New League Structure - Possibly

[CJ]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/40219112

[Malpas69]

From Today's South Wales Andrex...

http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/sport/ ... _WRU_boss/


Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Martyn Phillips has pledged to stop tinkering with the Principality Premiership as the top flight prepares to split into east and west conferences.

As was exclusively revealed in the Argus last month, the 16 clubs have voted to ditch the controversial January split into two tiers.

Instead they have opted for a geographical split with north Walians RGC 1404 joining the western clubs.

The quintet from the Dragons area – Newport, Ebbw Vale, Cross Keys, Bedwas and Bargoed – will join Cardiff, Pontypridd and Merthyr.

They will play each other home and away before the two conferences merge with the respective leaders rewarded with eight points and second place seven points all the way down to the bottom club carrying through a solitary point.

The clubs will then play the reverse of this season's fixtures to play a total of 29 games with the champions crowned without play-offs.

Last season’s 22-game format didn’t prove popular with supporters with clubs enduring a number of blank weekends in a fractured campaign, as well as a fixture list that could only be issued up to January.

The clubs were offered three options and, after they plumped for the east-west split, Phillips has committed to two years of the same structure.

“I’m not going to stand here and pretend everything in the garden is rosy, because we know it isn’t,” said the chief executive at the Premiership awards night at Principality Stadium.

“The feedback that I’ve had is that the start of the season worked pretty well but we lost our way from a fixture point of view into the New Year.

“We’ve done quite a lot of work and recognised that, doing work with the clubs to build on that and make next season better.

“Clearly we want the game on the pitch to be the best standard but that only works if you can make the money you need to and operate as businesses to be viable, so hopefully the changes will help in that department to get a good rugby season and a good business season all rolled into one.

“We don’t want to be a Union that controls everything and tells everybody what to do. We want to work with clubs and we have tried to work through different options for next season.

“It may not be the optimum yet but it’s certainly what clubs are looking for and we are conscious that we keep changing the format of this competition every year and that’s not the smartest way to work.

“We are pretty set that we will keep it stable for the next two years so clubs get used to the format and we let them get on with playing rugby without chopping and changing.”

[Malpas69]

So... any points gained in the first half of the season are carried over to the second half of the season with extra/bonus points (8 to 1) awarded for where you finish in your respective league?

[chris]

The extra games are great, but I would say that the East conference is significantly harder than the West.

Nevermind, i'm sure it will all change again in 12 months time (bear in mind that the WRU committed to this season's structure for 3 years, and yet here we are with a different structure 12 months later).

[CJ]

to be fair they dropped that format due to so many clubs being unhappy with it and seeing what a farce it was!

[Eye Jay]

I'm sorry I just don't see the point of this. 29 games?

If the 16 sides played each other home and away then we'd have 30 games.
Funnily enough, the most successful football leagues in the world (Premier League, La Liga in Spain) do this (albeit with 20 sides), they don't have regional splits, play offs, artificial points systems.

Under this proposal, we'll play some sides like Ponty and Merthyr 3 times and other sides once?
Is this being done to look after the clubs on the West?

[viewfromthestand]

For the life of me I cannot see how this can be considered as a viable option. It s not rocket science to run a league system . quite simply, each club plays every other team home and away. The top club are champions the bottom club are the bottom club until until ring fence is removed. Then relegated to rethink their ideas and come back in a season or two to compete again. If someone can explain the reasoning of this structure I will be only too willing to read or listen. I know our representatives have fought to get the league sorted out for the forth coming season and I applaud their efforts. it all appears to me that the WRU are clutching at straws.

[bloodknock]

Wholly agree with these views, but that is a bit too obvious for the `silly tinkermen`.

[Malpas69]

It was obviously felt that 30 fixtures was too many, so they went for 29 instead!

[CJ]

Bet RGC and Abaeravon are laughing mind!!

[robert rees]

Depends how Aberavon go next yr with a few retiring key players. Llandovery wont be easy, quins and Llanelli can often be boosted depending on scarlets involvement and recruitment.


Either way its not being done to look after teams out west, it's just another way that the WRU think they can keep the league competitive. It's just another crap solution to that theory by those in power.


But its important to remember that our own club voted for this as the best solution possible.

[RS]

But its important to remember that our own club voted for this as the best solution possible.

Rob, that would be important if it was true, but it isn't. In fact Ebbw Vale put forward a counter proposal for a straight league set up, 15 home, 15 away. This was also put to the vote but only 2 other clubs supported us.

Just wanted to clarify that!

[CJ]

Just because they make it sound like the clubs voted unanimously for this structure doesn't mean it was the case Robert.

It was voted for by the clubs means that there was a higher vote for that structure than any other proposal. I have no idea why any club would vote for anything bar a straight league!

[robert rees]

But its important to remember that our own club voted for this as the best solution possible.

Rob, that would be important if it was true, but it isn't. In fact Ebbw Vale put forward a counter proposal for a straight league set up, 15 home, 15 away. This was also put to the vote but only 2 other clubs supported us.

Just wanted to clarify that!

That's fair enough then, good to see at least a few clubs seeing sense