The CC used to be important. In fact it was too important in the pre-SL era, insofar as it overshadowed the championship. Nobody remembered who were the champions but everyone fondly remembered the CC winners. The CC Final at Wembley was the de facto champions trophy or grand final. The rounds of the CC also used to rack up the highest attendances.

Post SL-era, it's been relegated to a Mickey Mouse Cup with Mickey Mouse rounds which are organised way too far apart, hence it's lost it's focus and continuity. Attendances during the rounds are now embarrassingly low and the Semi Finals struggle to pull in the crowds. The Final itself maintains it's popularity but primarily as an excuse for sundry clowns and bandwagoners to indulge themseves on a boozy day out in the capital or a weekend away.

As a competition it still exhibits some credibility because it's inclusive and open to most teams to enter from amateur and professional levels, unlike SL which is an exclusive and elitist competition open only to clubs considered worthy enough or who fit the prevailing criteria agenda.

In order of importance (my opinion)
League leaders . Finish top over 27 rounds and you are the champions of SL
CC . It is up there for everyone to have a bite at . If you claim it you are the best .
GF . A good day out . But pretty meaningless while there is the possibility of a team winning from below halfway down the league final table . Should include the whole 14 teams as an end of season KO cup . Yes I know it has been good to win it , but while we were diong so we weren't really the champs were we .
Surely you can only be the true champions if EVERYONE is allowed to compete for the title (hubcap for the league , CC for everyone)

i think most peoples opinion will vary depending on how long you've supported leeds or how old you are
my kids are more excited about this years cup because they havent seen leeds lift it yet,they almost expect us to win the grand final as thats been the norm for them
to lots of leeds fans our last cup win was just something that happened last centuary and they cant relate to it in the same way as they can to current successes

of the 2 i'd prefer leeds to win the cup purely because for super league to gain any credability it needs 2 different teams contesting this seasons grand final, another saints v leeds suggests a weak competition or players that cant handle big game pressure

I'd say saints fans get most of the stick for always going on about all trophies(including the hub cap) as if they're equal. But you are right that the only reason anyone goes on about "the Mickey Mouse cup" is to wind up plastic scousers!

In order of importance it's clearly:

Grand Final
Challenge Cup
...
...
...
(Big Gap)
...
...
Championship Grand Final
Northern Rail Trophy
SL Hub Cap (Token gesture unless you win the follow on competition)
Championship Hub cap (as above)

I'd agree with that - it will cushion the blow if we don't win the Grand Final.

Anyway giving everyone else a head start in the play offs this year is probably part of Lord Heatherington's masterplan - he's always put the good of the sport ahead of Leeds' personal interests (eg his staunch support of the Salary Cap)

When we had this debate at the beginning of the season I said I would rather win the cup this year just because it has been so long and I think this group of players deserve it.

But that is just this year and whilst I think it's a long way from any "mickey mouse cup" I do think the GF is more prestigious now days.

How did I miss that one!

The problem with the WCC is that it's not a true competition in that it's a closed shop and to participate you already have to have won the greatest prize of all.

It's a nice to be able to participate in and great to win but to be brutally honest I'd be hard pressed to put it higher than...erm...well...dead last!!

If the Aussies would consistently take it seriously and also host it now and again I'd move it up the list (even as a Leeds fan with a soft spot for the Broncos, I though it was awesome when Wigan won it in Brisbane) .

At the start of the season if I had a choice I'd have taken another GF win simply because the history of winning 4 in a row would be quite a legacy.

That's not to say I don't want us to win the CC, I do, and, being greedy, doing both would be nice.

Just if I had to make the hypothetical choice of which I would prefer.

I'm easily pleased and would be happy with anything.

Just getting all misty eyed again, isn't it great that we can even consider winning the big trophy's, what would southstander.com be like if the interweb was alive in the 80s and early 90s.

It most certainly is. This is a very special time to be a Leeds fan and a very special group of players..............and Ian Kirke.

last year it was buzzing outside wembley. think it might just been when you went there but it was a great experience going down there outside the stadium and init. hopefully the better team wins on saturday and it's one of thebest finals ever.

No you're not and for the very simple reason that the rules before a ball is kicked at the start of the season says so.

Change those rules and we'd have a different emphasis on league games and potentially a different outcome come the end of the 27 rounds.

Completely agree mate the path to be Champions is very clear and the best way to go about it imo whilst the fixtures remain unbalanced and the play-off system remains in place.

I posted the following on the VT which sums up how I feel about the CC compared to the GF.




Exactly... 2005 for example.

I left the Cup Final feeling slightly disappointed at our last minute loss to Hull but soon got over it on the way home. Contrast this to my feeling of total devastation at the final hooter in Old Trafford against the Bulls. I felt that the Bulls had been nowhere near us all year only to snatch it off us when it really counted. I have never been as gutted after losing a game as I was that night.

Also I was at the cup final in '99 that we won and as good as the day was and as nice as it was to win ATEOTD it was just the cup to me. Again contrast this to 2004 when McGuire went over to seal the title with a few minutes left and its the only time I have ever cried at a rugby league game.

For me its the SL Title every time.