With the success of magic weekend the RFL created a weekend for Championship clubs to get together for a celebration of our great game and called it the Summer Bash.
You can see why, Magic Weekend is a wonderful concept, a fabulous 2 days to showcase our great game, but is it fair?
We’ve all seen what’s gone at Leigh today, a Summer sale before the transfer window slams shut this weekend. All their best players have left to join new clubs, Harrison Hansen for example is now a Viking.
Leigh could yet make the top 4 in the Championship but with the teams above them all having winnable fixtures, the likelihood is Leigh won’t be fighting to join Super League next year in the middle 8.
It seems a shocking start to the season has ultimately cost them, and the owners at the LSV have decided present costs are unsustainable with the revenue brought from another year in the 2nd tier. Leigh though sit only 1 point behind 4 clubs in 6th place, with Toronto our of sight.
At the summer bash Leigh took on runaway leaders Toronto, in what was a gripping contest, and narrowly lost late on. The Wolfpack have only lost one game this season,
Admittedly the 4 teams above Leigh all played each other, so no easy fixtures, but all those clubs are 10 points behind Paul Rowley’s side
Toulouse, who beat London, and Halifax, who beat Featherstone, are only 1 point ahead of the Centurions.
If you took the Summer bash results away Leigh would be sat in 3rd place. Surely their 23rd game is alot more difficult than that of Fax and London? Surely that’s not fair? Leagues should be all teams playing each other home avd away and that should be it. It doesn’t really matter if there’s no Promotion and Relegation, but we have this.
The effects of Relegation or not gaining Promotion are currently on display for the RL world to see at the LSV, so everything should be a level playing.
Yes, Leigh have had 22 other games to get into the top 4 but so have all the other clubs up there, but Leigh have been dealt an unfair hand with the 23rd game.
The futures of clubs can depend on what League you are in, the summer bash is a great concept but with so much at stake it simply isn’t fair.
If we played the summer bash last and all other results remained the same Leigh would be one point ahead of Toulouse and Halifax. Whilst those 2 would have to play London and Featherstone in the extra game Leigh would have to beat Totonto?
I’m sorry but that’s not right with clubs and player futures at stake.
The same could be said for Super League with Leeds likely to finish the regular season one point behind Catalans. At magic weekend the Rhinos played Castleford whereas Catalans played Salford. As with the summer bash take Catalans 2 points gained against Salford away and that could put Leeds ahead of them, depending on results this week.
I’d love to hear your comments on this, whether you agree on disagree, on our various platforms .
