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Cheesie-the-Pirate said:
t-ba said:
Cheesie-the-Pirate said:
In general you'd have no real argument with not having certain teams featuring beyond round 20 as by then it's becoming quite apparent who is and isn't in finals contention and the interesting matches tend to dictate themselves - even if that does exclude Queensland teams. That said, the current contracted arrangement of progressively pushing out the schedule up to 12 weeks in the middle of the season in practice means we end up with a potential dead(ish) run of matches in the third quarter of the season. Which is exactly what happened last year. As I've said elsewhere, I'd much rather they schedule the first half of season up front and then bring it back in during the third quarter than start off short and then progressively push it out as the season unfolds.Cheesie-the-Pirate said:
Quidgybo said:
Just to follow on from my point above, I really don't understand the point of only scheduling the first five rounds up front. It's not like Nein, Fox and the NRL are really going to know much more after this weekends one round of matches than they know now about the relative form of the teams for selecting matches in rounds 6-8. Sure, by the time we get to the second half of the season it'll be important to start getting more selective in choosing matches as by then it'll have become apparent that some matches just aren't going to be very interesting in the race to the finals. But at this stage, everyone is still in contention and no trends have had a chance to become apparent. I see absolutely no value for the game or its broadcasters in delaying a decision for round 6 until only 5 weeks beforehand yet schedule rounds later in the year up to 12 weeks in advance potentially leaving the game with a dead run of showcase games just as things are getting interesting. Why not schedule the first 12 rounds entirely up front back in December the same as the rounds 1-5 and then bring it back in to six weeks for the second half of the year and even back to only one or two weeks coming into the final round?Timmah said:
Quidgybo said:
There are lots of ways we could structure it but as an example, yes schedule the first 13 rounds up front in December. But then instead of scheduling matches after round 1 or round 2 don't schedule anything else until after round 8. By that stage it has become apparent who the leading teams are and who is falling off the pace. From Round 8 schedule one additional round every week (ie. 5 weeks in advance) out to round 23. And then for the last 3 rounds bring it right back in to only one or two weeks in advance so that the deciding matches for the finals race can be showcased.Cheesie-the-Pirate said:
Rubbish. We already do that for the first, second and third weeks of the finals. The vast majority of clubs already have first refusal on their venues and we know exactly which venues will be affected in each of the two weeks literally 10 months in advance (unlike the finals venues which aren't locked in at all until the previous Sunday night). So I really don't see how putting venues on notice for the last two rounds of the season in addition to their existing stand by for finals matches is really that big a problem.Timmah said:
But really, what is even three rounds going to tell you about form for the season? We're all familiar with wonder teams of the first four rounds that then go on to a string of thrashings and miss the 8 by a long way. Why not go a bit farther, schedule 13 rounds up front and then give yourself *until* round 8 before committing to anything else? There's a lot fewer teams that will manage to maintain form across 8 rounds and then turn into pretenders than there are after only three or four rounds.eels_fan_01 said:
Well it'd be wonderful to be able to schedule all 26 rounds up front but in the real world it ain't going to happen. Giving broadcasters more freedom late in the season would be what we're willing to give up to get more certainty early in the season. At the end of the day it's only two rounds at a stage of the year when attendance figures will pretty much look after themselves even with a hit to away numbers. And for that we could get the first half to two thirds of the season locked in months in advance and dramatically help attendances during the part of the season that needs the most help. Think what that certainty will do for the numbers of traveling fans to the first seven of eight home games for each team instead of what it does to just the last game.Timmah said:
The contractual obligation to allow Nein to choose which two matches they wish to show on Friday nights. That obligation exists ostensibly so that Nein can have at least one match that rates well in Sydney and at least one match that rates well in Brisbane - by far their two biggest markets. Hence why one of the matches usually features at least one Queensland side and why the Broncos feature more often than the other Queensland teams.Knight87 said:
