The Melbourne Storm were formed by Super League before the war ended. I have Super League badged merchandise. So, the NRL was doing a Super League team a favour, how does Gus Gould feel about that.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Not just a conspiracy, a conspiracy that the NRL came up with at half time !!!
The Barry
Roar Guru
Tim - ask him about the 1985 grand final sometime… no, don’t
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
Maybe. If the Dragons score the Storm will react and play a different game.
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
would have been a different result if Mundine had passed the ball!
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
Rugby League is doing well outside Australia but putting a team in Melbourne, the home of Australian Football, was never going to work without help from the NRL. They've always been strong and have won premierships and lost a couple through chxxxing the salary cap. Having a great team doesn't mean much to Victorians who have their own game that they love. Am I wrong to say they have made little progress in numbers of juniors playing the game? Perth would be better as they have a bigger local competition but the NRL has found the travel is too expensive. This is probably why they went to Melbourne.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
Rugby League is doing well outside Australia but putting a team in Melbourne, the home of Australian Football, was never going to work without help from the NRL. They've always been strong and have won premierships and lost a couple through cheating the salary cap but having a great team doesn't mean much to Victorians who have their own game that they love. Am I wrong to say they have made little progress in numbers of juniors playing the game? Perth would be better as they have a bigger local competition but the NRL has found the travel is too expensive. This is probably why they went to Melbourne. represent
Dumbo
Roar Rookie
I prefer an eight without the “week off” preferential treatment given under the current system. All matches played at large, neutral stadiums. Week1: Quarter finals: Four matches: Odds: 1v7, 3v5, and Evens 2v8, 4v6. Losers eliminated. Week2: Semi finals: Winner of 1v7 plays winner of 4v6. Winner of 3v5 plays winner of 2v8 Week3: (Grand) final: Played between the two winners of the semi-finals. Only seven matches not the current nine, so Fox/Channel9 would not be happy. However, the finals are over in three weeks not four, so there is an extra round available for the “standard” season, which would yield an extra eight matches.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
1. Laying on the tackled player. Storm were allowed to lay on the Dragons and the Dragons had to get off. No need for any crooked calls as there was only 12 points in it. 2. They only needed to make it a close game to contrast it with the boring one sided game that AFL grand final dished up the day before. 3. What happens on the weekend has nothing to do with the 1999 grand final.
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
1. No, I don't. All you have is a theory. You haven't brought up a single questionable call to support your claim. 2. Actually, Norths going insolvent in 1999 prior to the JV killed Norths. Not saying the clubs wanted to merge, rather that the NRL wanted them to. 3. The Superleague administration put a team in Melbourne to replace the debt-ridden Perth franchise. That occured prior to the peace deal. Aside from the salary cap allowances, which were more favourable to the Dragons than the Storm, can you provide any evidence (not just a theory) of the NRL giving Melbourne a leg-up? Actually, don't bother. I know you can't, and I already waste enough time on this site arguing with the anti-vaxxers to continue arguing with the sporting equivalent of an election denier.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
1. The three easy wins and a good lead at half time was enough for the NRL to give some help to their aim of expanding the game. Don't you think that was suspicious? 2. No club wants to merge with their old rivals. Manly and Norths killed Norths. 3. The incident didn't affect the NRL's desire to help Melbourne in 1999. Why do you think they put a team in Melbourne?
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
1. So, we've reached the point of saying a change in momentum decided the result. Go on nrl.com, watch the replay that is free to access, and provide a sequence of intentional erroneous calls by the refereeing team to justify your claims of crookedness. 2. I'm sure they did. Doesn't mean they're going to rig their showpiece event to do so. 3. No, but the AFL have always been better managed than the NRL. Draft picks, cost of living allowances, etc, were the kinds of advantages offered. Unrelated to my question though.