Hiya
Do you play in a club where you can only get enough players there on a regular basis for two teams? Do you wish you could play a "proper" competition?

For those that don't know, we (in Wollongong) play in an outdoor heated pool so through the winter months when it has been known to be only +5°C outside, windy and rainy, you can understand that we struggle with having enough players for 2 teams let alone enough for a competition.

So how do you play a competition with only two teams?

This year, we have tried a new competition format as follows:
All the club members are grouped in pairs (a back and a forward). In total, we have 8 pairs (16 players); A, B, C - H.

During the pool session (1.5hrs total) we play 3 x 20m in games. The 8 pairs are allocated either white or black (ie 8 players per team). After 20min, 2 pairs swap side and again after the 2nd game. The draw for one night might look like this:
Game 1: ABCD v EFGH
Game 2: ABCH v EFGD
Game 3: ABGH v EFCD

We are running this comp over 3 weeks and each game has a different combination of pairs.

Game points are awarded for each game and each pair is given points for the wins and losses they played: 3pts for a win; 2pts for a draw and 1pt for a loss. So a pair might get from 3pts(3 losses) to 9pts (3wins) in one night.

Goals scored by each pair are also recorded so that if there are any two pairs with equal total game points, then goals scored determines the higher placing.

We often have a few that don't show up and sometimes a few visitors so we either give points to the pair even if only one player of the pair is there, give the pair 0 points if neither show up or fill in the"gaps" with visiting players.

Funnily enough, it works. The intensity of the games has lifted compared to our regular club games and each week is a different team so you don't get disheartened if you lose - you might be stronger after the next swap!

BTW - it's very hard to stack the teams! :-)

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Off Half-Backs Rule