IT is never good when people lose their jobs through no fault of their own – whether that is steelworkers, council staff, journalists or shop assistants.

Being thrown on the scrap heap after years of dedication, hard graft and service is hard enough to stomach in itself, but factor in the financial bombshell that comes with a redundancy notice then you can understand why people get worked up.

So my heart goes out to anyone who may be under threat of losing their jobs as a result of their sports teams being relegated - that applies to Hull KR, Workington Town and any body else.

But that is not a case to scrap promotion and relegation in rugby league.

Let us leave aside that, unlike British steelworkers, any Super League players under threat of job loss or pay cut have largely been the authors of their own downfall.

(I accept that is different for backroom and administrative staff who may face a similar concern.)

The nature of professional sport means if you play well you win prizes, but if you under-achieve you fall through the trap door.

For a few years teams got away with it and were allowed to plod on without fear of demotion.

And on the flip side of that the teams below were left looking for the ladder that had been pulled up from previous promotions.

Let us remember that Hull, Hull KR, Wakefield, Huddersfield, Salford and Widnes were not in the original Super League in 1996 and have got their place by promotion.

And for that to happen - in most cases - someone has had to go down.

The others distinction between sportsmen and every day working folk is that the same number of jobs, ie, squad positions will still be available in the top flight.

And because promotion continues, if the relegated club has any ambition to re-join the top dogs then they largely remain full time.

We heard a lot of talk ahead of Saturday about the stress of the Million Pound Game. Again that is perfectly understandable.

And as dramatic as Gareth O’Brien’s golden-point winner was in preserving Salford’s status and condemning Hull KR, maybe the format is too harsh.

Harsher still when you consider that Hull KR did not actually finish bottom of the Super League table after 23 rounds.

In old money it would have been Huddersfield Giants facing the drop.

Hull KR are only getting relegated this year because the team replacing them — Leigh — had bought a Super League strength squad to challenge with.

Not all Championship clubs can afford to do that, no matter how ambitious.

Surely the fairest way to deliver promotion and relegation is a straight one up, one down and not a system that is weighted towards the team with the Super League players at its disposal.