I was thinking that myself. It's still not a certainty.

if its anything like previous years, there is no ceremony or any excitement.

One year a bloke from Engage chucked it at Paul Sculthorpe as he ran out of the tunnel for the kick off in the first play off game. they took a quick picture and the game kicked off, no team celebratory moment.

dont know if that was Saints' idea, or an RFL directive not to celebrate coming top of the league.

Was that the year that Saints played their last game of the season at Wigan?

Hope it's Hudds, can't go to Bradford due to being the bridesmaid at my best friend's wedding...no getting out of that one!

Disgrace that, coming top is the hardest achievement in the game.

Weve lost 4 games all year we should be able to win one or two

Being pedantic, the reason its the 'Minor Premiership' in Australia is because the winners of the GF win the 'Premiership'

Over here it is the 'Minor Championship' as our GF winners gain the 'Championship'

Is it worth a tacky marketing campaign to get a few folk who only want to see a trophy being lifted tagged onto the gate? Present it as soon as it's won then move on in preparation for the paly offs.

Correct

Isnt the Hub Cap half a trophy in everyones opinion?

It's a trophy that should mean quite a bit but actually means fook all because the RFL are thick as sh*t and bow down to everything Sky TV say.

Over in Oz, the minor prem trophy is HUGE and actually bigger than the trophy you get for winning the GF.

Over here you get a dinner plate/hub cap and that's it.

I think the whole system over here is skewed, to be honest.

The play-offs are actually a ridiculous idea. How can it be fair when those who finish top are rewarded by having those who finished below them effectively handicapped?

Okay, if you're a very fit side, you suffer less of a disadvantage, but we've seen in the last few years how it was a bridge too far for us having to compete from fifth or sixth.

It's almost like saying, the top two can play normally but the next two down have to play with one hand tied behind their backs, and the next two after that have to play with bare feet as well.

Getting home advantage for finishing near the top is fine, but having to play fewer games seems like a very unsophisticated way of sorting it.

Making the Hubcap worth winning should be something to consider for the future, though I know that Sky will be terrified this means the Grand Final will just become another Permiership (in the old-fashioned sense of the word), so it's probably never going to happen.

Not even that in mine.

It's a waste of time and only got introduced to shut Caisley and the Bulls up.

The champions are the team that win the Grand Final.

How are ticket sales going for sunday ?

Please dont balls it up this weekend, as I dont want a sky change again for Rovers the week after.

You're quite safe.
Next weeks games sky games have already been allocated.

Wire v Hull on Friday.
Crusaders v Saints on Saturday.

Aye, and if you dont win watch this space!

6334 left not including the North Stand.

North is closed isn't it?

so 13,000 ish at the moment.

Yes I think it is closed.

Tonight's Observer says Wigan had the option to have the trophy presented on Sunday but have opted for the presentation after the Bradford game.

£

Stupid decision. We need to get this 'hubcap' thing out of the way well before the playoffs, so we can just concentrate on that.

They are crowned champions but it's still a triumph of marketing over common sense. You may as well say the CC winners are champions. It amounts to the same thing. God knows why people are so keen on the play offs as the way to determine who gets the champions label. To be seen as some sort of reactionary, trendy part of the brave new world?

Dave