TIME FOR THE INTRODUCTION OF PLAY-OFFS IN NATIONAL RUGBY
A possible Play Off System for National League Rugby – by Mark Nelson
I’ve been having a look at how this could be organised. Can I state categorically that this is NOT an official system but one I have devised to fit the rationale of maximum involvement and opportunity for promotion or jeopardy of relegation … in other words you are never out of the hunt until you get knocked out in a play off game in the promotion race or win a game in the relegation dog fight. So as not to upset anyone in our own league I have used the N2 East league positions as of April 6th to outline a proposed system on promotion and relegation. Now the following model will send shivers through many areas of the club game but, as I say, it is on the cards and this is a format that would involve every team in the League. In order for it to fit, I would also suggest starting the season a week earlier at the last weekend in August, playing on Easter Saturday and dropping one of the ‘weather weekends’. It may not appeal to everyone but one thing that is sure about the set up is ….it would make things very interesting and there would be very few, if any, games that were meaningless in terms of the effect of the result. Also, how knife edge would those end of season play off games be??? END OF REGULAR SEASON TABLE AFTER 26 GAMES (top 6 sides go into Promotion Play Offs, sides 7 – 14 go into Relegation Play Offs)
There has been quite a lot of speculation as to how the RFU will react to the 2nd resolution passed at the SGM which was passed by 554 to 127. It was effectively directing the RFU to engage in formal consultation with the “wider game“ on future decisions that affect the game as a whole. By the way, will someone please think of appropriate nouns for level 3 and 4 and possibly 5, than The ‘Community Game’ or ‘Grassroots Clubs’. I digress. In short, hopefully “The Game“ will be now asked to contribute to the decisions taken on a regular basis and people who are active at the coalface be asked to actually be in meetings . That’s if we are “The Coalface Clubs“ !!!. That being the case, one implementation I have heard that is gathering momentum, is that a Play Off system will be introduced in The National Leagues. This could also be rolled out across the rest of the leagues. It would revolutionise the leagues and not only affect promotion but also relegation. The premise is that as the leagues progress post-Christmas, many clubs find themselves in a kind of ‘mid table mediocrity’ situation. Too far behind the promotion place (as it stands just one club goes up) and far enough ahead of the bottom slots where two go down and on some occasions, like this year, maybe only one goes down from one of the leagues. Therefore, there can be a lack of ‘edge’ and ‘outcome’ in many games other than the natural competitiveness of the players and coaches. If there was a play off process at the end of the regular campaign then that would keep every match “relevant“ right through to the end of the season. I believe that they will want these play offs to run ‘deep’ involving the vast majority of the clubs in the league. It will not only keep things interesting it gives the opportunity for an extra home game or two at the end of the season.
PROMOTION PLAY OFF (Top 6) Week 1 Knock out round 5th O Albanians v 6th Westcombe Park ( Winner Knock Out Round WKOR )
Week 2 SEMI FINAL 1st leg 1st Tonbridge V. WKOR. 2nd Dorking. V. Barnes
Semi A Semi B
Week 3 SEMI FINAL 2nd leg WKOR. V. Tonbridge Barnes. V. Dorking Week 4. FINAL Winner Semi A V. Winner Semi B WINNER PROMOTED
RELEGATION PLAY OFF
Week 1 KNOCK OUT ROUND 7th Guernsey V. 10th Sevenoakes Loser KO1 8th Henley. V. 9th Bury St Edmunds Loser KO2 11th Oxford Q. V. 14th Worthing Loser KO3 12th Havant V. 13th Colchester Loser KO4 Winners remain in league. Losers go forward to Relegation Play off Finals
Week 2 RELEGATION PLAY OFF FINALS 1st Leg
Loser KO4. V Loser KO1 Loser KO3. V Loser KO2
1.
Tonbridge
2. 3. 4. 5.
Dorking Barnes
Week 3. RELEGATION PLAY OFF FINALS 2nd Leg
Canterbury O Albanians
Loser KO1. V Loser KO4 Loser KO2. V Loser KO3
6. Westcombe Park ----------- --------------------- 7. Guernsey 8. Henley 9. Bury St Edmunds 10. Sevenoakes 11. Oxford Quins 12. Havant 13. Colchester 14. Worthing
Winners of RELEGATION PLAY OFF FINALS stay up. Loser of both PLAY OFF FINALS relegated.
ENDS.
33
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker