TOMORROW'S game at Huntington Stadium could go a long way to deciding who progresses through to the next stage of the Northern Rail Cup.

Victory for Sheffield would leave the Knights needing to turn the tables on cup holders Hull KR at Craven Park and then put a big score past Featherstone at home to have a chance of pipping the Eagles to the runners-up spot in group six and thus gaining automatic passage through to the second round.

Well, I call it 'second round', but it is in fact the 'quarter-final play-off' stage. This might just be a minor moniker in the grand scheme of things but it is central to the rant on which I am about to embark.

Why can professional rugby league not have simple, easy to follow competition formats?

Not only are they over-complicated, but the fact we have different names for different stages of different competitions leaves people outside the game - and several inside the game - not knowing just what's what.

Why can't we just call this second round the 'second round'?

Also, does the format for this competition really have to change every year since its inception, when it was known as the Arriva Trains Cup?

Is there anyone out there who actually knows the format this year without having to look it up?

Generally the top two in each group (there is an altered group format compared to last year) progress to knockout stages (which are different to the knockout stages last year) and we now also have qualification for some best third-placed finishers in some groups, but only the top one in one group, the group comprising amateur NL3 teams only. Then there is another group with two semi-pro NL2 teams (London Skolars and Celtic Crusaders) and two amateur NL3 teams. You still with me?

At least we have a straight draw for the knockout rounds rather than some convoluted system of top teams playing runners-up and vice versa. At least I think we do.

The same thing applies to the end-of-season play-offs.

Why do we have a National League One Grand Final but not a National League Two Grand Final, where instead it is a 'National League One Qualifying Final', or some such name. Just because a team from the bottom of NL1 goes into these play-offs, we have to confuse everyone.

And we also have complicated names for each play-off round.

In football, there are simple play-offs. You have two two-legged semi-finals and then a final. Easy.

In rugby league there is an elimination play-off, an elimination semi-final, a qualifying semi-final and a final eliminator all leading up to a final. Then we have some people calling a play-off series a 'semi-finals series', which is surely a misnomer when by definition there can only be two semi-finals.

It doesn't help anyone to market a particular match when almost everyone outside the game wouldn't know what stage of the competition we're actually at.

Then, of course, the top team in NL2 is promoted before the play-offs but only the winners of the NL1 play-offs get promoted to Super League (at least they will do for the next couple of years but after that we go deeper into unknown promotion and relegation territory). And neither the top team in NL3 nor the NL3 play-off winners are promoted.

Etc.

I know this is all part of an old argument, but for me it has flared up again for the simple reason the 'second round' in an already over-complicated Northern Rail Cup format cannot just be called a 'second round'.

Anyway, let's just hope the Knights get there.

THESE competition formats might need explaining to potential new faces at Huntington Stadium tomorrow as the Knights hold their latest 'Bring a Friend For Free' day.

The offer, open to all season ticket holders, brought in an extra 277 to last season's National League Two nail-biter against Hunslet Hawks which, along with a family fun day, helped swell the crowd to a whopping 3,224.

Knights operations manager Chris Clinton said he was looking forward to seeing some new fans at the game.

"We are hoping it will bring some more people in," he said. "We have already had some people booking stand transfers so they can all sit together."

To take advantage of the deal, season ticket holders need to hand in voucher 'A' for a like-for-like friend (ie an adult for an adult or a child for a child). Those wanting to arrange access for people with disabilities can call the office on 01904 758234.

'Free friends' only have access to the ground and not the Main Stand bar, and it does not include transfers from standing terraces to seats, which cost £2.

Turnstiles - and bars (including the portable pub open to all) - open at 1.30pm.

GOING back to finals, tickets are already on sale for the engage Super League Grand Final in October.

Simon Malcolm, director of marketing for the RFL (whose job would be easier if we had simple formats for all competitions - not that I want to go on and on about it), said: "Super League Grand Finals in the last two years have been sell-outs and we urge everybody who wants to be present for this wonderful occasion to buy their tickets as soon as possible."

Tickets cost £15, £20, £25, £30, £35 and £50 and can be booked online at www.engagesuperleague.co.uk or on 0870 990 1313. Tickets for fans with disabilities can also be requested by fax on 0870 990 1310 or via email to boxoffice@rfl.uk.com.

For details on hospitality deals, call 0870 990 1311.

The price for all tickets includes a £1 donation to the RFL Benevolent Fund.

TALKING of tickets, prices for the Knights' Powergen Challenge Cup third round match at The Shay against National Conference division one outfit Ovenden have been set at standard Halifax RLC prices.

Adult tickets - for seating or standing - are £12, OAPs and full-time students (complete with card) are £7 concessions, and juniors can get in for £5.

(PS. In the Challenge Cup, you get numbered rounds leading to quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final. Brilliant idea, isn't it.)

Updated: 10:20 Saturday, March 04, 2006