Going off the garbage the coaching staff had at their disposal (according to you that is) and injuries to key players throughout the season I think it is an excellent testimonial to both the coaching staff and fringe players who have come into the side and given their best to win the league leaders shield.

First off, congratulations.

Second off, what's it like to have won the LLS in such an embarrassing manner?

Why, we won more games than anybody else, we also did the double on our contender for that particular piece of silverware. It's awarded over the 27 game season and not over the last 2 weeks.

Well I for one dont think it's meaningless,you finished top of the pile.
Congratulations.

Aye, proper embarrassing to finish top of the league

Keep looking , you'll find your dummy eventually

She's a bit grumpy...probably cut herself whilst shaving her back.

I can,t remember what we had pre League Leaders Shield from 2003, was it a proper trophy with handles on.

Congratulations on finishing top of the league, especially with the loss of key players

.

Incidentally, as someone who will probably never see my team lift a trophy, is it just a new shield that’s produced every year?

It would be much better if like in the NRL with the Minor Premiers, it had a list of previous winners & therefore look to have a bit more kudos.

While I would have loved us to have played our skins off and won it last Thursday - that would have really felt like [iwinning[/i it - I'm very grateful to the Dragons for playing well and making sure we didn't lose it. Although we have been unbelievably frustrating this season - because we have a good team but one with too often a bad attitude - we have been at the top for most of it and therefore by default deserve this piece of silverware.

While I'm a bit bemused by the fact that we are official winners as we have had two losses on the bounce, I'm sure by Friday night I will have gotten my head around it and hopefully the club will celebrate it in some way although it's a bit awkward I suppose with our opposition for the night being Castleford.

Still, I'm really glad we now have a piece of silverware in the cupboard. Let's hope that this gives our young and inexperienced team the impetus it needs to kick on.

It has the year engraved on it I think so you'll get a new one every year. It doesn't prove much under the current system unless you win the GF but it's better than nowt. Congratulations anyhoo!

Congratulations on finishing top of the pile, i suppose on the basis of 27 games you deserve it , but the whole thing is a mockery when you think that Wire and Leeds who are 5th/6th respectively have a more realistic chance of being crowned champions than you do, i don't mean that in a disrespectful way, i just think that given your injuries etc that they have stronger teams and really have a real chance.

Congratulations from a Cas fan. Over the 27 games you've deserved it especially with a ll the injuries.

Well Done chaps.....got one over the Pies, that'll do for me !!!!

Terry The Leyther !

The players deserved that piece of silverware. Whatever their inconsistencies, and their tendency to put in some woeful performances seemingly timed to coincide exactly with when fans expect big performances, the bottom line is that they've managed to stay top for months, won more games than anyone else (no flat-track bullies either, with the best record against the top sides too), and they've done it all without their most high-value players for large parts of the season.

It is a shame about Walsh, because if his leg was still in one piece, I'd have been confidently tipping us for the Grand Final. But I fear that may be a step too far. Nevertheless, we have next year to look forward to with our first recognised scrum-half and stand-off partnership since Long and Pryce, a hopefully freshly returned star fullback who'll be like a new signing, and perhaps the self-belief which will come from knowing what they've achieved this season in adversity.

That is the same reasoning that devalues the GF for me. The fact a team can be decimated by injuries taking them from one of the stronger sides to the weaker sides, means that a test over 3 or 4 games does not equate to a test over 27 rounds where the whole team is tested.

Leeds have had a terrible run of form as have Wire, if you pick a run of 3 or 4 games where their best were out, then Saints would be seen as the stronger team.

You can't account for 3 or 4 season ending injuries to the key creative players.

Where we are lacking is in having 2 quality halves. That was within our gift to solve.

It makes you wonder if we had our key pivotal players for most of the season instead of half of it would we have wrapped up the LLS in record time, would our team performances had been consistently better.

No half backs, full back and loose forward over such a long period most teams probably would have struggled to stay in the top 8, its been a frustrating season as well as an unusual one. The quality of superleague is poor this year with no a dominant team this year Wigan , Warrington and Leeds looked quite capable but they have looked worse than us at times, Castleford freshened things up to join the party.

But at the end of the day Saints are top of the pile despite being written off by other fans year by year.

Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Let's go back to 2011 & see your views on the LLS then ey?

Our views in 05, 06, 07, 08 were similar!

Congratulations on winning the shield from a wire fan. You have deserved it for dealing with horrendous injuries. I think every team has been inconsistent this season (except maybe cas) and your brilliant start to the season and ability to win even when perhaps not playing that well has seen you through.

Good luck in the playoffs but not if you happen to play us.

Yep. Well done Saints.
One-off games are easy to win, even with a reduced squad.
But to finish the whole season on top of the pile with one, that shows great teamwork.
Can we have Kyle Amor back at Leeds now...please..

My way of thinking is it's a cup. We've not won one for long time but it's a cup. I'd rather have super league or the CC but we've not so I'll take it.

Also we have earned it. We've had horrific injuries to key players. We've topped the league since May and I thinks it's 16 weeks of the 26 weeks we've been top.

It gives us a better chance of getting to old Trafford and shows next year with walsh, Wilkin and lomax back and maybe few signings then we will me a force.

Its and old cliché but you have to learn to walk before you can run.

Winning the league leaders shield is like learning to walk.

There is still a way to go before we can feel confident of being in the mix for the big prizes of Ccup and Grand Final, but we can now say we are heading in the right direction.

As an example Wigan won bugger all between 2003 and 2010.
However in 2010 they won the league leaders shield. Since then they have won the league leaders a further time and picked up two grand final wins and two challenge cup wins.

The league leaders shield said to all and sundry that Wigan were back. It gave both their fans and players confidence/arrogance to take the club to the next level.

As a prize it makes you more attractive to potential players and also sponsors. As your recognised as a side that wins things.

It earns you respect.

Absolutely.

What pundits and fans of other clubs forget/choose to forget (delete as appropriate) is that this team is not the same one as the 2006 version. Only Robes, Wello and Wilkin have won silverware out of our present group of players* and so it is like a new team, starting over. This is the first step and even though we didn't finish it in the way that I'm sure we all would have liked, by a win, we near as dammit did and we showed the necessary commitment in that game against Hudds to have won it had we had 13 men on the field.

(*Ok, so Hohaia has also won silverware, but that was at fullback and in the world cup!)

It's great to finally have some tangible success to celebrate, and the first of hopefully many pieces of silverware to adorn Langtree Park.

Many have sneered at the LLS, and equally as many have mocked Saints and questioned the players ability and attitude. This makes them winners. Hopefully this spurs them to more and greater success.

Well done boys, I'm proud of you all. Here's to a great play off series.