Super League's late fixture change creates potential unfairness for Wigan and Hull KR fans
Hull Kingston Rovers could be beneficiaries, on the pitch, of the decision to move Wigan Warriors' regular-season final round game, 24 hours earlier without much notice - but sympathies have to go to rugby league fans generally who are potentially affected by this type of change.
The final round of regular-season Super League fixtures will see first-placed Wigan host Salford Red Devils on Thursday now, instead of the originally-scheduled Friday - then Hull KR host Leeds Rhinos, as planned, on the Friday still.
With Wigan two points clear of Hull KR in the table - but with a worse score difference - there is still a mathematical chance of Rovers winning the League Leaders' Shield, requiring a win for themselves and a defeat for Matty Peet's men in that final round. Both Wigan and Hull KR playing simultaneously would have potentially created drama, with the destination of that silverware definitely uncertain at kick off in those circumstances.
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And for Rovers there is also the added excitement of the fact that they have still not nailed a top-two finish which would directly lead to a home play-off semi-final - with Warrington Wolves only two points behind them and having cut the score difference to just 16 behind Rovers, ahead of hosting London Broncos in their last regular-season game on Friday, following Sam Burgess's men drubbing Huddersfield Giants by a 66-0 margin.
If Wigan win the League Leaders' Shield on Thursday night though, Rovers' final game against Leeds the following night is still very significant but not the seismic fixture it could have been if all the games kicked off together. And if Wigan lose, they might not be delighted that Rovers would know before kick-off against Leeds that winning will, 100 per cent guaranteed, lead to winning the League Leaders' Shield. There is a difference in psychology between a team who think something might happen but is unlikely compared to a team who knows something will happen for sure.
It is not a new thing for the schedulers to be able to move a round 27 game though after a regular round 26 game - although, in this instance, it does not create a level set of circumstances which simultaneous kick-off would have done. If the games had been going on at the same time, what was happening in the other contest could have had an influence on the mindsets of the players involved, testing their mentalities. The regulations of the competition do permit for these fixtures' dates to be decided on the week of the game though.
There are legitimate questions to be asked about the impact that this is having on fans however - in this case, not just Wigan's, who could be potentially seriously inconvenienced by switches like this, relating to planning and travel, but also Rovers. There are people going to Rovers too who might have been expecting to see a possible League Leaders' Shield win, or at least a decider, and that could have just been taken away from them if Wigan win. Of course it will still be a huge game against Leeds regardless because of the top-two finish chase. But sealing a top-two spot ahead of the play-offs is still not the same as potentially seeing a top-level trophy secured for the first time in nearly four decades. And it is not just the fact that the circumstances have been switched, but also the short-notice nature of it that is questionable. The shorter the notice, the more it potentially affects fans.
In terms of drama for the competition and thinking about fans, it is an issue that is arguably problematic.
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