For and against is it fair

IMO the for and against system for separating teams does not seem fair. If you played every team twice on a home and away basis it would be.We have to many variables with the draw, some teams gain advantage throughout the origin period. On this basis I believe a play off is the only fair way to separate teams.I don't expect everyone to agree, and some will say that the extra game will be a disadvantage .

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  • Yeh it probably looks like I'm trying to reinvent the system for our advantage but I'm not. I'm sure we use to have play offs.
  • It's going to be in our hands coming home playing raiders twice and knights so if there is ever a chance to improve on it it's now

  • the comp all round isn't fair. never will be without playing each other twice

    perhaps a count back system.

    for and against for say parra v cowboys if they are equal 8th from their meetings during the season

    or a count back on comp points v the other top 8 teams

    but those both have problems as well
  • Agree, maybe something like coco said maybe just an aggregate between the teams, like soccer.
  • Technically the draw cannot predict which players (and therefore teams) will be affected by Origin. Will a bottom dwelling side suddenly find a superstar player who gets the callup for Origin in his first year? Will 20 first choice Origin players be injured by the time Origin selection comes around?

    Because a side came first last year, does it automatically mean they are going to be a top 4 side this year? Does facing them twice put you at a disadvantage?

    The only "fairness" you may be able to put in the draw, is how often clubs play on a certain day of the week.
  • Brad, maybe you could explain in what way the for and against system is unfair?
    Most elite sporting competitions have pool-based structures, so the simple fact of not playing all other teams twice let alone once is not unique. Lack of uniqueness suggests the system is not unfair due to local partial interests.
    Now of course it is always possible that a team's draw could see it playing either the bulk of the previous years' best teams and/or the bulk of the current years' best teams. But those two lists do not always coincide, so the draw is not 'stacked' even from the beginning. Witness Sharks and Knights sliding this year or Penrith rising. In other words, there is a luck or otherwise of the draw that could help or harm a team but it is luck not design so not inherently unfair.
    Moreover, just look at the closeness of this year's ladder. It's closeness undermines one assumption that probably underlies the perception of unfairness, that some teams play all the good teams and so run a higher risk of poor points differential than other teams that play all the bad teams. With such a close comp, that assumption doesn't fly, as there is not enough of a gap between teams to warrant a claim of actually unfair even if not inherently so or designed so.
    Lastly, could it be accidentally unfair and is that unfair? Well sure, but good luck trying to design the world to be accident-less. In NRL terms, teams every year suffer misfortune due to injuries or suspensions or tragedies or distractions etc etc. The bad luck of the draw is just another obstacles teams face. Some teams do better overcoming them than others. Sharks and Knights dropped their bundle this year but Penrith have not done so yet, and the Warriors have recovered.
    My guess is a claim of unfairness would have to defeat these considerations and my guess is it won't.
    •  I don't mind the f/a, tells me Parra are letting in too many tries. Something they'll have to improve on next year. I don't see unfairness in the system. Every code has it-football, AFL, Gridiron, Irish Gaelic football, they all got it and it works...

    • Prof, if I had the answer to the problem I would have posted it, and hey it might be the best system.
      I am not discussing this because our for against sucks. A lot of people on this site follow sports from all over the world maybe some one had seen a better system.
  • For and against is fair. If Parra miss out on the 8, then they can look at the games we have been smashed and look back and ask themselves if they rolled over too easy in those games.
  • It may not be perfect, but the for-and-away is sensible and fair enough.

    And YES, playoffs would be too much in today's competition.

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