PNG's back.

[Loose Cannon]

Hang on, all these plans with conferences - some Sydney-based, some far-flung - surely that just exacerbates the travel inequity in the competition?

Much fairer if we just eventually get the competition to 22 or 24 teams & just have everyone play everyone ONCE with some kinda wildcard weekend before the playoffs.

This is the ideal system, except I don’t like the wildcard (or rivalry) addendum.

I can’t see the point in making it an even draw, but then butchering it.

 

[MugaB]

Hang on, all these plans with conferences - some Sydney-based, some far-flung - surely that just exacerbates the travel inequity in the competition?

Much fairer if we just eventually get the competition to 22 or 24 teams & just have everyone play everyone ONCE with some kinda wildcard weekend before the playoffs.

The conference system is meant to boost and create more rivalries, to do that, we need to group in the far away places closer to the cluster of nsw teams, and split them up aswell as they are already rivals in themselves
Making the expansion clubs only having to travel to Sydney moreso than have to travel to the outskirts of the competition
The competition will never be fair, but to give expansion areas less travel as possible is a better outcome

 

[Vee]

^^^
This would guarantee that something like 1 in 3 matches is a conference match and the finals knock-out would build those rivalries every year!

And save the Sydney teams having to travel.

 

[flippikat]

This is the ideal system, except I don’t like the wildcard (or rivalry) addendum.

I can’t see the point in making it an even draw, but then butchering it.

Well... the idea is that if we have (say) 24 teams, limiting ourselves to a top-8 playoffs means that there's gonna ba a whole lot more "dead games" in the last month or two.

If we have a wildcard weekend where (say) teams 7, 8, 9 and 10 play for the last 2 spots in the playoffs PROPER, then it gives some teams on the fringe a bit of hope.. even though they'd still be faced with a sudden-death run.

10 teams out of 24 also means it's likely that all teams in the playoffs AND wildcard will have win/loss records that are more wins than losses too.

 

[AlwaysGreen]

You need a conference type system in the US because you have 31 or 32 teams.

With 20 it's not necessary

 

[chrisD]

Conference idea sucks.

 

[MugaB]

You need a conference type system in the US because you have 31 or 32 teams.

With 20 it's not necessary

The point is to create more interest, and have a reason to play each clubs twice and others once, you could in theory give a winning team 3 points in a game within it own conference, that would make the local derby more exciting, imagine knowing you could boost your ladder position just by playing a local rival

 

[Santino Patane]

Id go 4 groups of 5

East Sydney (Victor Trumper Shield)
1. South Sydney Rabbitohs
2. St George Illawarra Dragons
3. Sydney Roosters
4. Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
5. Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks

West Sydney (JJ Giltinan Shield?)
1. Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
2. Wests Tigers
3. Penrith Panthers
4. Parramatta Eels
5. Newcastle Knights / Canberra Raiders

QLD+ (Arthur Beetson Shield)
1. Brisbane Broncos
2. Gold Coast Titans
3. Redcliffe Dolphins
4. PNG Hunters
5. North Queensland Cowboys

Outsiders (Dally Messanger Shield?; he played for the All Golds)
1. New Zealand Warriors
2. NZ 2
3. Perth
4. Canberra Raiders / Newcastle Knights
5. Melbourne Storm

Finals is Top 3 from each conference
2nd v 3rd
Winner vs first (Conference Final for the Shield)

Winners of conferences join final 4 playoff.

The only Conference break up that is fair and worthwhile is @MugaB set up. Your “Outsiders” division is an absolute sh*tfight and those clubs would be rightfully pissed off to have the setup. Plus having exclusively Sydney conferences should be a complete no. Let’s start thinking like a National Comp, huh??

 

[Pippen94]

There's going to twenty teams. How many rounds do people think will be played?! Teams will only play only strongest rivals twice. Maybe 4 divisions. Sydney conference won't have big travel advantage.

 

[Perth Red]

The only Conference break up that is fair and worthwhile is @MugaB set up. Your “Outsiders” division is an absolute sh*tfight and those clubs would be rightfully pissed off to have the setup. Plus having exclusively Sydney conferences should be a complete no. Let’s start thinking like a National Comp, huh??

when some all sydney games struggle to get 12k I think we can put the 'derby' argument to bed!

 

[Éamonn an Chnoic]

Hang on, all these plans with conferences - some Sydney-based, some far-flung - surely that just exacerbates the travel inequity in the competition?

Much fairer if we just eventually get the competition to 22 or 24 teams & just have everyone play everyone ONCE with some kinda wildcard weekend before the playoffs.

That doesn’t show the quality it just change it. If all of the teams only play each other once then you’ll only need to travel to visit part of the team.

Then we will just get complaints about needing to travel to New Zealand and New Guinea instead of posting

You would also lose lots of the big rivalry rivals only play each other once

I have a lot more respect for the NFL system that has changed by their conference rival twice and external team potentially only each two or three years

 

[Éamonn an Chnoic]

Yeah I’m really not sure why people are so keen to get conferences- as you said it’s fine and rosey for Sydney clubs as it gets rid of that pesky travel for them but puts a bigger burden on those who already have travel disadvantages.
Just play each other once with rotating home and away and it takes a hell of a lot of inequality out of the draw. Having rival games more often tends to dilute the prestige of them.
At 20 team have top ten, 1-6 go straight through to week 2 teams 7-10 play off for the top 8

No System is perfect. All you can do is prioritise somethings over others. I personally don’t see a huge value in balancing travel schedules. I would much rather see a focus on rivalries.

The great thing about a conference system(under the potential final season that can be built off that) is the guarantee of arrival games. I also think once you get too many teams in the comp the ladder can be hard to frame. Conferences can break that down to make it easier than to see how each team is doing with a small group

 

[MugaB]

The only Conference break up that is fair and worthwhile is @MugaB set up. Your “Outsiders” division is an absolute sh*tfight and those clubs would be rightfully pissed off to have the setup. Plus having exclusively Sydney conferences should be a complete no. Let’s start thinking like a National Comp, huh??

Here is made the split for those who cannot envisage the localities/areas these clubs are at

Of course the Sydney aspect is exaggerated, but it shows the direction of which pool gets viewed as which club
Also Tigers in campbelltown,
Dragons in Wollongong

 

[Éamonn an Chnoic]

And save the Sydney teams having to travel.

That’s always going to be the reality. I’d be interested to see how much teams would actually suffer from this

For example Perth will need to fly for every home game so it is a four hour trip to Sydney so much better than a six hour trip to New Zealand. Even if it is it would only be maybe two more times per year and they would see under the current system

Similarly Sydney teams already spent most of the time taking buses to play against Sydney team.

I am much more interested in a schedule that focuses on building rivalries and playing as many of these rivsl games as possible

 

[MugaB]

That’s always going to be the reality. I’d be interested to see how much teams would actually suffer from this

For example Perth will need to fly for every home game so it is a four hour trip to Sydney so much better than a six hour trip to New Zealand. Even if it is it would only be maybe two more times per year and they would see under the current system

Similarly Sydney teams already spent most of the time taking buses to play against Sydney team.

I am much more interested in a schedule that focuses on building rivalries and playing as many of these rivsl games as possible

The more you play each other the more the rivalries cement, the only reason people view certain rivalries now, is coz they've been around longer and had more intense clashes, finals etc..
Nswrl clubs are all rivals to each other.. got to get the "Outside Sydney"sides in their own rivals.

Take gold coast for example who would be their rivaly, or Canberra?
Titans v Broncos, Raiders vs Storm it should be
With the next few expansion teams coming an NZ2 vs Warriors, and PnG vs Cowboys
Forget about the Sydney rivalries, they've had the bulk of it since it's existence, the game needs to see more than just two Sydney sides selling rivalries

 

[Éamonn an Chnoic]

Here is made the split for those who cannot envisage the localities/areas these clubs are at
View attachment 97685
Of course the Sydney aspect is exaggerated, but it shows the direction of which pool gets viewed as which club
Also Tigers in campbelltown,
Dragons in Wollongong

That is a very nice split!

It doesn’t capture every rivalry, but I don’t think it needs to. And with time it would build up some killer new rivalries.

I do still think that the key would be some kind of final system with the top three knockout and only one from each conference going through.

The obvious disadvantage is that you would never say two teams from the same conference play against each other in a grand final. But I do think you’re getting a whole lot.

-Rather than a great match up in a grand final (that would statistically happen about once every 190 years or so) we would guarantee for conference finals between big rival teams every year
- We would also be more likely to get a good spread of teams from different areas
-It would give more people an angle to watch the grand final from; cheering for or against the winner of their conference

 

[MugaB]

That is a very nice split!

It doesn’t capture every rivalry, but I don’t think it needs to. And with time it would build up some killer new rivalries.

I do still think that the key would be some kind of final system with the top three knockout and only one from each conference going through.

The obvious disadvantage is that you would never say two teams from the same conference play against each other in a grand final. But I do think you’re getting a whole lot.

-Rather than a great match up in a grand final (that would statistically happen about once every 190 years or so) we would guarantee for conference finals between big rival teams every year
- We would also be more likely to get a good spread of teams from different areas
-It would give more people an angle to watch the grand final from; cheering for or against the winner of their conference

Simple top 2 from each pool go to finals
In a top8 just like we do now

I would also allocate 3 points for a win against a team within your conference, which would hurt moreso if you lost it

 

[Wb1234]

There's going to twenty teams. How many rounds do people think will be played?! Teams will only play only strongest rivals twice. Maybe 4 divisions. Sydney conference won't have big travel advantage.

22 games is what they are aiming for the next tv deal

 

[Éamonn an Chnoic]

The more you play each other the more the rivalries cement, the only reason people view certain rivalries now, is coz they've been around longer and had more intense clashes, finals etc..
Nswrl clubs is all rivals to each other.. got to get the "Outside Sydney"sides in their own rivals.

Take gold coast for example who would be their rivaly, or Canberra?
Titans v Broncos, Raiders vs Storm it should be
With the next few expansion teams coming an NZ2 vs Warriors, and PnG vs Cowboys
Forget about the Sydney rivalries, they've had the bulk of it since it's existence, the game needs to see more than just two Sydney sides selling rivalries

I actually agree with you on that, you could almost do a random selection and as long as the conferences stay the same and the teams with these conferences are directly knocking each other out of each final series, these rivalries would become massive very quickly

I think the spread you suggested works well. I’d give each group a name. (Dally m, jj giltinan, etc) and have them play for their shield to replace the minor premiership.

 

[Perth Red]

The more you play each other the more the rivalries cement, the only reason people view certain rivalries now, is coz they've been around longer and had more intense clashes, finals etc..
Nswrl clubs are all rivals to each other.. got to get the "Outside Sydney"sides in their own rivals.

Take gold coast for example who would be their rivaly, or Canberra?
Titans v Broncos, Raiders vs Storm it should be
With the next few expansion teams coming an NZ2 vs Warriors, and PnG vs Cowboys
Forget about the Sydney rivalries, they've had the bulk of it since it's existence, the game needs to see more than just two Sydney sides selling rivalries

Games become too sanitised for any real rivalries to develop these days.
Storm v Manly was brewing nicely but has petered away.

Why would PNG have any natural sort of rivalry with cowboys?
Perth v Manly, possibly Perth v Melbourne if we poach some of their players and lay the boot in a bit using the AFL angle is an obvious potential
and Auckland v Christchurch, if it happens, is a natural potential.