Agar questions points percentage system and calls for play-off restructure

Leeds head coach Richard Agar has called for a rethink to the 2020 league structure to maintain the competition’s integrity.

Changes made last month saw a points percentage system introduced due to the postponement of a large number of matches.

This was to allow a fair judgement to the final league table if some teams had the opportunity to play more matches than others.

However, it’s quickly becoming clear that it may be more advantageous to play fewer matches, as proved by Catalans, who currently occupy the final play-off place.

The Dragons have played only 12 matches this season, three fewer than most other teams, but sit comfortably in fourth despite not playing for three weeks.

There could be a stumbling block though in that a team must play a minimum of 15 games to qualify for the play-offs, and following the postponement of Monday’s game against Warrington in Perpignan, Catalans now have no room to manoeuvre with only three scheduled games remaining.

Speaking on the situation, Agar believes there could be a simple solution: “We have been having talks about this and we think a good way to go would be to maybe look at the competition differently now.

“Regarding the backlog of fixtures, perhaps it is worth looking at starting a play-off earlier with more teams in it.

“That is what we were looking at because we are in a position that if we can navigate our way through to the play-offs, it is going to leave us in a fair old state at the end of it.

“I think the whole points percentage stuff is really getting called into question now.

“If we ended up playing 20 or 21 games and Catalans play 15 but have dodged over five or six teams on the way, and that is not their fault by the way, but then there is the fairness and integrity of that.

“There are some difficulties in it and we will keep doing our best to win our next game.”

Leeds face arch-rivals Castleford Tigers on Monday before back-to-back games against Wakefield Trinity.

All this will take place within seven days and Agar says the Challenge Cup winners are treating every match as a must win.

He added: “The players are relishing this unique situation of at the moment.

“We are not even looking at the first week of the play-offs as our first week. We are saying our play-off series could be two or three weeks long.

“We could be in sudden death in the last two league games so we are trying to navigate our way through the next two to three games, then as a club, we could be in sudden death to get ourselves in.

“Do not forget, these players are on the back of a Challenge Cup win so they are full of beans and are happy to bring it on.