NRL: Johns wants new playoff system

Andrew Johns. Photo / Getty Images

Former Australian international Andrew Johns has called for the National Rugby League's (NRL) playoffs to revert back to a five-team system.

Johns is dissatisfied with the current eight-team playoffs which could see make the finals after losing as many games as they win.

The former golden boy of the sport wrote on an Australian website that the finals system should return to the five-team playoff series used from 1973 to 1994.

He argued the current top-eight system honoured teams that didn't deserve to make the finals.

"The eight-team finals system rewards teams that have often under-performed during the season.

"If we are serious about making the finals a quality series we need weed out those teams that don't have consistent enough form across the season to deserve a place in the playoffs,'' he said on the Wide World of Sport website.

Currently sixth on the ladder, the New Zealand Warriors coaching staff and players were unwilling to comment on the matter ahead of their pressure match against the Penrith Panthers on Saturday night.

The Warriors were the first team to beat the first-placed team in week one of the finals, after finishing eighth in 2008.

The Parramatta Eels, went on to match that achievement in 2009 prompting beaten St George Illawarra Dragons coach Wayne Bennett to criticise playoff system.

He said there was little reward for finishing in the top four under the NRL's McIntyre system (the name given to the current playoff system).

The NRL said it had not planned to review the current system which was invented in 1931 for the Victorian Football League, an Aussie rules competition.

The playoffs begin on September 9, with the NRL Grand Final held on October 2.

- NZPA