Now that the relegation issue has been resolved, all eyes turn to the race for Old Trafford.

After a topsy turvy season for everyone apart from Saints, we are left with 5 clubs vying to become champions.
Saints determination after having lost the cup final will be stronger than ever but, the pressure does seem to get to them on the big occasion.
Wigan, after a desperate start to the season seem to have found some steel and resolve and would be my tip for GF winners
Salford, who nobody had thought about in the pre season predictions, just seem to keep winning but, their inexperience in the "big time" surely means that they will falter at the critical moment but, as massive underdogs, they will have plenty of neutrals hoping that they will prosper.
Warrington, can they lift themselves again ? surely not and their form of late hasn't been too great.
Castleford, just scraped in to the 5, look a little short on the quality needed to make it to Old Trafford. Being without Gale all season has cost them a couple of places in the final standings and for me, they are unlikely to make the final.

Saints v Wigan final with Wigan coming out on top but, it would be great to see Salford make it.

At the moment I can’t see anything other than a St Helens v Wigan GF however anything can happen in a one off knock out game.

For obvious reasons I want Wigan to win. It would be fantastic for the sport if Salford could pull off the unthinkable but with a lack of experience in play off rugby I can’t see them winning another game & think the usual suspects will do the business when it matters.

My prediction:

Wigan v Salford - Wigan
Warrington v Cas - Warrington

St Helens v Wigan - St Helens
Salford v Warrington - Warrington

Wigan v Warrington - Wigan

St Helens v Wigan - St Helens (unless they go in undercooked and bottle it again)

The only time Old Trafford will be full is if Salford get there.Man Utd fans are already jumping on the bandwagon.Mentioned a few times on their forums.Some made the trip to Leeds last away game

Personally I would love to see Wigan v Salford final with the fairytale win for Salford most unlikely thou, So a Wigan v Saints final with Wigan winning for me.

Warrington v Cas - Cas
Wigan v Salford - Wigan

Cas v Salford - Cas.
St Helens v Wigan - St Helens

Wigan v Cas - Wigan.

GF St Helens v Wigan - St Helens to win.

I agree with this. I don’t get the Wigan love in at the moment, I think most people backing them to win the Grand Final is because they won it last year and Saints lost the cup final. I wasn’t impressed with Wigan at all on Thursday or against Warrington. They’ve still got some quality players and I think they’ll get to the final via the route above but this team is missing their two best players from last season and a top coach. I think Saints will have enough to win it, I’d like Salford to but that’s not happening.

No one thought Leicester City would win the PL.

Wigan v Salford - Wigan
Warrington v Cas - Warrington

St Helens v Wigan - Wigan
Salford v Warrington - Warrington

St Helens v Warrington - St Helens

Wigan v St Helens - Wigan

Salford will get hammered twice IMO. Play offs are a different beast to regular season games. Wigan to win a tight one at Saints. Saints to empty the tank beating Warrington and have nothing left for the final.

Seems to me that it's:

Cas & Salford - Irrelevant (Although I'd love either to get a win or two in the Play Offs, but can't see it happening)

Saints, Wigan and Warrington in the final or semis:

Saints would beat Wigan
Wigan would beat Warrington
Warrington would beat Saints

Can only see a Saints v Warriors final, but like most neutrals i would love to see the Red Devils get there

Knock-out RL can turn the form and table on its head. As a Salford fan I'd love us to go all the way, but I'll be happy with decent performances. We'll certainly have the least amount of pressure on us, and can go out and try our hardest without any fear. Regardless, it's been a great season for us.

I think Wigan are our current bogey team, and the only team that have convincingly beaten us this year. At this stage, I'd rather have faced Saints, as we've played good stuff against them.

I think it'll be a Saints v Wigan final, but I'd really like a different name to win it, as it's good for the sport going forward.

Salford are far from irrelevant, they will beat Wigan this Friday.

I hope that your comment on Cas and Salford doesn't come back to haunt you.
Have you forgotten about the "walkover" against Catalan in the cup last season ?
You've done well to forget so quickly.

This weeks games could both go either way and with Salford having won 8 on the bounce and with absolutely no pressure on them could cause a surprise.
Also, with Powell having laid down the gauntlet for his side a few weeks ago, when it looked nigh on impossible for them to make the play offs, Castleford will be no pushovers.

I'd fancy one of them to sneak through.

Will Saints choke again or will they finally win one of the major trophies ?

The problem with Castleford is they are hard to beat yet they havedifficulty winning

Cas look terrible in attack the last few times I have seen them play, that said they have done extremely well to make the 5 given the injuries they have had this season, still not sure why Powell persists with Jamie Ellis though he has been dreadful for them this season.

I hope they do, an absolutely idiotic post from a poster whose attitude matches his name, has London not shown that you shouldn't disregard anyone, hope he chokes on it tbh.

No disrespect to Cas but I don’t think they’ve got a chance of getting to Old Trafford. I thought first half against Wigan they looked decent but completely clueless in attack. Second half they were just dreadful. They’ve got a terrible backline so I just can’t see it happening. Warrington are in awful form and the new structure means they can’t put in a one off performance and relax for a few weeks. I’m not too sure what to expect from Salford so I think they’ve got a chance but it’s unlikely they’ll win two games.

Bizarre outburst to be honest. I put that I'd like to see either win a game in the play offs but can't see it happening. I can't. Am I not allowed to say it?

For all the claims of arrogance etc. I'm not expecting Saints to win the Grand Final either. There is a clear precedence to back that up, but I still can't see it being Salford or Cas that do it. Cas will be out by Friday and Salford will then have to beat Warrington. It ain't happening, no matter how much you butter it up as a possibility. Reality kicks in during the play offs.

Being a Wigan fan, I'd love to see us do it again but I think Saints have too much quality. I get the questions about their choking but I think their determination will overcome that this time around. If it is a Wigan - Saints final, Saints might have some nervy moments but I think they will come out on top. A lot will depend on how they use the week off - it should be an advantage but sometimes it sees teams just look underdone. Bear in mind also that Saints have beaten Wigan 3 out of 3 this season. That said, I'm not ruling anything out. The teams below Saints have all been inconsistent enough that any of them could beat any other, including Salford, so I'll take nothing for granted. It would be great if Salford won it, though!

Nice sidestep, you called them 'irrelevant', that's the poor comment, your opinion as to whether they will or won't win is not an issue but to call two decent teams 'irrelevant', that IMO is hugely disrespectful and as proved relentlessly in the case of Saints utterly foolish, you keep writing every team in SL off yet you continually fail to win the big prize, or have I missed something?

You say "bizarre outburst" but, branding 2 out of the 5 clubs in the play offs as irrelevant, is either disrespectful or arrogant, especially as they have beaten Warrington twice in recent weeks. You choose but, i'd say a bit of both.

Do you work for the Daily Mail? You're taking my quote out of context there and twisting it all up. My post should come across as "Salford and Cas are irrelevant [ias far as the Play Offs are concerned[/i". I'm not belittling either club, just their Play Off chances.

Neither club is going to win in the Play offs IMO. Feel free to call me out if I'm wrong, it's only a prediction.

I think we will beat Warrington on Thursday. I'm rarely optimistic about our chances. That will probably lead to a shoot out at Salford which we could win leading us to play the loser of saints or Wigan. That's where my optimism runs out.

Set fair for a saints Wigan final. Hopefully saints win it.

Just like this year's Challenge Cup, it's Saints to lose.
This season they've had the easiest opportunity to bag the treble, surely Holbrook's not going home an ultimate failure by only winning the hubcap, again?

Yep i expect it to be a Saints v Wigan final, but i wouldn't want to call the winner