Before Covid, there was a proper double round. Everyone played everyone else twice. ’Twas nice and simple. All ends met.
There has been no appetite to return to a double round after the pandemic. The compromise has been to play a round and a-half.
But when you also have an odd amount of teams, things get gnarly. Nothing adds up to all square. And it is that half round (five weeks) that creates the problem.
Five teams get a bye while the other four teams play all five games, and therefore have the opportunity to earn more points.
The solution in 2021 was to not carry the points forward from the half round into the second round, which effectively rendered those opening weeks meaningless. That proved unpopular and was ditched by the clubs.
Last year, the season started late, so the half round was abandoned.
But it is back this winter and that has meant finding another creative solution.
The answer the clubs have fixed on is to pro-rata the points allocation for the bye during the half round.
Southern, for example, has a bye in week four and will be allocated between zero to four points for its bye.
If it is the highest-ranked team in its pool after the half round, it will collect the maximum four points. If it is second then it will earn three points, and so on down until the bye becomes worthless.
But there is a tiny glitch in the system. The four teams — Dunedin, Taieri, University and Green Island — that play all five games in the half round will get an opportunity to play for a maximum of 25 points, whereas the other five teams are playing for a maximum of 24 points.
