I'm sure both will be very much in the clubs sights this year.

And there is a case to say that we are actually in a better position to win both than we ever have been before. That's why the OTT reaction to yesterday is even more frustrating.

We are already in the Cup Final - and without wanting to disrespect Castleford, who have been sensational this year, I think we'd have all taken that option as opposed to a Final against say Wigan or Warrington before a ball was kicked this year.

Yes the LLS has probably gone now after yesterday, but seriously does that even matter? We are still very much in the race for 2nd, and the difference between those positions is minimal. In recent seasons we haven't always finished in the top four, but I think we will be somewhere in there - I think the Cup, win or lose, will scupper Cas's hopes of top four, and I don't think we will end up below all of Wigan, Warrington and Huddersfield.

Get in the top four and as I've already said today, the teams contesting those games will be so evenly matched that anyone could win any game.

And yes, it could all go wrong, we could end up sixth and losing on Saturday - but equally we could sweep to victory at Wembley, and build the momentum to earn a first ever Cup and SL double; carried there by big game players that haven't been flogged in other, less meaningful, games in the run in (like yesterday).

How do you work that one out? in order to get to those play off games in the first place, you are going to have to finish at least 5th in the league, and therefore will have had to have won at least another 15 of your weekly rounds to do it.

It hasn't happened yet but under the current top eight format it's possibly for the top two to play the same teams in weeks one and three meaning it would be possible to win the Grand Final while playing three games but only facing two different opponents.

Of course in the Challenge Cup it would be possible (if unlikely) to win that competition without meeting another SL side at all.




Season ticket sales against an all pay gate would be the biggest determining factor in any disparity there. In theory the SL Play-Off games should be well attended but due to them being all pay they sadly aren't.

If you read what I'd written you'd see what I meant.

I wrote "any of the teams qualifying to compete in the play-offs".

Why do you have to be at least 5th to win SL?
Just because nobody has won it from lower doesn't mean it can't or won't be done in the future.
To take this year, HKR could qualify by winning their last 3 games if either of the teams above them slip up.
They would have won 12 games - less than 50%.
Even if the teams in 7th & 8th place win all their games they will both only have won 14 games or just over 50% of their games.
Any of those teams could theoretically go on to become SL champions.
Unlikely but possible.
To win the cup you cannot lose to anyone in any round.

Good for you. You and Gotcha (great company) are in a massive minority.

75-80k will be there Saturday. It will be watched by vastly more television viewers on free to air terrestrial TV than the Grand Final will be. It is a showpiece event that will bring a massive cash boost to both clubs (Cas will care a great deal about the final). It attracts significant sponsorship. None of this takes away from the Grand Final.

The game may not matter to you but saying the game is unimportant is not opinion, it's factually incorrect. It's absolutely crucial to the sport in general.

Oh, and it appears from the team selection against London and Bradford that the game means a great deal to the coaching staff. Do we really need to ask whether the game will mean a great deal to the players?

Finally, managing the squad the way they have these last three weeks does not, in any way, preclude the team from winning the Grand Final. To do that they will have to beat the teams around them in the run in, same as they would have had to had they won the two recent games against Bulls and London. If anyone really things league placing and away fixtures are an absolute bar to this set of players winning a Grand Final then I wonder what team they have been watching the last few years.

Avoiding injuries to key players and finding form as we enter the playoffs is far more important than league placings. I see no reason why leeds are any less likely to do that than any other of the three or four contenders and the results against the Bulls and London are results that really do mean diddly squat.

Once again, I have never said the cup is more important than the GF, I said that I would prefer to win the cup more than the GF this year

I disagreed with you telling me that the cup was "a day out" "not the main one" "a side show" "It's a trip away from the North to contest a game for a trophy that doesn't really mean anything", I will decide how important the CC cup is to me thanks very much.