For me, it’s unjust that a team can lose more than half its games throughout the season, finish halfway down the ladder, yet can be crowned champions.

More importance should be on the minor premiers, which could be rewarded for consistency.

We would have the most consistently performing team crowned champions.

Imagine the scenario in Group 6 Country Rugby League.

Camden, footing the ladder, only has to move up a place and will qualify for the finals.

Thirlmere/Tahmoor, the team that is running away with the competition and could be unbeaten all season, could be beaten by Camden in this year’s grand final.

Where is justice in that?

I realise it’s unlikely to happen, but it’s possible.

Camden could have a full complement, with a rested team having a week off before the final, and the Roosters could lose three or four key players through suspension and another three or four through injury in a semi-final.

The Roosters might have a shocker on the big day.

Of course, if I were a coach who had steered his team to a grand final win under these circumstances, I’d still be ecstatic.

It would be a hollow victory, though, because I’d know that my team had won only half the number of games that the opposition had won during the regular season.

Die-hard rugby league fans will say we can’t scrap the system because play-offs provide excitement in all codes. But there’s an alternative once a team has been declared minor premiers and ultimately premiers, without

playing in a grand final.

Soccer associations in Europe have solved this problem. Top of the ladder is crowned champion, but these countries have adopted a cup knockout competition, such as the English FA Cup, to maintain interest once the league has ended.

Why couldn’t we do it here? The knockout competition could have the same format as the FA Cup, in which lower-stature teams compete in the same way as the minnows in football in Britain play against multimilliondollar

clubs.

Who wouldn’t like to see Brisbane Broncos pitted against Camden at Kirkham Park, or Camden Australian Football Club taking on Collingwood at Sir Warwick Fairfax Reserve, or Camden Rugby Club up against the Crusaders?