After a top five play-off system was used, a play-off structure involving the top six teams was used to determine the winners of the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

competition in

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

from 2002 through to 2008. Apart from the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

, all matches were staged at the home ground of the team placed higher in the final league table. A similar system was used by the

Australian National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until it ...

. The A-League uses the same system to determine its champions, but with a subtle difference outlined below. From week two on the Top Six play-offs system reflects exactly the

Page playoff system The Page playoff system is a playoff format used primarily in softball and curling at the championship level, the Indian Premier League and Pakistan Super League cricket tournaments. Teams are seeded using a round-robin tournament and the top f ...

. With the expansion of Super League from 12 teams to 14 for 2009, the number of teams making the play-offs increased from 6 to 8. For details of the new system, see Super League play-offs.

How it worked

Week One * Elimination Semi-final A: 3rd vs 6th * Elimination Semi-final B: 4th vs 5th Week Two * Qualification Final: 1st vs 2nd * Elimination Final: Winners of Elimination Semi-final A vs Winners of Elimination Semi-final B Week Three * Preliminary Final: Losers of Qualification Match vs Winners of Elimination Final Week Four *

: Winners of Qualification Match vs Winners of Final Qualifier

The A-League system

(System used in season 2009/10, 2010/11,2011/12)
Week One * Major Semi Final Leg 1: 2nd vs 1st * Elimination Semi Final A: 3rd vs 6th * Elimination Semi Final B: 4th vs 5th Week Two * Major Semi Final Leg 2: 1st vs 2nd * Minor Semi Final : Elimination Semi Final A Winner vs Elimination Semi Final B Winner Week Three * Preliminary Final: Loser of Major Semi Final vs Winner of Minor Semi Final Week Four *

: Winner of Major Semi Final vs Winner of Preliminary Final (System used after season 2012/13, which is also adopted to

World Curling Championships The World Curling Championships are the annual world championships for curling, organized by the World Curling Federation and contested by national championship teams. There are men's, women's and mixed doubles championships, as well as men's a ...

since 2018):
Week One * Elimination final A: 3rd vs 6th * Elimination final B: 4th vs 5th Week Two * Semi Final A: Higher Ranked Elimination Final Winner vs 2nd * Semi Final B: Lower Ranked Elimination Final Winner vs 1st Week Three *

: Higher Ranked Semifinal Winner vs Lower Ranked Semifinal Winner

Competitions

In addition to the Super League, the top six system is also used in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

and the Championship One, as well

Rugby League Conference The Rugby League Conference (RLC) (also known as the Co-operative Rugby League Conference as a result of sponsorship from The Co-operative Group), was a series of regionally based divisions of amateur rugby league teams spread throughout England ...

National. A modified method was used in the 2018 Australian domestic limited-overs cricket tournament.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Top Six Play-Offs Tournament systems Rugby league terminology

How it worked

The A-League system

Competitions

See also

References