Defeat at Hull KR consigned the Huddersfield Giants to a position outside of the Super 8s.
As the Giants have not found themselves in this position before, here sports correspondent PATRICK MOORE looks at how this happened and what will be in store for the Claret and Gold throughout the Middle 8s.
History of the split season
Back at the Rugby Football League’s Annual General Meeting in 2013, Super League clubs agreed to reduce the number of clubs to 12 from 2015.
This brought back promotion and relegation as well as a 12 team Championship.
It also agreed that in both the First Utility Super League and Kingstone Press Championship, 12 clubs would play each other home and away, along with an extra fixture in the Magic Weekend/Summer Bash, which completes 23 rounds in each competition.
When the league campaign finishes, the 24 clubs then split up into three leagues of 8, based upon league positions, where they face in a play-off series.
Teams in Super 8s
The top eight teams in the Super League continue to face each other either home or away in the Super 8s, where the points earned are added on to their season tally.
The higher a team finishes dictates whether they play more games at home (4) rather than away (3).
Once the teams have played their seven games, the top team wins the League Leaders Shield– which the Giants won in 2013 – after this, the top four teams play in the play-offs for a chance of winning the Grand Final at Old Trafford on Saturday, October 8.
Teams in the Middle 8s
Things are a little different in the Middle 8’s, which are often referred as the Qualifiers.
This is where the bottom four teams in the Super League table are mixed with the top four teams from the Championship.
Like the Super 8s, teams face each other once, with the higher placed teams playing more home games than away.
The teams finishing ninth and tenth in the Super League and first and second in the Championship will have four home matches instead of three.
Unlike the Super 8s the points totals are reset to zero.
When the seven games are over, the teams finishing first, second and third will have earned a place in next season’s Super League.
The teams finishing fourth and fifth will play in the “Million Pound” promotion play-off game, with the team finishing fourth having home advantage, and the winner is guaranteed Super League status.
The loser, along with the teams finishing sixth, seventh and eighth, are relegated and will play in the Championship next season.
As things stand
From the Super League the Giants will be joined by Salford Red Devils and last year’s treble winners Leeds Rhinos.
The quartet will be completed by one team from Widnes Vikings, Wakefield Trinity, and Hull KR.
Leigh Centurions and London Broncos are confirmed as two of the Championship sides to compete in the Middle 8s.
Two from Halifax RLFC, Batley Bulldogs, Bradford Bulls and Featherstone Rovers will take up the remaining Middle 8s places as they battle it out for third and fourth in the Championship.
