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Why your team may miss finals through no fault of their own (Jason Taylor/SMH)
The NRL draw is unfair, favouring some teams over others. In 2012, I believe there will be teams that miss out on the top eight because they were disadvantaged by the draw, not because they weren't good enough on the field.
In any given year, there will always be a significant gap between the teams at the top of the ladder and those at the bottom. We all know the salary cap forces a spread of talent, thus bringing the teams closer together. As this happens, we must also keep striving to make the draw as fair as possible.
The NRL draw is always going to be uneven because teams must play some teams once and some teams twice. With the number of teams we have, we can't go back to the old days of each team playing every other team twice, so we have to accept this. However, why do some teams play each other twice, early in the season, yet they don't play some of the other teams until the end of the year?
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The Dragons and Knights played each other in the first match of the year and they had to meet again in round seven. So after seven weeks of the competition, these two teams had played each other twice but they hadn't played eight of the teams in the competition once.
So what, I hear you ask? Well, it is this unevenness that makes the draw more unfair than it needs to be. From the beginning of the year, each team should play every other team once in their first 15 games. This would give us the most accurate indication possible of how the teams are performing in relation to each other. And this would be reflected on the ladder.
The Roosters, Gold Coast, Newcastle and Canberra are in a group of teams that are a win or two outside the top eight. The Raiders are the only team out of these four that the experts are giving a chance of making the eight. This is because they have only one more win than the others. When you look more closely at the draw, however, and the teams these four have played, things could be different if all teams had played each other at least once by this point in the season.
Although Newcastle and the Gold Coast are on the same competition points, Newcastle have actually been helped by the draw.
The Knights have played last-placed Parramatta twice and beaten them both times. The Gold Coast are not drawn to play the Eels until round 24 but they had to play the Bulldogs twice in the first 10 rounds. The Roosters, meanwhile, have had to play both last year's grand finalists - Manly and the Warriors - twice already this year and they haven't taken on the Eels yet. I understand that you can't assume the result of any game, but if the Titans and Roosters had played Parramatta this season and beaten them, they would both be in serious contention for the top eight. Canberra beat Melbourne last week to keep their hopes alive - their season was over had they lost. They too have been disadvantaged. The Raiders have been beaten twice by North Queensland but they don't get to play the team running second last, Penrith, until round 23. A win against Penrith under their belt would have the Raiders in equal eighth position.
These teams will ultimately get their chance to play the teams on the bottom of the ladder. And the two points they will earn will ultimately be on their total by the end of the year. But by then it will be too late. Being in genuine contention for the top eight at this point in the season is massive for the morale of a club. The players are excited about the big games ahead and the fans will turn out to support their team. Once a team can no longer make it to September, the opposite applies.
Playing every team once before playing some teams for the second time is the only fair way for the competition to run. This way, after 15 games, the ladder will be a genuine reflection of how the teams are performing. The teams who are in contention can then take the confidence they have developed into the remaining games. There will still be an unfairness in relation to which teams you draw for the final games but I don't see how we can change this without playing everybody twice.
The other big issue with the fairness of the draw is to do with State of Origin. Not only are the highly represented teams disadvantaged but the teams that play them during the Origin period get an advantage. Before they beat the Panthers last night, the Wests Tigers’ most recent win was against Melbourne without their rep stars. The two points the Tigers earned could get them into the final eight ahead of the teams we’ve already mentioned that have already been disadvantaged in other ways.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/l...#ixzz20ebSG6tf
Maybe we aint going as bad as we think? To play Manly and warriors twice each and still havent played Parramatta seems unfair
In any given year, there will always be a significant gap between the teams at the top of the ladder and those at the bottom. We all know the salary cap forces a spread of talent, thus bringing the teams closer together. As this happens, we must also keep striving to make the draw as fair as possible.
The NRL draw is always going to be uneven because teams must play some teams once and some teams twice. With the number of teams we have, we can't go back to the old days of each team playing every other team twice, so we have to accept this. However, why do some teams play each other twice, early in the season, yet they don't play some of the other teams until the end of the year?
Advertisement
The Dragons and Knights played each other in the first match of the year and they had to meet again in round seven. So after seven weeks of the competition, these two teams had played each other twice but they hadn't played eight of the teams in the competition once.
So what, I hear you ask? Well, it is this unevenness that makes the draw more unfair than it needs to be. From the beginning of the year, each team should play every other team once in their first 15 games. This would give us the most accurate indication possible of how the teams are performing in relation to each other. And this would be reflected on the ladder.
The Roosters, Gold Coast, Newcastle and Canberra are in a group of teams that are a win or two outside the top eight. The Raiders are the only team out of these four that the experts are giving a chance of making the eight. This is because they have only one more win than the others. When you look more closely at the draw, however, and the teams these four have played, things could be different if all teams had played each other at least once by this point in the season.
Although Newcastle and the Gold Coast are on the same competition points, Newcastle have actually been helped by the draw.
The Knights have played last-placed Parramatta twice and beaten them both times. The Gold Coast are not drawn to play the Eels until round 24 but they had to play the Bulldogs twice in the first 10 rounds. The Roosters, meanwhile, have had to play both last year's grand finalists - Manly and the Warriors - twice already this year and they haven't taken on the Eels yet. I understand that you can't assume the result of any game, but if the Titans and Roosters had played Parramatta this season and beaten them, they would both be in serious contention for the top eight. Canberra beat Melbourne last week to keep their hopes alive - their season was over had they lost. They too have been disadvantaged. The Raiders have been beaten twice by North Queensland but they don't get to play the team running second last, Penrith, until round 23. A win against Penrith under their belt would have the Raiders in equal eighth position.
These teams will ultimately get their chance to play the teams on the bottom of the ladder. And the two points they will earn will ultimately be on their total by the end of the year. But by then it will be too late. Being in genuine contention for the top eight at this point in the season is massive for the morale of a club. The players are excited about the big games ahead and the fans will turn out to support their team. Once a team can no longer make it to September, the opposite applies.
Playing every team once before playing some teams for the second time is the only fair way for the competition to run. This way, after 15 games, the ladder will be a genuine reflection of how the teams are performing. The teams who are in contention can then take the confidence they have developed into the remaining games. There will still be an unfairness in relation to which teams you draw for the final games but I don't see how we can change this without playing everybody twice.
The other big issue with the fairness of the draw is to do with State of Origin. Not only are the highly represented teams disadvantaged but the teams that play them during the Origin period get an advantage. Before they beat the Panthers last night, the Wests Tigers’ most recent win was against Melbourne without their rep stars. The two points the Tigers earned could get them into the final eight ahead of the teams we’ve already mentioned that have already been disadvantaged in other ways.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/l...#ixzz20ebSG6tf
Maybe we aint going as bad as we think? To play Manly and warriors twice each and still havent played Parramatta seems unfair
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