Rugby league will head into the unknown following this weekend’s final round of regular season fixtures, as the sport’s bold new era heads towards the business end of the season. Come Sunday night the top two divisions – Super League and the Championship – will split into three tiers of eight when, following a break for the Challenge Cup semi-finals, the Super 8s begins for the first time.
How does it work? At the top, Super League’s top eight will break away to continue on the road to the Grand Final, playing each other once in a seven-game season before the top four teams contest the semi-finals in a play-off system; first plays fourth, second plays third before the winners meet at Old Trafford in October. All eight sides carry their points over from the previous 23 games, giving an advantage to those who performed better in the regular season.
But it is below that where things become really interesting, as the bottom four teams in Super League join up with the top four from the Championship to compete in the Qualifiers – but unlike in Super League, all eight teams in that mini-league will start the next part of the season on zero points.
The top three clubs at the end of the Qualifiers are guaranteed Super League status next year, with the final spot in Super League decided by what the RFL are calling the Million-Pound Game – a play-off between the clubs finishing fourth and fifth, with fourth getting home advantage. The loser of that game and the sides sixth to eighth start 2016 in the Championship.
As for the bottom eight in the Championship, they all play each other once in a competition named the Championship Shield, which ultimately determines who drops into to League 1, with the bottom two sides relegated after seven games. For those at the top of that mini-league, first will play fourth and second takes on third, before they meet in a final to compete for the Championship Shield.
The new system has been designed to reward clubs who have performed strongest in their respective competitions in the regular season. For example, the top four teams in Super League will all play four games at home, while positions fifth to eighth will have three home games. The Qualifiers sees the ninth and 10th-placed teams in Super League and the Championship’s top two get four home games, while the other teams get three.
And heading into the final weekend of the regular season, there are still some issues left to be decided. Huddersfield or Castleford can still finish in the top four in Super League and secure an extra home game alongside Leeds, St Helens and Wigan – with Huddersfield guaranteed fourth if they beat Wakefield on Sunday. Wakefield, Salford and Widnes will definitely be in the Qualifiers, with Hull KR also joining them if they do not beat St Helens on Friday.
As for the Championship, the four teams who will participate in the Qualifiers and battle for promotion to Super League have already been decided – Leigh, former Super League champions Bradford, Sheffield and Halifax. The RFL will reveal the fixtures for the Super 8s at a launch event in Manchester on Wednesday and, with the whole sport unsure about what is going to happen in the coming weeks, it is certain to create a buzz in a sport that has lacked the drama of promotion and relegation in recent years.
Meanwhile, Chris Sandow has revealed that Warrington coach Tony Smith was a major factor in him signing for the club. Sandow has signed a deal until the end of 2017 and will arrive in time for the Super 8s pending a successful visa application, and he admitted he is keen to experience the unique Super League atmosphere after joining from NRL side Parramatta. “Tony Smith has been a big part of my decision to move to England,” he said. “I’m looking forward to working with him and getting stuck in with the boys.
“Lots of people in Australia talk about the passion of English crowds, the noise and atmosphere at rugby league games, hopefully I can add something to the team as we make a charge towards the title.”
