He's right. Although logically you would say the best team finsihes top there are other factors that you dont seem to have the thought capacity to consider.

He never said teams rest players for the playoffs so wind your neck in on that one, he said tactically throughout the year, rest players throughout the year.

FWIW I think the best team IS the one who finishes top but I'm also aopen minded enough to consider other factors.

BTW, why do you say Saints were the best the last few years?

How about resting players for the Cas game in 2008 after winning the WCC and finishing 1 point behind Saints? would we of done that?

Then how come in 2007 and 2008 there was a little sign in front of the Leeds team at the end of each Grand Final that said "Champions"
So what you just wrote isnt a fact, is it?

Total rubbish. In 2008, why did Leeds play kids v Cas after the England game? So that their stars would not be battered by playing 2 games in a week? If it was first past the post, the descision would have been different, but given a top 2 finish was on the cards, then it would have been stupid to risk the long term health of players.

There was an interesting article in the program on saturday which compared for for teams over the grand final ear.

It had Leeds as the league leader since the GF was introduced in 1998. Not believing that I went and found my own stats:

Edit: Made changes to display mergers correctly

GF Era
--------

[codeTeam Played Points For Against Diff
Leeds 330 478 10125 6373 3752
Saints 330 452 10635 6410 4225
Bradford 330 384 10201 6495 3706
Wigan 330 383 9187 6265 2922
Hull Sharks/FC 330 304 7620 7658 -38
Warrington 330 300 7990 8828 -838
Quins/Broncos 330 277 7035 8487 -1452
Cas 248 218 5355 6330 -975
Huddersfield 274 204 5827 7418 -1591
London 221 187 4824 5574 -750
Wakefield 251 165 5422 7079 -1657
Halifax 137 115 3083 3560 -477
Quins 109 90 2211 2913 -702
Hull KR 81 78 1705 1952 -247
Widnes 84 68 1696 2293 -597
Gateshead 30 39 775 576 199
Hull 53 26 843 1495 -652
Sheffield 23 18 495 541 -46
Catalans 28 16 601 894 -293
Salford 23 13 319 575 -256
Celtic 27 6 357 874 -517
Leigh 28 5 445 1210 -765[/code




SL Era
--------

[code
Team Played Points For Against Diff
Saints 374 521 12177 7371 4806
Leeds 374 517 11224 7581 3643
Bradford 374 458 11737 7301 4436
Wigan 374 450 10772 6989 3783
Warrington 374 340 8996 10040 -1044
Quins/Broncos 374 335 8262 9367 -1105
Hull Sharks/FC 330 304 7620 7658 -38
Cas 292 248 6237 7444 -1207
Huddersfield 274 204 5827 7418 -1591
Wakefield 251 165 5422 7079 -1657
Halifax 181 154 4274 4685 -411
Quins 109 90 2211 2913 -702
Hull KR 81 78 1705 1952 -247
Widnes 84 68 1696 2293 -597
Gateshead 30 39 775 576 199
Oldham 22 19 473 681 -208
Paris 44 19 760 1367 -607
Sheffield 23 18 495 541 -46
Catalans 28 16 601 894 -293
Salford 23 13 319 575 -256
Celtic 27 6 357 874 -517
Leigh 28 5 445 1210 -765
Workington 22 5 325 1021 -696
[/code

Pete smith of the YEP gives his insight... www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/r ... 5735375.jp

Pete smith of the YEP gives his insight... www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/r ... 5735375.jp

Quote ="rhinoms"Pete smith of the YEP gives his insight... www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/r ... 5735375.jp'" I'm gonna puke...

Quote ="rhinoms"Pete smith of the YEP gives his insight... www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/r ... 5735375.jp'" I'm gonna puke...

Awesome.

I tend to agree with him, Leeds can improve even more. They only squeeked past Saints this year and we were frankly terrible for 90% of the campaign

Both Leeds and Saints will be better next year so although a lot of folk are predicting big things from Wigan and Warrington I think the gap will remain.

Will they?

Saints' attack was woeful for the last 2 months of SL. Many think Potter aint got the skills to bring Saints' attacking flair back. Add to that there main attacking man for the last decade Sean Long is no longer at the club. Eastmond is a class act but hes been throw in the deep end too early imo. He wont be able to take control of games and direct his pack like Long used to do. Only time will tell but in my unbiased opinion Saints won't be better off next year.

OR, OR, Potter can't play his game with the Saints team because his two aged playmakers can't march to the beat of a new drum.

One down....

If Potter can make the Dragons fire like he did, he can make Saints unstoppable. He won't because we have the sleeve. But he can.

So woeful we won the LLT

I didn't say you were woeful, just that you can get even better. Your current side is one of the best I've seen, it's hard to find a weak link.

I look at Saints and if I was a coach there would be several I could target.

With the pack that Saints have got, you've got to be having a laugh



Saints were almost playing one out rugby. Potters ok with a big dominant pack, playing bossy rugby league, Saints aint got the personel to do that. It will be interesting to see what brand they are going to play next year.

Edit and apologies

I missed the fact that you are a Saints fan...

Except you can argue with it because its' not a fact. Its' actually the opposite of a fact. It's nonsense.

Someone should take out an injunction to prevent idiots like you having access to a key board.

What time is someone due to hand you your medication? Is there anyone we can call to assist you?

I jizzed in my pants while reading it.

I watched the game again last night and it struck me during the brief glimps at half-time of the teams in the dressing rooms. Leeds looked like a real unit - huddled around, listening to Bluey, paying attention - even the trainers/conditioners were sat listening. They looked a tight bunch of guys.
Saints on the other hand had Potter stood up, it was obvious he wasn't connecting with his team. There were things going on in the background, players talking with each other.

True, Mick Potter has the charisma of a cabbage.

Maybe they were talking about where the horribly intrusive cameras were this year, just in case they put poor ickle Jonny Wilkin off again...

Whoop Whoop!!

Is that how you describe the Dragons pack?

Hopefully the same brand that saw Mogg in the dream team and Murphy scoring for fun out wide. Jones notwithstanding, that brand was effective enough to get them to Wembley.

As G1 has said already, no it isn't a fact.

What decides the Champion team is set out by the RFL before the season starts. Teams approach the regular rounds knowing what is required to become the champions and play them accordingly.

If it really was decided by a first past the post system do you honestly think Leeds and St Helens would have lost games to Salford and Bradford this season?

on which planet?