see you say that, but two of the worse performances in this series has been from the team finishing 4th

But is that this year only and not the norm?

The regular 27 game season doesn't pit all teams against the same teams as each other who are in the same run of form, with the same injuries and suspensions, with the same officials, nor the same weather conditions, or time of day.........

Yes the most consistent teams are graded in a table. Usually the best team wins. But the play-offs are right in my opinion. The play-offs raise the bar. The level of intensity is far greater than the regular 27 games. The tackling is tougher, the running is harder, the play-of-the-balls are quicker, the game is allowed to flow, there's more pressure.. just the whole level is higher (although the first rounds are questionable!). No team played at the level of intensity during the 27 games against us that Leeds did on Friday night. Saints gas it a go at our ground, but we showed a composure and control that we didn't show under the greater pressure of the GF Eliminator.

I like the P-O system (although I disagree with 7th and 8th being involved, I think it should just be top 6). It shows who can raise their game to an optimum level at the highest level of competition. We couldn't dothat this season, but we got further than we have before. This experience will do us good. What we need to do is take a look at our older players and make sure we recruit properly for the future and look into the eyes of the other lads and see if they really want it in the future. Are they all up for the challenge? Are they ready for the next step up? Will they take us onto GF glory?

Why wouldn't they? It's what they do in the world cup. They have leagues followed by a knockout phase and it's possible for the team who wins the final not even "winning" their league.

Now stop being stupid and a bad loser.

AS a neutral I think the Champions are the team that comes top of the league.Playoffs is just like a knockout cup game and it is not about consistency.I would not regard Saints or Leeds as Champions.Man Utd came top of the premiership all season then Liverpool win the playoffs in 4th?I don't think they be happy.

Although we are all agreeing that a top 8 play off is a bit of a farce, I don,t think you are giving Leeds enough respect in achieving a grand final place from 5th place.
Leeds have had an horrendous season with injuries and had a new coach to adapt to, its only in the last 6 weeks they have had a settled side, if Warrington were competing in similar circumstances they would probably have lost more games and final league positions looking slightly different.
I,m suprised Warringtonhave managed to keep a high level of form all through the season which is a credit to the club, but Leeds have given themselves the opportunity to build up form for the play offs, they deserve there place at Old Trafford as much as Warrington would.

its not a step up in intensity its just a style of refeering that completely changes.....you cant penalise teams all season for lying on and then come the play offs (well the final two rounds of the playoffs) stop blowing up.

We've had Ganson loads of times this season and he has policed the play the ball well yet on Friday.... nothing.... a complete change of style in a response to Nathan Browns criticism of Ganson in the game we nilled them.

it was just like one of those failed Lancashire yorkshire origin games from times gone by, sky raved about the intensity of it but Karl Kirpatrick just let everything go......thats not intense its just crazy unpoliced rugby

but we'll be quick to complain in the four nations when The refeering style is different from superleague.....and Australia are giving us a dry bumming

I think the format is almost right on the play-offs. Perhaps including 7th and 8th is pointless, there is too much of gap for them to contribute anything.

We have won the most difficult of the three trophies, by being the better teams over 28 games. The play-offs is then a competition of the best and quite rightly, those who finish the highest are given an advantage, club call, home matches, fewer games.

Unfortunately for us, we were beaten by a team that has hit form at the end of the season.

I disagree, the team that finishes top should get more reward.

I'd like to see the top 2 finishers in SL play each other for a place in the grand final, the losers then go into the play-offs with everyone else.

Here is a radical idea, instead of having a top 8 play off why not have the top 4 from Super League and the top 4 from the NRL all playing off against each other in an end of season comp, one year in Australia, the next year in the UK.

Revert back to the team that finishes top are the champions but the top 4 qualify for an 8 team play off series with 4 UK teams and 4 from the NRL.

I'd scrap the play offs as they stand now and bring in this new comp, we need our standard to improve over here and it will only improve by playing better sides.

Yep its radical but it would be a decent spectacle.

Could only see two Aussie teams in the final every year! They are far ahead of super league IMO, like this morning, NRL grand final for a team to grubber kick in the own 20 before half time and they weren't even behind is unbelievable! Their defence is brilliant and usually there attack is ruthless!

I wonder if this thread will crop again in 2012 if Wire finish in 3rd and reach OT? Hmm

We all know the format so there should be no complaints. I've always believed that IF we're going to have a play off format then the top 5 system was the best one as it rewarded the team that finished top in that they got a week off then only had to win one game to get to the Grand Final.

Knowing something doen't mean it's right. I knew the playoff system from the start of the season, i didn't agree with it then and i don't now. The prior knowledge hasn't changed anything.

Knowing the format isn't the problem, agreeing with it is. As said, I don't have a problem with the idea of an end of season knock-out competition for the top 8/10/14 I don't care who takes part. How the winners of that competition could consider themselves league champions when they haven't won the league is the bit that defeats me.
Surely you have challenge cup winners, league champions and grand final winners?

This thread stinks of bad losers. We've had the GF as the way of deciding the champions for over 10 years, its the ultimate game in British RL, attracting 70k fans. Why would you want to devalue that?

If we still decided the champions by whoever finishes top there's nothing to say Warrington would have finished top anyway. Teams plan there training schedules, injury rehabilitation programmes etc to ensure they are in the best possible shape come the business end of the season. The pressure is on in the play offs. If Warrington can't handle play off rugby then they don't deserve to be called champions.

It is as it is. No complaints here.

There is an identical thread on the Wigan board. I wonder why...

Because the topic is in sharp focus atm perhaps?

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh,silly me! i thought warrington ,who had the best attack and best defence ,and were consistent week in and week out for the whole of the season,and who ,also-->>actually finished top of the super league ,then, have one off game and get beat in the dying seconds from a dubious penalty,would still be classed,in the rugby sense at least, as champions?lets face it,we are champions

so not a bad loser thread by any means,

Ah, that will be the reason of course.

So if thats the case how come their champion team doesn't win the WCC every year

.

I think you are promoting the myth of supposed NRL superiority.
Certainly, they have strength in depth SL doesn't have but I firmly believe our top 4 or perhaps top 6 can match them (the rest of the SL teams couldn't compete).
If you look at some of the NRL players coming over here with SOO experiance (flanno and perry for example) they are nothing special.

I watch the NRL every week and there are some great teams and games and there are som c8ap teams and games - just like SL.

Unfortunately McBanana seems to belive all the NRL hype as well; hence is his preference for widdop who might be good enough to play for salford or widnes but I wouldn't swap him for anyone in the saints team.

I fully agree with the thread and think it makes a mockery of the league. The best 2 teams all season have been Wire and Wigan. They both beat us twice in the league. Wire finished top and should be champions, I said this when we were top and lost to Leeds and still believe this is the best system. I have no complaints of having a premiership comp involving the top 5/6 or 8 but neither Saints or Leeds deserve to be champions (I'll go mental if we win it tho!!)

Quite simply because the 2 best teams were not good enough to get to the final, Leeds had a better game-plan than us, and Wigan had 2 goes at beating Saints, and failed on both occasions.

Everyone knows, that the system is wrong, and it's only Sky who hype it up. Your true RL fan knows, that the best team this season has been Warrington, as proven by the league table. To me, the play-off system is just another comp, alongside the league and challenge cup.

As for the logic of trying to explain the system to a wendyball fan, ask them to prove the logic behind the champions league, where a team that finishes 4th in the league- an absolute distance behind the league winners, can enter the same so called " elite" competion.( A competetion btw, that if you are the champs of some mickey mouse country, the only way you have of joining the elite, is to play a 2 legged game against the champs of some other mickey mouse country.) And then, when they have failed miserably after playing 6 group games, get given another chance in the Uefa cup, where they enter the comp, at a later stage. Also in this comp, is team who were given entry because they got very few red and yellow cards.

I can remember the 1970 RL world cup,maybe if there are a few old uns on here Rogues etc.We had just hammered the Aussies over there and we had a WC over here in october or or november,there were only 4 teams then and it was played in a group system, and we won all our qualifying games to go to the final and the Aussies won only one and lost two,but they beat us in the finalattle of Leeds.After the game it struck me I said the aussies have conned us again!and I bumped into some of their fans that evening and they said"no its the best way to do it thats how we do it back home in the play offs"I came away bemused and still felt conned

Its impossible for a Wire fan to be a bad loser because we have had so much practice in the pre TS years.
As for being stupid, well I am responding to you so..............