A top 5 has now been slightly established for this season but which of those most worries you? Which one do you leat want to play come play-off time? Which one will most likely take your title away? Maybe none of them worry you?

Wigan - Top of the league, best team (so far) this season. Scoring points for fun and playing some great stuff. May come and bite you on the bum for that result in the CC

Wire - At full strength an amazing team on paper. Current CC holders. Very organised under your ex coach.

Saints - May want revenger for tha last few years. Players coming back at the end of the year.

Hull - Underdogs, they have some great players and are finding some form. Tricky game as it could be an away game in the play-offs which would be very tough if they have a full team out.

Personally from a Wigan point of view I am just as worried about Leeds come play-off time as anyone else, even if they finish ouitside of the top 4. Your play-off record away from home is shocking and ours is great but you could pull a result out of anywhere.

I think this could be the most exciting play-off series ever with the 5 biggest clubs all at the top of the league.

Wigan, Warrington and Saints bound to stick in the top four. However its Hull that worries me from us entering the top four. If they can stay as consistent as the others then Leeds will finish fifth.

Then again the play offs is a long time away.

I suppose the biggest threat is still St Helens come play off time as our game against them earlier in the season proved when they beat us like 40 to something?

As good as Wigan have been i still think there's plenty more to come from us and Saints whereas Wigan have performed to their peak imo.
Hull are no threat imo and Wire are much improved but yet to put a top team away.
Going on the last 3 years we fear no-one but it adds to the challenge and i still think we can finish top 3.
The big test for the Pies and the rest is to do the buisness in the play-offs it's all well and good having a big regular season but the play-offs step up in intensity and for all the "nearly" performances you've had in the final eliminator you've still failed to step up and take that next step whereas Saints and ourselves have been there seen it and done it.
It's gonna be interesting come September but i'm still confident of a Rhinos V Saints GF.

As a Wigan fan watching week in week out we certainly have not hit our peak.

You only have to look at the record of the top two sides in the play-offs to realise it's not going to be a saints v leeds final again.

We have always run out of steam in the play-offs because we finish low down and end up playing our 3rd tough game in 3 weeks usually away from home against top opposition. This year we should finish top and hopefully have a weeks rest and be playing at home. We do have the best play-off record of any team though.

We'll have to agree to disagree i'm more than confident in this squad and the last 3 yrs back it up.
I also think Saints are also a different animal come play off time and like ourselves their record backs that up.
You've every right to be confident but there's a long way to go and i personally know how many times we've been written off in the past from wherever we've finished only to up the gears and do the buisness.

So when you started the thread off, you were not really asking us who we saw as a threat? you were urging us to say Wigan?

The fact that somebody said they don't really then gets you all defensive.

Hint for the future. If you don't mean to ask for an opinion, don't put it that way. If you really want someone to tell you what you want to hear, then go post it on your own board.

Thats my point, your record doesn't back that up. Check the VT stats from Bilko.

Not at all.

He posted his opinion and I disagree with the REASONS he gave, so I posted my opinion back.

Our record over the last 3 yrs is 3GF's = 3 Times winners.
I'd say that more than backs up my confidence in this squad wouldn't you?

Yes, and by that reckoning only Leeds and Wigan would win the Challenge cup every year, wouldn't they?

Records from 10 years ago mean feck all to us. We judge our team on the success it's been having. The fact that pre 2003 we were always away from home in the play offs means nothing now.

This team is quite capable of winning away from home, the teams pre 2002 generally wasn't.

I'm talking more about away from home in the play-offs which it is likely you will have to do.

Your record is poor away from home in the play-offs and you have lost to both Wigan and Saints away already this year

I'm not arguing about your squad, that is already proven.

I personally thought Leeds fans would be most worried about wire for both competitions.

Who knows, it's going to be very hard for us to make it 4 in a row with the start we have had and Wigan & Wire have finally started showing some of their potential this year.

To be honest I'm not going to be too upset if we don't win it, taking anything away from a squad that has won 3 in a row in the salary cap age would be very harsh.

Mind you this does smack as a "look at us" thread.

The thing is that this current squad has just won 3 titles in a row so I'm sure they are capable of maybe winning a game away from home, the dreadful away record consist's mainly of pre '04 games with a squad that didn't have a patch on this one.

We lost at home to both Quinns & Salford in consecutive games before going on to win the GF last year.

The record for away play-off results is irrellevant to this squad though so again i'm still confident.
We'll see come play off time and i've no concerns about playing away from home.
The league results mean absolutely jack in the play-offs don't get me wrong the games will be tough and intense but i know this squad is capable.

if i had to pick a team i'd say wigan because we struggle to break them down more than any other team.

All of the top 5 are capable of beating Leeds on their day. I would feel supremely confident about playing Hull in the playoffs confident about playing Wire and Wigan and trepidation about Saints.

Wigan and Warrington have improved massively. That said, they don't yet have the big game experience of us and Saints.

Whilst Hull are capable of an upset they are the team I would be most confident about playing.

I share your sentiment about it being a very open playoff series. Where i think we have the advantage is that we have big game players, know how to and appear to be peaking at the right time, will be fresher thanks to the bitter sweet injury crisis earlier in the season. Where we will have a disadvantage is 4 in a row is quite a pinnacle to achieve.

presuming leeds overtake hull and end up in 4th and all the play off games go to form and the top 4 make it thru to the semi finals wigan wouldnt want either leeds or saints so might pick warrington
this season more than ever i feel it will be the form over 5-6 weeks that will be more important with the timing of injuries more crucial than ever
leeds and saints probably have the strongest squad followed by wigan then wire but all fours starting 13 are very close
maybe the pressure of such a big game might tell on wigan as they lack the experience in the bigger games but for now they must be our biggest threat

True, even when Wigan have had poor seasons they always turn it on against us.

can see Leeds, saints or wire turning Wigan over in the playoff's. As good as they have been they have shown they are beatable even when they go 3 or 4 scores infront. I predict more sorrow for the pie dome faithful.

Every team has shown they are beatable. No ones unbeaten are they? Out of all the times wigan have gone 3 or 4 scores in front this season, they contrived to lose the game once or twice and that means they will be turned over in the playoffs. Ok.

How much grand final experience did leeds have going into the 2004 grand final? Not alot. Thye came up against a team who were playing in their 4th successive grand final. Who won that game? It was a close tense game. Did bradford's extra experience make that all important difference?

Not really no.

So basically your comment about wigan's ''lack of experience in the bigger games'' (wait a second, how many eliminators have they played in recent seasons?) is just total bullsh*t.

Oh sorry Pal I was under the impression I was allowed to give an opinion based on what I've seen this season?

sorry Wigan to win! they are unstoppable as they proved when they couldn't get over our try line.

Not at all. I just said that that I thought you would say wire.

lol. Im questioning the basis on which you form your opinion. I never said you weren't allowed an opinion.

We don't have any finals under our belts in recent years but we have won many play-off games and competed in plenty semi-finals, hopefully that experience will help us come the end of the season. I don't think final experience matters but I do think that tight game experience matters and we have that as much as Leeds and Saints.

Warrington will be really confident in any big game though they have won every big knock out game they have played in for quite some time. Going to Warrington in an eliminator would be the toughest ask IMO.

I agree about Leeds having big game players who have already done it however I am confident a few of our players will step up in big games when needed, a few already have.

I can't wait for the play-offs!

Imagine this for a first week of fixtures!

Wigan v Leeds

Wire v Saints

Hull FC v Hull KR

Hudds v Bradford

Try and call those!