Whoever wins the Grand Final this year will, through no fault of their own, have a hollow victory IMHO.

The Top 8's are a much much poorer place without Leeds (even more so than any other side that may miss out).

This is nobody's fault other than ours - but the Top 8's on TV i'll be giving a miss thanks.

well even if we had scraped the top 8 we would still have been an irrelevance as we have been all year as far as the top 4 is concerned. So for me it is no hollow victory for whoever wins they will have earned it and be worthy champions.

I haven't watched much SL at all this year anyway to be honest i thought the fare on offer from for the first couple of months was shockingly bad so have only caught a few of our games since, although i missed last night. I won't be watching much of the Super 8s just the key games, but will look forward to the play offs and GF as usual.

Looking at the super 8's it looks pretty simple. Widnes have already fallen away, Wakefields season is on the CC semi. If they lose they'll have a hangover, if they win they'll be focused on wembley and will have a hangover from that either way.

So what you're left with is castleford providing nuisance value while cats and saints jostle for 4th place and hull wigan and warrington trade blows to see who finishes 1st 2nd and 3rd.

Most likely whoever loses the semi of hull and wigan will take top spot, assuming warrington win their semi, and then saints will sneak into 4th ahead of catalans.

From a leeds perspective the best we can hope for is that whoever wins the CC doesn't win the GF, because a treble is still a possibility for 3 teams. I'd like to see someone new win the GF, so warrington or hull iw ould hope to win the GF. Just so long as one doesn't win both GF and CC...and LLS.

Was thinking similar when I saw the table after last nights game. Widnes, Wakefield and to a lesser degree Cas are making up numbers - benefactors of Salfords points deduction and ourselves/Hudds having nightmare seasons. That said, the league doesn't lie so good luck to all (apart from Wigan of course).

I kind of think I know where you're coming from, but I think that you are wrong. Under this system, the regular rounds determine who has the right to play for a chance to get to OT. We weren't good enough. simple as. If we were in the top 8 and Wiganor Saints or Wire etc weren't and we then went on to win it would you see it as a hollow victory?

I might agree that it will be a less interesting end of season, or that possible less punters will be watching on Sky. But who ever wins will on balance have earned it and they will have every right to celebrate being champions

There's been a lot of talk about a lack of quality this year. Last year the top 8s seemed to pick up in intensity. I can't see that happening this year, not because Leeds aren't there, but because imo only really Wigan, Wire and Fc have been able to reach that intensity this year. The rest have been highly inconsistent and imo will struggle, although I feel cas might prove good spoilers.

Not really, you haven't been good enough this year, simples

Wouldn't be a hollow victory at all whoever wins. Yes Leeds won't be there but then again Hull. Wire and Catalans are all better than they were 12 months ago so should we call Leeds' victory hollow based on that?

Yes there's a few teams will little to no chance of making the 4 but that's to be expected and I don't know why people get worked up about it. We'll still have a tight contest at the top for the LLS, or at least a top 2 spot and home advantage in the playoffs.

Daft. No Grand Final win is a hollow victory. The top 8 are where they are on merit. Whoever wins it are deserved champions on a par with every champion team.

A couple of extra wins in very tight games could have seen us around 6th. But under this system we'd have been very unlikely to have made the 4.

It's no different to last year- the 8 best teams in the league are in the super 8's and the worst are in the middle 8's. You are where you deserve to be.

SL in general is getting worse though due mainly to poor direction at the top and a succession of coaches intent on bending the rules to breaking point in desperation for a win and spineless refs who won;t deal with it. The aussie game is a much better spectacle because games are refereed more effectively and games are allowed to flow rather than what we have to watch.

I do think you'll make the middle 8's more watchable though

The quality this year right across the board has been abysmal, We seem to be going backwards.

I can't ever remember a stronger line up of teams in the bottom 4 after 20+games. How has this happened when the quality of super league is abysmal and the worst ever?

except Salford getting docked points has meant a weaker team is in there

I'm sure the winning captain will mention it in his speech!

Its about time most of you started to come down to the real world. Leeds have been a good team, but this season you have been less than average. Yes you have had injuries, as every other club has had, but the others have got on with it. You are not in a false position, as you have had the same number of games as ALL clubs but have lost more than the eight above you. If Leeds folded tomorrow the rfl would carry on without you. So please wake up and smell the coffee. You aren't the best by a long way and the other clubs don't see Leeds as their cup final. Sorry to be blunt. But hey.

I think you will find most clubs playing Leeds see it as their cup final , and that will be even more so in the middle eights . Looking at the middle eights only Leigh have any chance of the Championship sides and even then the only way they could win a place in Super league would be from a home game in the million pound match or away to Salford as they could turn that into a home match with the crowd advantage

Back to the top 8's. I think it'll be interesting to see if Hull or Warrington can become first time winners, they have a great chance as it stands and people often bemoan the lack of different winners.

Seeing if Catalans could push on and be a genuine contender looked interesting too but it looks now like they're capitulating.

right now you would say the winner would come from Hull, Wigan or Warrington. Catalans look shot and without top 2 and a home semi you wouldn't fancy them to make OT even if they make the 4. Saints have picked up form but still don't look like potential winners to me.

I would still say Wigan with a fully fit squad come September are favourites but a lot does depend on which key players will be available at that point. It would be nice to see a different winner with us not being in the mix. Hull v Warrington in both finals would be good to see

Go on then i'll nibble.
Whilst we are being blunt im sure you'll find ALL the Clubs in the Champ top 4 including yours see us as a "Cup Final" & easily the best team in this side of the draw as for the other 3 SL we are the biggest threat to them end of but they'll be targetting winning enough points in the other 6 games.
Oh & whilst we are being blunt your lots best chance is the MPG IF you dont get found out/bottle it again.

Good luck to everyone involved. Hope all the games are a spectacle and the winner is the game over all. And the refs remember that weve not paid to watch them.

I agree a Hull vs Warrington final would be good to see. If the table finishes as it is now though I wouldn't be at all surprised if Saints with their better playoff experience were able to sneak into Hull away and pick up the win. Wigan even with their guys like Williams and Tomkins still aren't scoring enough points. The CC could still be a factor as one of Hull or Wigan are going to Wembley and Warrington will be favourites to beat Wakefield.

Saints are a funny one. they have been as bad as us most of the year from what i have seen yet managed to get the right side of tight games to keep themselves relevant and now with a good late run find themselves a good chance of the 4th spot. Like you say, its more than possible they could go to Hull for example, who may choke and suddenly Saints find themselves in the final. Of course we have seen that before with ourselves making a late charge so its not unthinkable but i do look at this Saints squad and apart from a slightly past his best Roby, they don't have too many top notch players or been there and done it Leaders who you feel could pull it off. It really would be a sad indictment of the state of SL if the Saints won the competition 2 out of the last 3 years with the squad they have had to work with over that period.

Just clicked on the RLfans site and seen the teams split into Super 8's and Qualifiers. Just hit home how truly appalling this season has been. I am still confident that we will see McD in situ next season as well - even after setting new performance lows.

Wigan massively miss the ginger pearl on attack, IMHO. If he returns and they get metal mickey back think the scoreboard will start ticking.