But thats part of my point currently all the kudos is given to the G/F winners, the best team in the Comp gets no more than a 'mention' as League Leaders. Thus not correctly recognising and rewarding the best team over a season. But potentially hailing a mediocre team as Champs.

By the way I do not perceive either Leeds or Saints as mediocre.

I don't see what the problem is with the play offs, it's a format that's been going for nigh on a century. Leeds finished top of the league many times only to be beaten in the playoffs. We only classed ourselves as "champions" for the first time when we won the playoffs in 1961, and rightly so. How about Tiger Woods walking off on the 17th hole at the open championship and declaring himself the winner or Mickhael schummacer finishing a couple of laps early and declaring himself champion. It ain't over till it's over and 8th October is when the champions are crowned. Nobody remembers the "hubcap" winners and you only get a winners ring when you walk up the steps at Old Trafford. It's fair because they're the rules and everyone knows that at the start of the season.

We currently play to a system which allows a team to win 29 games on the run and lose the 30th to end up with nothing. That 30th game could be lost to a team that finished in the bottom half of the table and maybe only won 17 games all season, though crucially they won their last 4 games.

No it isn't 'right', but it is the way the competition is arranged. Good luck to Saints and Leeds, they couldn't get close over 27 rounds of SL, but they have been able to get the results when they REALLY mattered.

The current format the way it is at the moment would mean there would be nothing stopping us playing our kids in the league for 80% of our games next season lower the standard of the super league regular season, scrape 8th place and then go into the playoffs which is apparently the big thing with a fully fit and fresh squad, maybe then the RFL would have to have a rethink , it does seem quite silly and embarassing from other sports perspectives that the league basically means nothing. and yes i thought this last season aswell

I've said it for years and I'll say it again as a Leeds fan who's team may or may not benefit from the current system next week - there is not enough kudos given to the winners of the league after the weekly rounds, its really got nothing to do with the Grand Final but its everything to do with a complete lack of respect from everyone in the game (players coaches and admin) and particularly from Sky Sports - any team who finishes at the top the premier professional league in one of the worlds toughest sport deserves to be recognised with a title that is at the least equivalent to the winner of the grand final.

The major flaw currently is that players don't get the recognition for being "league leaders" in the form of a medal/ring. As individuals Warrington players have ended the season with jack, that's certainly wrong. As for giving "league leaders" similar kudos to being "champions" i couldn't disagree more. You've only done half the job after 27 games and if you can't finish it off you don't deserve to be classed as champions.

So do the team that didn't do the 'first half of the job' deserve to be called Champions.

We did the "first half", we finished in the eight. The second half is becoming champions.

Really? Can you imagine the explosion if at the end of the season Manchester United are told that they get nothing for winning the Premier League and have to go through a knock out competition to be claimed champions? And then get knocked out in the last round by Aston Villa, who finished 5th - 13 points behind. Sir Alex would have a fit!

The play-offs and grand final have been manufactured to take the fans hard earned money and completely devalue the season's efforts. The attendances would suggest that people have got wise to this and just see it as an end-of-season party at OT! The LEAGUE champions were always the ones who finished top of the pile at the end of the season - until the play-offs were introduced of course. The premiership competition didn't hold that much weight yet it was more or less the same thing - an end of season knock-out competition.

We've only had the play-offs for about 12 years, and already, they're descending into a competition not worthy of name.

We currently have a system, where, over half of the league, go into a play-off system...crap

None of the top two teams are contesting the final...not sour grapes by any means...well done Stains and Leeeeeeds, you've done what you had to do....

Spectator interest is poor....I mean, come on....a Wigan Stains derby, in a stadium that holds circa 15000, not selling out for a crucial game..THAT TELLS YOU A LOT

PLAY-OFFS !!!!! Yeah, lets keep 'em, but call it the Premiership

Even the attendances of GF night are massaged
I remember well, the Bradford v Wigan 2003 GF, when Stevo said "fantasic night for RL, full stadium, and not a single ticket given away on a freebie....." CONKERS.....I was in there on one, as a mate of mine was playing for a University RL side that year. He couldn't make the GF due to a family party, so he gave his FOUR tickets away to me and some mates. Multiply this by 20odd players per team, and how many University/College teams entered...add this to the may other freebies which were given away (there were loads)...FULL HOUSE MY BOTTOM....we're being brainwashed by Sky, to believe this is the be all and end all...it's not. We had (have) the league...that's where it begins and ends.

N.B. IF we win the GF next year from whatever position we finished in the league, I'd still say the same.

None of the 90-odd thousand at the Aussie Rules Grand Final today were moaning that the team finishing top of the ladder should have more right to call themselves 'champions' than Geelong, who won the Grand Final over Collingwood who actually finished top of the ladder at the end of the regular season.

And IIRc, they have a regular home & away season ... If you want something simple, go watch soccer.

I have never had a problem with the playoffs and the grand final before this season. It's a tremendous concept and only brings more publicity to our great game ...so i wont change my tune because it doesnt look right for Wire, unfortunately its tough

and it is a great game Ian St John (former LFC player) was Raving about the game on Radio city today while they were discussing the pansy-ness of modern footballers. He did mention union players as he admitted to like both codes but he asked the other guys in the studio "did you see Warrington Leeds last night What a game"

anyway just because we lost out at the final hurdle we cant criticise the system. If they scrapped the grand final the very first thing fans would say is there is nothing for the mid table teams to play for. Then fans would clamour for relegation to be reinstated or a third cup competiton ...both backwards moves...

What we should never ever do is compare our Game to football in any way shape or form its a rotten game, and the less like it Rugby League is the better...

what we've got works very well i would imagine 60 odd thousand fans next week will prove that theory

Everyone's favourite footballer, Joey Barton, was waxing lyrical about the entertainment value in the Wire v Leeds game last night and saying he couldn't wait for Saints v Wigan. They need to jiggle the format somewhat, but the showpiece final has to stay.

Nice to see people are waking up, the play off system is a ludicrous way of quantifing the league champions. As far as i have been concerned the team finishing top have always been the league champions. The play offs to me are a seperate comp that should carry no more prestige than the challenge cup. Unfortunately our media led sport stuff's down our throats the idea that it is the pinnacle achievment, defying logic.

It is what it is and its here for the forseeable future, so without any intention of being rude, please just get over it.
Again, sorry about this, but when you actually get to a grand final (and lose 4 on the trot like saints

), you know how important the GF is to teams and fans alike.
In 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 we came top of the league but every saints fan I know thought we had won jack s8it. The GF was all that mattered to us.

Its only a matter of time before wire get to the GF after all, unless lord tony smith gets bored and goes off somewhere.

No problem with the playoffs and the GF but I've always said that the team that finishes top of the league deserves mopre credit than they get at present. The playoffs are just the premiership with a ton of Sky money chucked at them.

At least two people mentioned the NFL system in their posts as a comparison. At least in that sport the division champions get recognition as do the conference champions. The Superbowl is a whole different spectacle.

My view is that the play offs are te right thing to do however the format should be changed to reward the top team. They should have to play one game to go through.
The thing about the play offs is it's another step up in intensity that we don't see throughout the season, maybe even higher than the CCF, although this year it's been poor until the semi finals! Leeds and saints both played better than they've played all year against two good sides because that is what is needed to go through, to peak at the right time.

I don't have a problem with an end of season knock-out competition if that is what people want. My view is that the LEAGUE champions should be the team that finishes top of the LEAGUE - seems to make sense. Wigan and Warrington have been the most consistent over seven months of hard work, yet get no recognition despite finishing 13 points ahead of Leeds who time their run in time for the Grand Final. They should be two separate entities - league champions and grand final winners. Surely the team that comers out top should get some reward as oppose to the team that wins 4 knock out games? You don't even have to finish in the top half of the table to get the chance to go for it.

And I haven't changed my mind just because Warrington finished top, it has always and will always be two separate competitions with the focus being on the wrong one!

We all know the format at the start of the season. We wouldn't be complaining if we were in the final from 5th. The league is certainly alot harder to win and deserves more recognition. We haven't made it to the Grand Final, but it is certainly my happiest season as a Wire. Remember where we were 30 months ago.

here's a suggestion, i'm sure from a logistics point of view this wouldn't work due to the weeks off, but if you really want to reward the team finishing top, you put them straight into the GF,and the play offs are then for which other team joins them.

It would work if there were less teams in the play offs. The teams would go all out to win the league and it would mean a lot more than it currently does.

Top four Play Off only.

1st goes direct to O/T
2nd has a week off before the semi final
3rd plays 4th the winner plays away to 2nd place and the winner of that game goes to O/T.

This would mean that we wouldn't have the stupid games early in the play offs where the also rans get battered by the good teams, a problem would be the top team would get a break of 2 weeks but the flip-side would be that they get direct to O/T