It's Championship play offs time again.

Here we are again, 8 clubs looking for glory and in a couple of cases promotion. With Bristol clear at the top of the table they have to be favourites but this is more like a Cup competition with 2 pools of 4 and a last shot at the the Premiership. I'll be rooting for Leeds but feeling uncertain whether we are ready for rugby at the top table just yet. We've had a good second half of a season and things are generally looking better performance wise and with 2nd place Bedford in our pool we have to feel confident we can do it having done the double over them already. Rotherham and Pirates we've shared successes with. We have a predominantly young academy base of players who will give everything in the games to come but can they succeed where others have failed in the past?

How do you feel about about your teams chances?

Been stung by the play offs before so I'm not exactly over confident, but... Bristol should do it. However the one team I wouldn't want to meet in the final is Leeds, as they are the only other with something to actually play for in the play offs (which only highlights how stupid it is).

Bristolian wrote:Been stung by the play offs before so I'm not exactly over confident, but... Bristol should do it. However the one team I wouldn't want to meet in the final is Leeds, as they are the only other with something to actually play for in the play offs (which only highlights how stupid it is).

Good luck Would love to have Bris back, I miss the derby games

On a seperate note, whatever happened to Snowmonkey our resident Leeds fan?

I wasn't sure if Nottingham might also be in the frame as they share facilities with County. The whole play off thing seems a bit unfair, Bristol really have earned their promotion with a full season of performances. We had to start from scratch with Back's departure and whilst it's started to come together with a young squad we have a way to go and I'm not sure how they would handle promotion. The ambition is there and I approve Diccon Edward's attitude but would it be enough? If we stay in the Championship we are going to have a right old tussle with Newcastle if they come down especially as there seems to be some very positive things happening up there. Anyways, good luck to you. If we don't go up you certainly deserve to.

Don't know where snowmonkey's got to. Haven't seen a post from him in an age, sadly.

Aitchw - It's only the lack of bonus points that have held Leeds back in the table. If I remember correctly they've actually won more games than Nottingham and the same as London Welsh, which is a great effort considering, as you say, they've been playing a lot of youngsters. To be frank I'd just bring Bristol and Leeds up and close shop, accommodating the extra games by doing away with the LV Cup and rejigging the Prem play off format. Tough on the others in the Championship I know, but at the moment only 2 teams meet the entry criteria (3 if what you say about Nottingham is true, I honestly don't know). You could have another look in a couple of years if the Pirates, Bedford, or whoever have got things sorted out.

Cheers for the support about the play offs, it's really difficult to know what to make of league standings. Yes Bris have finished top with the most wins and have looked the best team but...That happened before only to turn out that Exeter had played a really clever game and understood the league format (fair play to them, I've got a lot of respect for that club), resting a few players in the regular season. Who's to say Pirates or Rotherham haven't done the same this time around?

Bristolian wrote:To be frank I'd just bring Bristol and Leeds up and close shop, accommodating the extra games by doing away with the LV Cup and rejigging the Prem play off format. Tough on the others in the Championship I know, but at the moment only 2 teams meet the entry criteria (3 if what you say about Nottingham is true, I honestly don't know). You could have another look in a couple of years if the Pirates, Bedford, or whoever have got things sorted out.

Would you be happy if the AP were ring-fenced without Bristol?

Dave, that is a fair point.

Trying to be unbiased I would say yes - because of my point that you could take another look at Championship clubs in a couple of years to see if they meet the entry criteria. My idea is more about not relegating teams from the Premiership - ultimately, if in a few years you had say 6 Champ teams who were good enough/viable for the Prem then I would let them in and go for some kind of American style conference system, i.e. 2 conferences of 8 or 9, something like that. Whatever you think of American sports, on the business side they seem outstanding.

Being unbiased, then yes I wouldn't be happy. Not just for reasons of bias, but also because Bristol are 1 of only a few teams that meet the entry criteria, and are even vaguely viable as a Premiership club (support etc.).

I have very mixed feelings about ring fencing. I have this nagging notion that relegation keeps teams honest and allows for ambition in the feeder division. Looking at perennial foot of the table sides like Newcastle and Leeds without relegation there would less incentive for change. If Back was still in charge at Leeds we would still be working with a limited squad and poor selection, playing unattractive rugby that fails to bring in match day support. I actually think relegation can work positively for some clubs (Saints). The Championship play off system is not a good solution. Bristol should not be fighting a whole new round of games to confirm they are the best team in that division, they've already proved that.

When Leeds next appear in the Jeff I want them to be in good shape and ready for the battle. Exeter have been a great example in the way they have been managed and the way they have played despite not being able to boast a host of top rated players. Newcastle may yet survive. The changes up there may have come in the nick of time and with Wasps struggling who knows? But, if Newcastle hadn't been staring down the barrel again would there have been change?

I quite like the Conference model but it could get tedious playing a limited number of teams season in and season out. One way or another though until someone comes up with a decidedly better structure I am still inclined towards the relegation system.

I suppose the quickest and most obvious thing to do would be for the RFU to pull their fingers out and actually support the Championship, that way being in it wouldn't be the end of the world. Look at it now - no sponsor! Even regional football leagues with teams who play in front of 50 fans have a sponsor. It's just not credible that nobody wanted to support the Championship. I suspect the RFU didn't even try to find one.

I take the point about relegation keeping teams honest, but there is a flip side. For every team like Newcastle who seem to be planning well, there's another one that uses the parachute payment to stock up on foreign journeymen. Last season Bristol signed Nicky Little! I think with more security teams may invest more in youth and infrastructure.

Re the conference idea, the ultimate model would be for 18 teams split into 2 (the current Prem + Bristol and Leeds next season, with places kept open for the next best/qualified 4 in the Championship in a few years). Theconferences are drawn at random each year to avoid staleness and play each other home and away before the top 4 from each go into quarter finals etc. I know it means losing some home games, but it will also mean less games for the players who at the moment are being flogged to death in this country.

HongKongCherry wrote:On a seperate note, whatever happened to Snowmonkey our resident Leeds fan?

Contributes a lot on the Facebook group which grew out of the old 606, browses this site occassionally too.