MARTYN SADLER, the editor of Rugby League Express, asks whether it is too late for the NFP to amend its unfair fixture system.

Last Sunday Leigh and Rochdale, the two remaining Northern Ford Premiership clubs who had 100 percent records before the weekend, fought out an epic 14-14 draw at Hilton Park.

Most fans had been looking forward to the appearance of former Super League 'bad boys' Vila Matautia for the Centurions and Paul Davidson for the Hornets, although as it turned out both Vila and Paul gave exemplary displays, while it was Leigh's David Bradbury who incurred the referee's wrath and was dismissed after just 13 minutes. In the circumstances Leigh did well to hold on for the draw, even if it was with the assistance of a late, controversial penalty goal.

After doing so well at Hilton Park, Hornets supporters should now be looking forward to the return fixture at Spotland some time later in the season. But unfortunately they aren't, and it's all down to the crazy fixture system that is in operation this season in the NFP.

Rochdale will not play Leigh at home this season, unless they play them in the Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Challenge Cup or the NFP play-offs at the end of the season. Leigh are just one of eight clubs that Rochdale are only scheduled to play once, rather than at home and away. Every NFP club will play 28 league games this season, whereas if every club was to play every other club in the league, there would have been 36 fixtures in total.

This system will deprive Hornets of a very big payday, because Leigh would almost certainly have taken more than 1,500 fans to Rochdale, assuming that such a fixture had been due to take place at some time in the next few months.

And that isn't the only bad news for the Hornets. One of their other big paying gates would have come when they host Huddersfield Giants. The trouble is, Rochdale don't have a home game against the Giants. Instead they will only play Huddersfield away, on 17 March. And the two title favourites, Leigh and Huddersfield, will only meet once this season, at Hilton Park on 24 March. Swinton is another club that has been badly hit, having not been allocated home games against either of its natural 'derby' opponents Oldham and Rochdale.

The reason for the lopsided fixture schedule is the introduction of a 'National Cup' for NFP clubs from Good Friday, which will take a big chunk out of the NFP season (eight rounds of the competition, coincidentally).

Unfortunately the National Cup was one of the bright ideas put forward by last year's RFL Strategic Review group. But like many ideas put forward by that group, it was not fully thought through. For some reason the NFP clubs agreed to the idea, and many of them have been regretting it ever since. Most clubs view the National Cup as an unwanted and unimportant intrusion into the season, and many clubs have even hinted that they will give their better players a rest for the duration of that competition. It looks like a mess.
But can the clubs do anything about it?

My advice would be to come clean, admit that the National Cup is a mistake, and substitute the eight fixtures into that slot in the season, therefore ensuring that every club does end up playing every other club at home and away. Such a decision would be rational, fair, wise, profitable, and would create some big matches, which is surely what the fans want.