Not as some may expect a sour grapes moan about Leeds getting to the grand final after last night - Leeds were the better team and deserved to beat us.

What is a joke with the current p/o system though is in hindsight, we would have actually been better to lose in week one, and had we done this, we would probably be in the grand final now, and perversely would have also made it harder for our perceived closest rivals wire!!!

Had we lost week one the play offs would have looked like this;

Wk 1 winners
Saints - Club Call
Catalans

Wk 2
Wigan v Hull
Wire v Leeds

Wigan and Wire or Leeds winners (last one too tough to call - Leeds in current form would probably have edged)

Wk 3
Saints (with club call would never have picked us!) v Wire or Leeds
Catalans v Wigan

Therefore, Saints would have been battling it out with either Wire or Leeds - but one of our main rivals (Wire or Leeds) would have already been elimintated. We would have faced a tricky game in france, but with Catalans playing as they were - Even playing as poorly as last night I expect we would have won!

Need to go back to a top 5 ASAP.

A system where you get nearly as good a chance of winning the league from 5th or 6th (simply lose home advantage for a semi), as you do from 1st makes it untenable imo, as does a system where you are possibly better throwing the first game to get an easier run in the play offs!

Also from a Leeds POV - Winning from 5th also then has more credibility as you have to beat every team above you - Top 5 is the only play off system imo which is credible!

Playing like you did last night Catalans would have had the game sewn up by half time in France .

No, they definitely wouldn't have.

It doesnt need changing, simply be the best team and you will win it !! I believe sour grapes are on offer at Sainsbury's in the Wigan area!!

I don't agree.
At the beginning of the season if you would have offered me a home tie against the 4th placed team, a week off to allow players to rest, then a home tie against the 5th placed team, then i would have snatched your hand off.
We were not good enough to cash in on the advantage of finishing top whereas Leeds have had to do it tough playing two away games. They deserve to be in Grand Final.
Leave the play offs the way they are for me.

YAWN

The truth is you lost on the day and it was your own club call.

when I saw Tompkins was out I knew you would loose!!

Top 5

Wk 1 (GF Qualifier)
1 V 2, Winner to GF

Wk2(Elimination rd)
3 v 4, loser out
1 or 2 v 5, loser out

wk 3(GF Qualifier)
Highest placed team v Lowest placed team
winner to GF

WK 4
GF
i know it means the winner in week 1 gets 2 weeks off, but surely that may be seen as a reward for finishing in top 2 and winning play off match(although some may argue that to keep playing is better) and the loser gets a 2nd chance

translated into English

When I saw that Tomkins was out, I knew you would lose!!

Until they re-incentivise finishing higher up the table, as per the previous play-off systems, the league season will continue to rot. And a lot of people have been saying this all season.

Nothing wrong with the play off system, just got beat by a better team on the night, we had the advantage finishing first in the weekly rounds, had a week off but again when it mattered didnt turn up for the first 40 minutes. We never looked like breaking down their defence, their backs were sprinting out of defence causing an umbrella effect thus closing down the first and second phase attack, we were also attacking very flat with forwards not knowing where to be. It has happened 4 times this season, Leeds twice and Warrington twice. They only seem to wake up when it is too late, you just cant afford to play catch up against these kind of teams.

To be fair, Leeds beat us by 1, the way we played last night, if we had played Warrington we would have lost by 20+

You lost to the 5th placed team in the competition, normally that would be a team who won't really be a major threat to winning the comp. This Leeds team is a 'freak' in that sense that they can play crap all year but as I'm sure everyone knows by now are the best team in play-off football. This won't happen in years to come, as the leeds team won't be as dominant in the play-offs or be more consistent and finish higher up, or just drop out completely. The only reason why the play-offs look like a joke is because one of the most successful sides in superleague is winning yet again when it counts.

Has the league rot though? The fans turned out in numbers this year and I think it was the most watched season.

The play off crowds have been shocking!

I would love a season where you had to finish top to be champions. Imagine Wigan, Wire, Leeds and Saints going at it all year to finish top?!! that would be great!

Its really hard to justify paying £200 plus for a season ticket when half the top teams don't try in the regular season.

Don't know how the coaches motivate their players to put their bodies on the line in the regular season when the points available don;t matter. Since the top 8 system was brought in, its statistically proven you are as likely to get to the GF from 5th as you are from 1st!!

No wonder we can't attract new fans.

The fans are already there, but also there is a recession. It does not matter who gets to Old Trafford next week the fans of the 2 teams will be 20,000 plus each. The clubs need to cut the cost of these play off matches or offer some kind of incentive to season ticket holders. I have been to Leeds in 2003 and 2010 and watched us come away from Headingley victorious at this stage of the season. The atmosphere both times were about the best i have had watching the game, maybe it is because we won on both occassions.
Last night the game itself was electric but with the stadium being half empty it didnt seem the same.

How do you come to that conclusion?

Only Leeds have made the gf from 5th and despite not playing great during the season we have won 5 out of the last 8 so it's not a massive shock

which should tell the RFL something.

the main problem is that the RFL are "owned" by Sky.
wonder how long it'll be before we have a top 12 play offs, with more games for Sky to fill their airtime with?

The main weakness with the playoff season is that in the end the whole season up to the penultimate week comes down to one thing: creating four teams for a semi final > final situation as in any Cup.

The advantage of finishing top four rather than fifth to eighth is that you get a 'second chance' in the playoffs. But if you win your first playoff, you lose the right to a second chance.

Wigan have done exactly what we did last year - top the league, then play a storming game in the first playoff then that's it you are into one slip and you're gone territory.

So the full season apart from two weeks is about turning 14 into 4, then who are deemed Champions and who are deemed Bottlers comes down to fitness, form and luck in a two week window of the season.

I think the clubs voted the play offs in ???

The clubs want play offs as it brings extra revenue to them, I'm pretty sure the players want them as well.

I do think the top 8 needs reducing but with no relegation it leaves more than half the clubs with nothing to play for.

Nothing wrong with the play offs at all. Same in the NRL except the top 2 there did what they had to do.

Plus as Hull fan I'd rather have played you than either Wire, Saints or Leeds as I think we'd have done better against your less unpredictable style. (RE: the first poster)

It will change in the coming years judged on the play off and final crowds.The play off system is not working and the fans have voted against it by not turning up for the matches.

Personally I would like to see it go back to the top 5 which was the only credible play off system going IMO, as to win from anywhere other than 1st, you had to beat everyside above you.

It also gave proper benefit for the slog of coming 1st after the season, whereby you could only go out by losing two in a row (and if this happened- then you probably shouldn't be there)

Under the old system, our season would not be over due to a dropped ball by an under 20s player as it is now, and we would have got another chance.

If we cant have top 5 then we should have a top 7 play off IMO

1st week top gets off

2nd plays 7th
3rd plays 6th
4th plays 5th

Then you could still keep the club call which is not as ludicrous as it is now with only 2 choices..and actually becomes quite interesting and tactical as you can pick any one of the 3.

Therefore all play off games are knock out, with a benefit to the top side

This year we would have had.

Wire v Huddersfield
Saints v Hull
Catalan v Leeds

With wigan then picking anyone of Wire Saints or Leeds in the semi.

The remaining unpicked two then play off on a neutral venue - so that in the semis only the top team gets home advantage.

While top doesnt have the benefit of having a second bite as in the old top 5 - I would counter this by giving the top team a converted try handicap, meaning that any team would have to beat them at home by more than a converted try to knock them out - thus ensuring that one unlucky play couldnt undo 27 weeks of hard graft!

Another benefit is we knock another week off the season.

Lets change play off system so Wigan can win ?