Centurions Secure Super League With Giant Victory Into round five of the Super Eights Qualifiers and a crunch match at the Leigh Sports Village between the Centurions and the Giants. A win for Leigh would see them guaranteed Super League in 2017 but a loss would see the home side drop to third behind today's opponents. Leigh were unchanged from the side who defeated Hull KR in round four, but the Giants were without Eorl Crabtree and Tom Symonds. It was a large and expectant Leigh crowd hoping for a momentous game on a sunny afternoon. READ MORE ON THIS STORY...

Centurions Secure Super League With Giant Victory Into round five of the Super Eights Qualifiers and a crunch match at the Leigh Sports Village between the Centurions and the Giants. A win for Leigh would see them guaranteed Super League in 2017 but a loss would see the home side drop to third behind today's opponents. Leigh were unchanged from the side who defeated Hull KR in round four, but the Giants were without Eorl Crabtree and Tom Symonds. It was a large and expectant Leigh crowd hoping for a momentous game on a sunny afternoon. READ MORE ON THIS STORY...

Congratulations to Leigh.

What a bizarre game though, at least Huddersfield pulled it back to make a game of it, thereby helping their points difference especially with the battles to come.

Well done Leigh, very well deserved

Great job by Leigh.

Many said that the middle 8's were only there to give fake hope, but actually Leigh have shown that you don't have to leave it all down to the gamble of the million pound game.

Slow down a little here. If Leigh don't concentrate and Batley and Leeds beat them, mathematically 2 other teams could finish with 10 points as well.

All very doubtful, but they shouldn't be complacent.

I'm not stating they don't deserve it, but this is a little like celebrating a winning try on the way towards the line. Sometimes they knock it on.

Pray tell who the other two clubs are?

I dont think that he realised that Huddersfield and KR actually play each other, which means that they cant both get to 10 points

Well done to Leigh.
They have proven they can beat the lower super league teams and deserve their place in the top league.
Look forward to playing them next year.

Please read the headline, before getting all 'upset' !

Within the next few weeks you will say to yourself , Bugatti me these guys are serious contenders

No, but it helps if you've a chairman with deep enough pockets to gamble on signing SL level players to fill the team with.

Without that, the Middle 8's ARE false hope of promotion.

To be fair, playing 'part time' teams mainly, week in/week out is hardly ideal preparation. It's not ALL down to money, Leigh, Batley, Fev & London are not used to playing 'full time' teams every week.
Bradford got to the MPG last saeason without spending big. Obviously it 'does help' if your owner splashes the cash, but it guarantees nothing, does it ?

I think this is the intriguing part. Leigh have done well to get to SL and well and truly deserve their place. However, they have played 23 games against significantly weaker teams and not had to contend with the weekly intensity of playing SL.
Next year, they will need to be able to cope with playing better teams every week. There will be no easy games and they will likely suffer more injuries due to the higher intensity levels and harder physical contact.
If they can consolidate and aim for a 9-10th place finish I think they will be doing well.

Don't get me wrong. Leigh deserve this. They've gone about things in a much more professional manner than last year.

it does indeed help but does not always guarantee success. witness one club owner with very deep pockets who might well see his club go the other way very soon

Leigh have 1 SL standard player in Paterson, and a bunch of former SL journeymen in their mid to late 30s. I expect they might do a little better than last time they were in SL because of the poor standard of the league compared to then, but they are certs for the MPG next year unless they buy pretty much an entirely new squad.

Harrison Hansen is a very good player.
I don't think it's easy to judge the halves. They have gone well against poor SL teams, but they will get nowhere near as much space playing the top 8.
Will their pack stand up to the forward battle against the better SL teams? Will their pivots be as good when they have much less time?
Who knows? But it will be interesting to find out.

Yep pretty sheeeite aren't we

But sheeeite enough to beat 3 SL teams and maybe a 4 th in a couple of weeks

Surprised that Hansen is only 31, he could probably still go in Super League. Their Aussie centre and prop might also be good enough for the lower end of the table. As for the halves, Drinkwater was ineffectual in Super League in 2014. No idea how Ridyard will go but he's 30 years old and never played at this level, I'd say at best he'd be on par with Liam Finn who most consider to be the worst starting halfback in the league.

Factually incorrect and Huddersfield are a top 4 team apparently, Salford are top 6 and Leeds are GF winners.

Yes, I think they are gambling giving Drinkwater a multi-year deal given his previous record in SL.
Interesting to see Ben Roberts sitting very much in the Leigh players' area tonight......

How can an opinion be factually incorrect?

Bring back franchising. This playoff system clearly isn't working. It's making the usual suspects on here look like complete dumbasses.

Josh has just turned 24 , maybe just wasn't ready a couple of years ago