Player Birthdays: September 2nd to September 6th

Player Birthdays: 
September 2nd to September 6th

fevnut's blog: Fev v Leigh

Match 29: Leigh Centurions  (Home) Championship Shield

fevnut's musings

Turmoil

When the current structure was first proposed we welcomed it. More than anything else this was because it provided a potential pathway for Championship clubs to gain promotion to Super League.

Now in its fourth year we are having serious doubts about it now. Whatever happens the first requirement is the opportunity for promotion from the Championship. But looking at what has happened since 2015 we find some very big problems with promotion via the Qualifiers. The Championship has become such an unbalanced competition with part-time clubs trying to compete with an increasing number of full-time clubs and the huge disparity between the playing budgets of the clubs. Never has that become more clear than this year when the Championship was split between six clubs competing for the four places in the Qualifiers and six more who frankly had no chance of doing anything other than trying to avoid relegation.

It ended up with just 1 point separating 2nd place from 6th and the club in 7th place gaining just half the points of the club finishing 6th. There were 72 matches between the ‘Top 6’ and the ‘Bottom 6’. Of those the Top 6 clubs won 70 matches leaving just two games, one victory for a Bottom 6 club (Batley defeating Toulouse in April) and one draw (Barrow v Toronto in February).

Both Fev and Leigh ended up missing out on the Qualifiers by just one point and both are going through a degree of turmoil as a result that this has on central funding.

Fev and Leigh

Fev are the club in less turmoil of the two. Yes, we are having to drastically cut our budget and as a result having to shed quite a few players although some exciting signings appear to be in the pipeline for 2019. On the playing side the morale of the team seems to have collapsed. After the glorious win against Toronto at the end of July we have played two games in the Championship Shield and despite winning both the standard of rugby from our team has been so poor compared to the way the team had been playing for most of the year. The performance against Batley and Rochdale was so poor that it didn’t feel like it usually does when we win.

Leigh are in considerably greater turmoil, with their owner deciding to quit and attempts to rid themselves of as many players as possible. Despite this they seem to have taken the dire circumstances on board and have turned in two quality performances in the Shield with quality victories over Sheffield (68-6) and Barrow (38-0).

When news started coming through of the state that Leigh were in, many Fev fans thought that the Championship Shield Trophy was nailed on for us. How wrong can you be! We would like to be optimistic but it’s quite difficult now. I just hope that in the last fortnight our players have been subjected to intensive therapy from a sports psychologist in order to get their heads in the right place for Sunday’s match. Everyone of them is capable of playing so much better than they showed against Batley and Rochdale and they simply have to play at their best if we are to have a chance of beating Leigh and gaining home advantage in the final on September 30th.

Challenge Cup Final

We suppose it was inevitable that those who hate having French and Canadian teams in our leagues would jump upon the low attendance at this year’s Challenge Cup Final and blame it upon the French club. fevnut makes no secret of the fact that Catalans are our favourite super league club. We are Fev through and through but as long as Catalans are not playing Fev we like to see them winning. For personal reasons, totally unconnected with rugby league, we have spent many happy times in the Perpignan area and taken advantage of opportunities to go and watch Catalans, Pia and Saint-Estève. It’s a great area and those fans who travel to matches at Stade Gilbert Brutus generally regard it as one of the highlights of their rugby league year.

To suggest that the poor attendance at the final is because of the Catalans is simplistic. Watching it there was a good core of Catalans supporters despite the huge problems and expense of them travelling at short notice on an English bank holiday weekend. Last time they were in the final (2007) the attendance was over 84,000. We believe that the diminishing attendance is primarily caused by factors (such as Super League Grand Final and Magic Weekend) that have undermined the concept of the Challenge Cup final being a festival for rugby league supporters of all clubs. This is the issue that needs to be addressed.

For all of us who love rugby league, the spreading of our game is so important. Catalans winning the Challenge Cup will undoubtedly do a huge amount of good for the sport in France and that is to the benefit of us all.

fevnut special: RFLs proposal for new structures in 2019

Here are the proposals that the RFL have circulated to the clubs for a new structure from 2019.

Q&A

PROPOSED Professional Game Structures 2019

1.  Betfred Super League

1.1 How will the revised Betfred Super League structure work?

12 teams playing each other home and away, plus x6 rounds of loop fixtures, and Magic Weekend. Each club will have 14 home games and fans will have more certainty in knowing who their team will

play each week.

There are 29 games in the regular season.

1.2 How will the Betfred Super League Champions be decided?

The top 5 teams after round 29 will go in to a play-off structure with the winner of the Betfred Super

League Grand Final being crowned Champions.

1.3 How will relegation work in the Betfred Super League?

The team that finishes bottom of the Betfred Super League at the end of Round 29 will be relegated to the Betfred Championship.

There is guaranteed one-up, one-down promotion and relegation.

See the Betfred Super League Structure graphic and Betfred Championship play-off structure

1.4 How will promotion to the Betfred Super League work?

The top five teams in the Betfred Championship will play-off to win promotion to the Betfred Super

League.

See the Betfred Super League Structure graphic and Betfred Championship play-off structure (below)

2.  Betfred Championship

2.1 How will promotion and relegation work in the Betfred Championship in 2018?

In 2018, nothing changes, and The Qualifiers will determine which teams play in the Betfred Super League in 2019. The top three teams in The Qualifiers after the seven rounds will play in the Betfred Super League in 2019 with the winner of the £1M Game claiming the final spot.

In a change to the current structure for 2018, only the team who finishes at the bottom of the

Betfred Championship Shield Super 8s will be relegated to Betfred League 1 for the 2019 season.

2.2 How will promotion from the Betfred League 1 work at the end of 2018?

To grow the Betfred Championship in 2019 to 14 teams the top two Betfred League 1 teams at the end of round 26 in 2018 will be automatically promoted to the Betfred Championship.

A third Betfred League 1 team will win promotion to the Betfred Championship for 2019 following a four-team play-off structure:

Promotion semi-final One: 3rd v 6th

Promotion semi-final Two: 4th v 5th

Promotion Final: Winner of Promotion semi-final One v Winner of Promotion semi-final Two

The Promotion Final winner will be promoted to the Betfred Championship for 2019.

2.3 How will the Betfred Championship structure work in 2019?

There will be 14 teams playing each other Home and Away plus Summer Bash.

That’s 27 games in the regular season.

There will be a top five play-off structure to determine who gains promotion to the Betfred Super

League.

The bottom two teams will be relegated.

See the Betfred Championship Structure graphic (below)