Or we go into the second phase, pick up points off the teams below us, turnover Leeds again and then do Wigan again, get revenge on St Helens and ......................... in other words, anything is possible.

Sadly yes, it's entirely possible that the top four will already have been decided with maybe three rounds of the Super 8s still to play, resulting in some meaningless games, and the new system would then look like a bit of a fizzer. Obviously I hope that's not the case, and that we can make up the points on Huddersfield. I think it's unlikely but I would be delighted to be proved wrong.
Going off on a slight tangent, will the League Leaders Shield go to the side who are top after the 23 rounds or after the Super 8s?Given that the Super 8s is effectively the play-offs, I would have thought that it would be after the 23 rounds, but I haven't heard which it would be.

Top 4 is still not at all beyond us, but I did think prior to the Saints game that we needed to win and also Cats to beat Huddersfield. We must now beat Cas and do very well in the 8's.

Wembley or bust methinks.

From our clubs perspective, we want you to beat Castleford next week whilst we want to beat Hull KR. This gives us a 3 game advantage over 5th and 6th place (probably Cas + Wire) which means Wire (or Cas) would need to win more or less all there games in the 8's, not impossible but very unlikely. Huddersfield could implode which could give yourself and Cas a very slight sniff for that 4th spot.

I've been asking the questions recently about the top 4, what happens when the 4th position is nailed? Is there any point in playing the remaining matches?Will the coaches just field the academy sides. There appears to be little point in the matches after that, other than a few quid extra prize money, which probably wouldn't be that much difference?

The irony is that under the old play-off system, every game did have something riding on it. Under the Super 8s there could well be quite a few dead rubbers. Not what the game's administrators wanted but there is only so far you can manipulate outcomes.

Those 3 Inept performances earlier in the season Hudds (H) Widnes (A) and Cas (H) have cost us dearly this season.. We have nobody but ourselves to blame if we don't make it..

I'd include FC at home in that too.

If we lose next week, we might as well not bother fielding a team in the Super 8.

Can anyone honestly see us scraping 6 points back?

I would also include Hudds (a) and Hull KR (a) also, terrible displays.

Yes there have been other poor displays but I expect to beat Hudds and Cas at home and Widnes away who never even made the 8.. Those 3 losses in a row were the killer IMO

As an aside to the top 4 topic ,does anyone know if there a formula in place to decide the super 8 fixtures ?

The format for the fixtures can be found here: www.superleague.co.uk/rlnewera As a Vikings fan I think if we had finished 8th then the Super 8s would have been a waste of time. Every minute wouldn't matter as we would have no chance of making the top four. The only thing we could hope to achieve would be trying to stop yourselves making the top four play-off, which isn't really what this new era is supposed to be about. The middle 8s that we are in, although bringing a certain amount of possible peril, looks like it could provide more exciting games than the Super 8, especially as teams scramble in the last couple of weeks to avoid finishing fourth or fifth.

The format for the fixtures can be found here: www.superleague.co.uk/rlnewera As a Vikings fan I think if we had finished 8th then the Super 8s would have been a waste of time. Every minute wouldn't matter as we would have no chance of making the top four. The only thing we could hope to achieve would be trying to stop yourselves making the top four play-off, which isn't really what this new era is supposed to be about. The middle 8s that we are in, although bringing a certain amount of possible peril, looks like it could provide more exciting games than the Super 8, especially as teams scramble in the last couple of weeks to avoid finishing fourth or fifth.

I think maybe the middle 8s will be the most exciting & fiercely fought....4 teams wanting promotion & 4 trying to avoid the drop .

It looks to me like Leeds are the team that have changed their strategy this year & bought into the every game counts big time.

Dead rubbers within the Top 8s, where 5 clubs are really just fighting it out for the 4th spot, means that hopefully they'll rethink this for next season.

IMHO it would be better if they gave the top club after 23 games the LLS, then had a straight minileague of top 8 sides (all starting on zero points, with league position giving 4 home games to the hightest finishers) where, after the 7 games, the top 2 went to the GF.

I suppose the problem then though is that you end up with the same "broken" situation of previous years, where the league essentially just becomes a qualification competition for the playoffs (or mini-league in this case), and Leeds can sit happy in 5th, come good for a handful of games at the end to win the super league title, devaluing the hard work of other teams put in over the season.

At the tail end of any league season in most sports, you'll always get dead rubbers as mid-table teams play each other with no real hope of outright winning the competition.

I disagree. BM has played this season well. He knows where he can afford to risk games by resting Sinfield and Burrow. Most of those games they lost. BM returned Sinfield to start when winning was a must to stay ahead of the pack.
Two of those games came against Wire. Thanks BM. Without that we would be middle 8ing it.

Exactly. I said something similar previously.

It's near impossible to qualify. We will need Sandow to win us every game and Pies to lose around half or more of theirs. The system means it's not within our own hands to qualify but rather that of the higher clubs to lose it.

I said league position should perhaps give home games advantage of varying amounts not carried league points.
I also said the system was flawed months ago and gave an example how teams might play the percentages at the top and forfeit games at the bottom.
It's happened at leeds at the top resting Sinfield and it's with Wakefield at the bottom with Chester admitting their fete.

We've had a poop season - so why should we be in with an equal shout of the SL title along side Saints or Leeds? It was in our own hands to qualify - we've had 23 games to do it and blown it.

In 2011 we were out and out the best team, and the league table reflected it. It still leaves a bitter taste that we lost the semi, so we're technically not even considered Super League runners up. Who won it? Leeds from 5th, who were 13 points behind us and over 500 points difference worse.

There were plenty of people moaning back then about how the system should be made "fairer" for the teams that do well in the regular season - which I agree with.

Ironically the first season that they've changed it, we've had a stinker. But I still think the current system of points carried over system is fairer than resetting the points and "rewarding" the teams higher up the table with an extra home game.

In that case the season should end this weekend and just let the top 4 okay off.

If we're not good enough to make the top four, or at least be in a shout of making the top four with seven games to go, then we only have ourselves to blame.

I don't disagree, we deserve to be where we are.
I'm highlighting only that the format is flawed.

We are having to go out to bring in a halfback half way around the world on daft money, or just over 11k for BBW, that may get us to win all of our games,while hoping the pies lose half of theirs.
All that just to give ourselves the slightest hope of a top 4 play off spot.
So what is the point of a top 8 at all?

Perhaps giving 4th and 5th a play off jeopardy game after the 7 rounds might give the bottom 4 something to go at?

I think this would be better. Obvs Sky want to maximise the number of games, but with the new middle 8 plus a top 4 playoff, that's already far more interesting / exciting than the previous playoff system.

It will be interesting to see over the next few years if many teams in 5th/6th manage to move up into the top 4 during the 8s.

Assuming that we lose Sunday, but then go on to beat HKR in semi final. Then moving forward I'd expect that Smith would leave out anybody that's not 100% fit, at this stage of the season that could be a fair few.

Expecting quite a few weakened teams from the teams 6th to 8th once mathematically impossible to qualify. Given the current position that could happen quite quickly, and as a consequence quite a few routs.

Playing for pride games never end well

Not sure what the solution is moving forward but seesee there being some cricket scores.

'Every minute matters' somehow I doubt it

The only way of giving every one in the 8 a chance is with a scratch start or a knockout jeopardy game for the 4th spot.
I wasn't aware that the points carried over at the start of the season. Had I have known, I would have emailed the rfl pointing out these flaws.