If it ain't broke, don't fix it. That is the attitude of ANZ Championship general manager Anthony Everard.
Everard was in Invercargill yesterday to watch the Steel play the Mystics at Stadium Southland and told the Otago Daily Times there were no major changes planned for the competition in 2010.
There have been calls for the tournament to expand to include a proper double round.
West Coast Fever coach Jane Searle suggested the structure was unfair on the stronger Australian teams which have to play each other twice, while the likes of the Steel and the Magic notched up easier wins against the likes of the Pulse, Tactix and Mystics.
But Everard said the fledgling competition wanted to resist making significant changes.
"We are open to a lot of different ideas but we are just over one and a-half seasons into the development of this league.
"The structure of the draw is something we monitored on an ongoing basis but, what I can say is, there won't be any changes for next year."
Everard did not dismiss moving to a double round eventually, and said doubleheaders might be looked at to help cut the cost of any future expansion.
But right now most of the signs were positive with both crowd attendances and television ratings up "slightly" on "this time last year".
"One of our concerns at the start of the season was how we would match the success of year one.
"We had a dream season last year but we are delighted with all of our performance indicators.
"We are really happy with where the numbers are at."
Monday night games have proven popular with audiences despite concerns it might be hard to coax people out of their homes at the beginning of the week.
"What we've found is Sunday and Monday nights have been really strong.
"Saturday we have struggled a little bit, mainly because people are out doing things and playing sport."
The championship will staged a "rivalry round" at the end of June.
Goals scored by the five New Zealand and Australian franchises will be added to make a national total.
The country with the most goals at the end of the round will be presented the rivalry round trophy.
