Bilko - A Last Post

[Wiganer Ted]

Bilko,
Thank you for all the work you have put into Rugby League and Wigan RL in particular. Your commitment is something I personally have admired for years. I have heard you summerising and you bring the stat knowledge to the benefit of your listeners which marks you out from other broadcasters with a quality that is exceptional.
I will miss updates on your Cherry and White site which is admired throughout the game.
I hope I'll see you on the terraces sometime in the future but I'm sure the present is far more important to you and within your family.
Thanks for all your work on our behalf.

Ted

[old hooker]

Outstanding post, you have my upmost respect and thankyou for your contribution to Rugby League.

[fozzieskem]

It seems to a lot of people Bilko's post summed up all that's wrong with the game,it's time the suits,not just Wigan,but everyone came out of their ivory towers and smelled the roses,the game us in deep trouble and to keep denying this is nonsense.

[Garry Riley]

Is it just us Wigan supporters complaining or is this the general consensus across the board regardless of club, that RL/Superleague is going down the tubes?

[pedro]

agree totally we stopped our season ticket the year Leeds won it from 5th as we realized the weekly rounds mean very little to clubs

[Sutty]

Very much my sentiments too. When Leeds won from 5th TWICE, I decided that I could better spend the £200 odd season ticket price on something better than what I effectively saw as 28 pre season friendlies. Obviously in the eyes of some this means that I'm not a true supporter. I even told Simon Collinson the same when he rang me asking why I'd not renewed my season ticket after so many years of holding one.

IMO, the league and (probably more importantly) the RFL hierachy needs a complete overhaul. The skill levels on display are diminishing year on year. A few years ago there were probably 15 - 20 players throughout Superleague who could have been called truly world class. These days I struggle to think of more than a couple.

[DaveO]

For me it's not a case of falling out with rugby league, as stated I love watching the young ones, it's Super League that I've fallen out with. The idea that a team finishing 5th/6th on 10/12 points below the leader can then win at the end just seems farcical to me. We are rewarding mediocrity.

Play-off systems happen in most sports - a team finishing 6th in the football championship can get promoted to the Premiership ! The European Champions Cup is available to non-champions that finish well below top of their domestic comp. Rugby union has similar play-off's, and of course the NRL run a particularly successful Top 8 Play Off system, that attracts huge gates and culminates in a Grand Final, which is the highlight of their season.

Just seems in RL we can't get it right, or simply the supporters won't accept the sysyem for some reason ?

Most if not all of these competitions and sports didn't have a play off system in place. The reason they do now is down to one reason to one reason only. Money.

The powers that be, probably egged on by the TV companies want to milk the sports for all they can. So they set up artificial systems and games like the million pound game we will have in the super 8's.

I also think you have to be absolutely blind not to see that teams finishing low down the league have been poor and so don't deserve another crack at the title just to try and milk the fans loyalty. Most fans of teams finishing outside the top 4 know they are there just to make up the numbers hence Widnes nutty idea to set all the points to zero for the S-8's even further reducing the importance of the league.

In previous seasons (under Noble for example) comments about how poor we'd been were met with statements about how that wasn't important and the object of the exercise was to peak at the right time. We were not poor we were just pacing ourselves.

Either way, just being poor all season or pacing yourself both mean lower quality league games and have turned the league into a glorified qualifier. Why do I need a season ticket for this?

The incentive to attend league games is far less yet there have always been twenty-odd per season regardless of which playoff format we have had.

We stand a chance of finishing second in the league. The fact we won't finish first is entirely our own fault for a lacklustre attack and some odd decision making and so not only will we not get the LLS, we don't deserve the LLS. So I am with Bilko that us winning the GF after such a season will be like Leeds winning grom 5th, a bad advert for the system showing it can reward mediocrity.

I'd go further and suggest not going for drop goals that could have secured us a draw and potential 1st place were taken in part because our league position even if not 1st was good enough to allow us to try and win games.

The playoffs do seem to work in OZ but then they aren't daft enough to have relegation so sides that miss out or are under performing have the opportunity to build and make a challenge down the line so maybe that has something to do with it. I don't know but here for whatever reason the playoffs have led to a poorer quality league competition and I think the fans have realised.

What this means is that while I am convinced the motivation for playoffs is money, the sport will get less of it as the fans follow the structure and also only "peak" in the playoffs!

[Bilko]

Is it just us Wigan supporters complaining or is this the general consensus across the board regardless of club, that RL/Superleague is going down the tubes?

Judging replies I got, and I got plenty, i wouldn't say it's just a Wigan feeling. I think the way the game is presented on Sky, and often two hours in length with long drawn out video ref calls, is frustrating a lot.

I have to say also Wigan have responded to me with positivity and great understanding. I take heart from that.

Thanks for kind messages.

[Garry Riley]

So in an ideal world what type of league would you have in place for next year?
For me whoever finishes top wins LLS but goes straight to the GF. Positions 2 to 4 playoff to reach the GF. Whoever finishes bottom is relegated and is replaced with winner from the Championship. Winner of GF plays NRL Winners at the end of each season not as a warm up the next year. Also bring the Challenge Cup to earlier in the season.
Also 4 Nations once regular season is over.

[Bilko]

Personally the cup final would go back to May (or at least by end of June) so it doesn't disrupt the play off race. I'd judge super 8s after that.

I'd shot clock scrums, drop outs, video ref decisions so the game is speeded up. It's far too slow at moment. The match last Friday finished 11 minutes after Chelsea v Liverpool, same kick off time, and they play 90 minutes.

Hopefully Thursdays can go. Literally any other time over the weekend is better than that from a match attending point of view.

I'd hope at least one or two games are Sundays and aimed specifically at families because constant games on Thursdays and Fridays must have affected that aspect.

And I'd fix the academy so at the very least we aren't cutting players off at age 19. I think that decision, totally removing one tier of academy out the blue, has been a big hindrance to Wigan last year or two. This aspect is my biggest frustration with the game to be honest because I thought the old system was baring great fruit and 19 is a year too early to be judging progress. I mean they judged ages like schools would around September so a kid turning 19 on August 31st would get a whole year less than a kid turning 20 on September 1st. Harsh.