The standard of super league hasn't improved this year. Some teams have maintained their status/quality whilst some others have slightly improved putting them on a more even playing field.

The NRL and rugby league in Australia and New Zealand are national sports and their coaching and player preparation is targeted as such. Hundreds of thousands of pounds is thrown in to the sport above what gets spent over here on professional and grass roots rugby which means there will always be a void in quality between northern and southern hemisphere.

No sadly it didnt but it occured 2 days ago now. not YESTERDAY!!!

This is like a Wigan thread from two years ago

Leeds quality of rugby has dropped a lot but overall SL is just the same

Just look at wigan/hudds/wire from a few years ago

Edited slightly, but an excellent plan Boss.

I think the overall standard has improved, but this has been mainly in terms of overall fitness rather than skill. The dominant Saints/Bulls/Wigan/Leeds teams prior to c. 2007 pretty much expected to win by a good 24 points if not a lot more unless they were playing one another.

We still have blow-outs now but on the whole I'd suggest that the average winning margin has dropped a lot. It is debatable whether or not this is considered a levelling-up or a levelling-down. Certainly there's a good argument that since the Saints whitewash year of 2006 the overall quality of the playing roster of the GF winning side has dropped, largely due to the effects of the salary cap. But this does create more intensity, going on the assumption that closer games are more intense. But why isn't this leading to improvements in the international team? It must come down to the skill factor.

It is interesting to see how teams are trying to combat the levelling effects of the salary cap. The Leeds strategy in 2007-2009 was focused on 'peaking at the right time', probably after the disappointments of 2005 and 2006 in which early season form could not be sustained. This relied on a self-belief that Leeds could be the best when it mattered but eventually they just gave themselves too much to do. The Wigan and Huddersfield strategies by contrast place more emphasis in quality coaching which has enabled the teams to perform to a level beyond the sum of their individual parts. However, this may not be the best recipe for long-term success given the lure of the NRL for Aussie coaches. And lastly there's Warrington - seem to be trying to replicate Leeds of 2004 without the same level of youth development (show me the Warrington developed versions of McGuire and Sinfield etc) and more emphasis on big money signings. If they don't make a bigger dent in the play-offs this year this approach will have to be seen as a failure.

Rolling around on the floor for twenty seconds per tackle as taken it's toll on the quality of the rugby as a spectacle. But the fitness of the players and the structure of games and clubs as a whole has improved.

I think the salary cap and more importantly the change in the reserves rules we had a few years ago has greatly improved the quality of the championship. There is definitely a much wider availability of quality UK players. This can only be good for the game as a whole.