Before SL, the C Cup was in May, at the end of the normal games. It finished a season of nicely, and then there were the play offs, cant remember now if it was the top 4, 6, or 8, but if you had won the league and then the C Cup you wernt interested in the play offs. Now we copy the Aussies in making the play offs the main event. That now takes the end of season away from the C Cup. To me winning the league is a great achievement and should carry more prestige, but I dont want to lose any of the competitions except for the pointless game we call the Magic Weekend.

The best part was when the commentator joked "Some of you will have recorded this game, and what a game it has been! Well we're changing channels at half time, tough luck to those that haven't set their tv to record (the switch over)".

I was incredulous.

Oh and the cup hasn't lost it's romance. The SL clubs have pulled away from everyone else - when the SL clubs are tonking the non-SL clubs 82-0, what's the point?

Ok then

warrington 60 - Salford 0
Warrington 64 - Crusaders 6
Warrington 82 - Harlequinns 6

Whats the point of the league ....we could finish with the best attack and the best defence and not even feature in this play off final thing

indeed if I wanted to be cheeky Warrington beat Wigan by a bigger margin than Huddersfield beat Batley...that to me says the cup is more of a contest than Superleague....

I like an idea i read on the VT, i think it was Starbug.

The quota rules limit the lower league clubs so why not have a rule stating that if a SL club plays a non SL club then they can only field one overseas player.

Granted a lot of SL teams will still have a superior squad (except HKA) but it helps out the lower leagues slightly.

I'd rather win the GF but i just love rugby, so the CC hasn't lost any romance for me.

Why do you day that Matt? Has Red Hall predetermined the fixtures that far ahead?

You've also lost to Hull, Huddersfield, and Catalan in the last 6 weeks.

Those were freak results against teams that clearly gave up. The early challenge cup rounds are only going one way. They're pointless exercises.

A very good point !

It's quite simple.

The GF is now THE showpiece event for RL.

Previously it used to be the CC final.

End of.

The gulf in class between Super League and the NL1 is too great, making it effectively a mid season version of the play offs. Too much hassle

85.217.... Attendance for the 2010 CC final

It's quite simple

The CC final is THE showpiece event for RL

That's partly down to Wembley being bigger than OT

The rounds leading up to it certainly arent though.

Like Quins v Crusaders you mean?

Every league game leads up to the GF.

most of the people complaining about it obviously havent really experience the cup,
why get rid or change something that has been around for donkeys, brings loads of money in, brings loads of good games,
promotes the chances for the kids, i bet loads of teams played more kids than they would do normally.
the cc is the best thing about rl, i dont like the grand final or the concept, it should be a league, a cup, and (imo) a state of origin series.

According to Ian Lenagan this is very true. Depending on how we progress in the CC, the club will make between £75,000 & £200,000 at the end of the season.

A club makes more from CC games than the the play-offs.

Its the biggest competition in the wrold of rugby league.
all the aussies know it, they all want to play in the cc

In which case it's criminal that it isn't treated with more respect by the BBC, Sky and the RFL.

If it's our flagship tournament (which I once would have agreed with wholeheartedly), then it needs to be promoted far more than it currently is.

rugby league is run by a bunch of spinless mice, who wont fight for the game if it needs it,
the main fella made his name in tennis for god sake.

The support for the CC is there, though. Union fanboys often accuse League of being a sport no-one's interested in, obviously they're not happy when you point out that the Challenge Cup Final attracts more spectators than their all-time attendance record... which is nowhere near the RL all-time attendance record.

If the SL Grand Final wants to be the premier event, it needs a bigger stadium.

I remember back in the early 90's when the draw was being made. There was always an air of excitement and fear. If you drew Wigan it was pretty much curtains however secretly that was the tie that everybody wanted especially at home. These days there doesn't seem to be that same excitement. I don't think the tournament should be changed at all, I just think it needs a spark. Whether it'd be a giant killing, a Wigan style cup run, a classic final or a big name Aussie flying over just for the final it just needs that little something.

It's still IMO the biggest and best knock out tournament in world rugby league and there is no need to change something that has worked well for over 100 years.

I disagree there - I think that's the attitude that has prevailed in RL in general for the last 100 years, which is why we're in such a state now. The reason SL has overtaken the cup is precisely because it has been brave enough to begin to move with the times, where the Cup hasn't.

sl hasnt taken over the cup,
just in ur mind it has

This reall made me laugh.

So let me get this right you and others (wire fans mostly) are saying winning the CC is bigger than winning the GF and being CHAMPIONS?

Out of all the stupid things posted on here this is the most laughable of all of them.

Being the champs is the be all and end all in RL simple as.

no because being champions for me is winning the league, not the grand final,
and when you win the challenge cup are you not the challenge cup champions?

Only if you're a Wire.