Jury out for Warrington Wolves in extolling era of 'every game counts'

RUGBY League’s much-hyped ‘new era’ has arrived.

All at Warrington Wolves hope the professional sport’s new format – tagged ‘every game counts’ – will deliver in its aims of raising playing standards and generating more excitement for supporters.

As with all new concepts, for some the jury is still out and the proof will prevail over time.

Wolves first-team coach Richard Agar expects clubs to have differing views on the success of the new approach come the end of the season, perhaps tied in to performance.

“I think the new format could create some different decisions if you’re not at the right end of the table or if you are on the cusp of the top eight,” he said.

“It could push you into some decisions that ordinarily you probably wouldn’t take and wouldn’t have taken last year.

“If some teams are around the bottom four with four or five games to go and know they can’t make the eight, it will be interesting to see what philosophy they take knowing they’re going into the middle eight for the next stage.

“Are they going to rest people, go on a mini pre-season, or are they still going to be giving it gung-ho?

“We might see those middle-eight games more competitive, but are we still going to see some bottom-end Super League games where some teams are looking after the troops a little bit before they get to the qualification stage?”

Many of the Wolves squad expect the new format, which includes promotion from and relegation to the Championship, to increase the intensity of the regular season.

“I don’t think the fans want to see scores like 86-4 and lads don’t like playing in those games,” explained Chris Bridge.

“We want to play in big games, ones that are closely contested, meaning before you come out on to the field it’s pins and needles time.

“No offence to London Broncos in the past, but it’s hard to get yourself up for a game when you go to their ground and there’s only 1,000 people there watching.

“With that, you just have to tell yourself to get the job done, but when you’re playing a Wigan, a Saints or a Leeds, you know in training during the week that it’s a big week because everything just lifts – we want more of that.”

Skipper Joel Monaghan added: “There’s not going to be any games at the end of the year that aren’t going to mean too much.

“It’s going to be tough in the second part when you play each other again – seven really tough games.

“You have to expect that if we’re trying to compare ourselves with the NRL because there does need to be tough games consistently.”

And Micky Higham agrees: “Cutting down from 14 to 12 teams might add a little bit more competitiveness and we do need that in Super League if we want England to be challenging in the Four Nations and World Cup competitions.

“By playing at a higher standard every week then a player’s game is going to get better so I can see the reasoning behind that.”

However he says, given injuries and suspensions, the need for a strong squad is greater than ever.

New signing Daryl Clark adds to that point: “It’s good to have promotion and relegation back in. It gives the bottom teams something to play for – they’ve got to play right to the end.

“That’s the key to having a big strong squad. Hopefully the teams prepare well for it, it works and makes it a good competition.”

Gareth O’Brien believes Wolves should have no problem adapting to the new system.

“Come the end of the year, if a team’s performed consistently well then you are more than likely going to be at the top end of the table,” he said. “Any other issues shouldn’t come into our heads.

“Of course, if there is more intensity in matches we’ll revel in it. That’s what the sport is all about. It’s a highly competitive and physical sport so the more ideas that can be thrown up to improve it the better.”

Higham added: “Looking back over our past five or six seasons we’ve been progressing, so hopefully the bottom-four scenario will not be an issue to us.

“We’re just concentrating on winning as many games as we can and cementing ourselves in the top four, which is a realistic goal for us.”

Something vice captain Chris Hill agrees with, saying: “We’ll approach it as we do every time and we want to be up there fighting again for the top two, as we do every year.”

Monaghan continued: “I think it’s going to be good for the fans, with more games that have a relevance on the league table.

“I think the ‘toughness’ of the games is only going to help English rugby league. It’s worth a try, it could be good.”

THE NEW FORMAT

THIS is how the season could pan out for Warrington Wolves under the professional rugby league format introduced for the first time this year.

* Wolves will play each Super League club twice during the regular season, facing St Helens an extra time at Magic Weekend in May.

* Should Tony Smith’s side finish in the top eight after these 23 games, they will book a place in the Super 8s.

* If they finish in top four during the regular season, Wolves will play the other Super 8s clubs once each – four games at home, three away.

* If Wolves finish fifth to eighth during the regular season, they will have three home games and four away.
 

* Wolves will need to make the Super 8s top four to progress into the semi finals. The winners of the semi finals contest the Grand Final.
 

* Should Wolves finish outside the top eight in the regular Super League season, they will enter the Qualifiers.
 

* The bottom four Super League sides and the top four Championship sides will play each other once.
 

* The top three clubs in the Qualifiers earn Super League status. Should Wolves finish fourth or fifth they will contest the Million Pound Game for the last spot.
 

* The bottom three sides in the Qualifiers take a Championship spot next season.

LADBROKES CHALLENGE CUP

WOLVES will enter the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup in Round Six, meaning three wins takes you to Wembley compared to four previously.