I get that point, the issue tonight is that no improvement was made from last year. Leeds fell just short in both competitions in 2003 (under Powell) but players learnt and were winning the GF in 2004. Even if Cas didn’t win tonight a closer game decided by a single score would’ve suggested progression. 14 point defeat might not sound a lot in the regular season but in a playoff game its a big winning margin to overturn. Should’ve really been evidence of lessons learnt from 2017 even in defeat tonight, they weren’t and that doesn’t bode well for the future.

You might be right, but even after tonight’s result I wouldn’t swap Powell for another coach. I think it’s unfair to judge progression on the score of two individual games against different teams almost twelve months apart (though of course we’ve dropped two places in the league too).
Putting Brian McDermott, for example, in charge I think would be a backwards rather than a forwards step.
I do wonder, however, how things might have been different had we signed Danny McGuire this season. The argument is that it might have blocked the progression on Jake Trueman, but I’m pretty sure we’d have been better tonight with him in the team.

Depends what kind of steps you want to take. If Cas are to continue being a top 4 team then falling short will only be tolerated for so long. The biggest step you could take as a club is winning silverware and McDermott would give you the better shot in the playoffs.

McDermott wouldn’t have got you playing more attractive rugby but you would’ve probably stood a better chance tonight. One of his finest hours was winning away 13-12 to Wigan in the 2012 playoff semis without the suspended McGuire.

Don't blame you. I heard the lakes is a great place to watch the semi final/pinnacle of your team's season. As you are the go to man for RL, I've just booked myself a hotel in Windermere to watch the Grand Final.

Ultimately, 11 of 12 teams fall short every year though.
At that time Leeds had Sinfield to call on.
At the moment, Cas have no big-game player. Potentially, Hardaker could have been the one and with him I think we’d likely have won something by now, if only he could keep himself out of trouble (which he can’t).
I think Powell knows what we’re missing though. In time Mata’utia could be this player, but he’s only played a handful of games for us.

Cas are a show pony side, last years grand final showed that and tonight backed it up, basically they cannot cope when it matters and I don’t think they have the players to get to the next level, and this may be controversial but I don’t think Powell is all that as a coach, he doesn’t seem able to get the team up for it when it actually matters, has he ever coached a team to win anything?

Finally, that's more like the Leeds fans I know, & you wonder why...

Anyhow, well done to Wigan.

I only caught the odd ten minutes here & there, but on all occasions they looked solid, very Aussie like.

Cas on the other hand, were so below par with their handling & decision making. To beat the best you have to play at the top of your game,all game.

If I was a Cas fan tonight I'd be so disappointed with my team.

No that’s just me having a bit of fun and playing up to the stereotype and you duly bit.

I know why smaller clubs don’t like Leeds and Wigan, not that they’ll ever admit it.

Darryl Powell has done the best job of anyone in any league in SL history, some of the clueless comments on here actually make me laugh.... in 2013 we had 3500 season ticket holders and the last days of Ian millward we actually got attendances of less than what our season tickets were and the whole playing staff were a joke. 2 weeks later DP came in and since then we have lost out on a LLS on the last day of the season, won the LLS, got to wembley and a GF and been a regular in the play offs..... warrington have been trying to crack the grand final for the best part of 2 dacades without success. What DP is trying to achieve at Cas is not hanging on one game.... it’s a long term project that might take a decade, however the club is as strong as ever and we are trying to get to the next level. All this is down to DP.... no other coach in SL history can claim to have done what DP has with similar resources.

Massive well done to Wigan, that was a defensive masterclass and they deserve a spot in the gf.

You'd think so. I'm not sure the players have the necessary belief in the conservative style that DP seems to switch to for the games that count though.

It winds me up that after 5 or 6 half decent games that Cas fans think so highly of Matau'tia, he's absolutely nowhere near the level of hardaker, his 1 on 1 defence is worryingly bad.

As for last night, at no stage this year have I thought we could be Champions based on what we've shown on the field. We've got nowhere near saints any of the 4 times we've played them, we've beaten wigan 1/4 times, at home we are as good as anybody in a league game, but the mental toughness is away from home against a good side when the chips are down.

We did well to finish 3rd but really we were by far and away the weakest of the top 4, we never had the performance like what wire had in them Thursday night, or nilling wigan in a cup quarter.

It's been a frustrating season of injuries, of poor choices going back a year ago with plotting someone at full back and hoping the best.

On the flip side, a decade ago we were consistently the worst side in the league. Just so frustrating to be in the mix but unable to play even a reasonable game standard wise when it matters.

I fully agree and don't think many on here would not go along with what you have said, it's been an amazing rise and all credit to powell and his team for making it happen, you are now firmly set as a top 4 side which is quite an achievement.

That said, it is starting to look a little like Huddersfield who not so long ago were winning hub caps and playing in the big play off games but never able to transfer regular round form to when it mattered into those big matches. Everyone was expecting/hoping Cas had learnt from the experience of last year but it was a very similar performance with players dropping the ball cold, kicking on the second play, taking the wrong option etc.. time and again. That for me is down to the players, it won't have been in the coaches game plan.imo for that squad to kick on now it needs a couple of proven winners who have been there and done it to come in and instill the belief into the rest of the squad, a bit like Hull did when they got Gaz Ellis and went on to claim 2 CC's.

Goes to show how opinions can vary!
I don’t remember seeing Mata’utia make a mistake since he joined. No dropped balls and no missed tackles. In fact, he’s stopped a fair few trees that looked nailed on. He’s got strength, good footwork and a turn of pace when he brings the ball away from the line.
He’s not been with us long so it’s been hard to fit into the attacking structure and to clear that the combinations aren’t always bang on attacking the opposition’s line. But with a full preseason, if he improves this I think he can be every bit as good as Hardaker.
If I had to have an outside bet for next year’s MoS, he’d be it.

Two decades? We were a bottom half side for about the first decade of the last two decades. We won the CC in 2009 but finished tenth in SL, it was only the year later we started to become a top side with GF ambitions. That’s just eight years.

But I do agree. Sports fans are very blinkered and short sighted. They think in terms of one year, one month, one week, one game at at a time and don’t see the bigger picture. Cas are a work in progress. Cas in another three years will probably be better than they are now. So when you get people saying things like “Cas can’t handle the big stage” “Powell can’t get his teams up for it”, these are all experiences that can be used to improve on in the future.

Did you miss him roll the red carpet out for St helens first try last week ? Twice wigan made breaks last night and it's like he crops himself and almost ushers them through . He's done ok and I'm not blaming him for last night but reading comments like he's better than hardaker and potential mos are laughable imo.

I thought you FB went pretty well last night.
Even Hardaker (without a drugs ban or drink driving charge) wouldnt have made any difference.
Wigan's defence was awesome 10/10 and for Cas to have prevailed they would have needed zero handling errors and cut out the head high tackles (although a couple of those calls were very harsh).
You just have to say well played Wigan and it would be a brave man to bet against them in the final.

Wane has his first choice 17, playing at the top of their game, fully focused on the big prize.and neither Cas or Wire are going to stop them.

Well certainly Cas aren't. Wigan are deservedly strong favourites for a win as they (and Saints) have been the standout teams in 2018. Warrington are at least twelve months, probably two years, away (if all goes to plan - far from certain) from being able to play to those standards consistently. Most Wire fans are astonished we've done so much this year after the shortcomings of the Tony Smith latter years were exposed in 2017. Add to that that our marquee signing never settled and has been nothing more than a solid half-back for us, not bringing the sort of spark that Chris Sandow did ( for a while). One-off games are just that, though, and Wire showed they can better Wigan if they get everything right as they did in the Challenge Cup QF. Should be a good final.

Nothing wrong with Cas, it's a stupid system that doesn't reward teams that are the true Champions after a long season. I don't know how it can be called Rugby LEAGUE anymore.

Which is why it is a good thing we are going back to the old format. Saints would be getting another bite at the cherry for being streets ahead for 30 rounds and rightly so. As it is, one bad night and it's all undone.

Oh dear, do you want a bowl for those tears or some ice cream for those sour grapes.

Mata’utia got turned inside out by Ben Flower last night.

I don't think the problem is necessarily with bottle as Cas always concede a fair amount. I recon the problem is that Cas' attacking style is far too predictable and overly structured, they tend to do the same things (very well) over and over. So, when a team is fully defending for their lives and keeping their concentration, they can be held to very few points. Look at last years GF, Leeds completely shut down all their regular plays and Cas resorted to low percentage plays to try break us down, the same happened last night. Wigan had the same problem for a while )and possibly still have it) but they have always compensated with their defence.

The Rugby LEAGUE title has only been given to the league leaders for 25 years in the sports 100+ year history

Rugby League has crowned its Champions in a Grand Final and not on winning a league table, 74, soon to be 75 times in its history.

Great minds...