I remember when I was in Primary School and we had our Library lessons, ever so often you’d pick up one of those choose your own adventure books, skip through all the directing pages, and just get to the end and see what happens.
Yeah, Primary School was the best 17 years of my life.
Well it seems someone at the RFL has the same fond memories I do, and that seems to be what is behind this ridiculous plan to let teams chose their own playoff opponent.
This would never happen in Australia.
First of all, we refuse to support mickey mouse concepts like this, and as soon as some official gave hint of the idea to the media, the next week would see it being thrashed by all and sundry until someone come out and said “We never planned to do anything like this in the first place so don’t worry”.
Then you have to consider the situation that one club, I higher ranked club, basically calls out an opposition with the idea that they are easier to beat than everyone else.
Doing that in Australia would be asking to get a humiliating thrashing.
Still, that’s whats going to happen in England with the new Super League playoff system, and while the consequences won’t be the same, the mickey mouse nature will definantly be there for all to see.
Considering the absolute humiliation and realization that the England game is dying, I’d have thought the last thing the RFL would have been trying to do is destroy the integrity of the Australia/New Zealand second division comp they have built in Super League.
Super League is the only thing in the UK that Rugby League has going for it, and yet ridiculous decision like this will see general sports fans and the media write it off as some joke.
Just look at what the farce over the signing of Dwayne Chambers did to the game, it was a laughing stock!
Can you imagine the horrible spectacle of watching some smug top three club on Sky naming a much weaker opponent for their next match?
It makes me sick to even think about it!
Then again it will probably go a long way to stroking the right ego’s within the British game. The same people who parade around northern England thinking they are the ducks guts, but at the same time making sure that they never get tested against the worlds best and have their little comfort zones shattered.
Then again when that does happens, as we saw just a few weeks ago, they just say they didn’t play their best and move on anyway.
This system is a farce, and every fan of the game should call their local club and the RFL itself and make their voices heard.
