Your lack of insider knowledge didn't prevent you from substantiating your praise of Delaney with reference to his understanding of the Leeds ethos.


Perhaps you could enlighten me instead on the characteristics of Leeds ethos in it's current unchanged state then?


Which is irrelevant in it's entirety in relation to the topic being discussed.

This same discussion took place last year. The only difference being that it was argued that this particular phenomenon had occurred just the once, was a complete one-off and very unlikely, if not impossible, to happen again. Well it did happen again. How often does it have to occur before it is deemed incontrovertible that finishing 5th is a relatively comfortable reward and play-off journey for such a lowly-placed finish on the ladder? And given the huge disparity which exists between the comparative play-off results of teams finishing 4th and 5th, how much further data is required before one concludes that finishing 5th provides an easier play-off journey than finishing 4th would provide?

I think this Leeds team offer the perfect formula for fans.

We can enjoy the solidarity and whinge potential of following a poor team in the regular season - except when they're winning the WCC and getting to the final of the CC, of course. Then there's the cathartic ecstasy of beating all the dutiful plodders in the play-offs. Best of both worlds.

When you vanished for a few weeks after the Grand final i waited in great anticipation for your return and with new material......only to find you have copy and pasted last seasons drivel

Insider information offered up by the coach in an interview I read when he extended his contract. He neglected to mention whether they were trying or not during games.



Why should I? It has nothing to do with whether you're repeating yourself.

To very briefly humor you, it has, in my speculative, message board opinion, based on some interviews with players past and present, a lot to do with the team ethic and the solidarity between players in the group. I may, of course, be being lied to, but I believe it is supported by what I see on the field.

It would take a little while to do it justice, but you can read about confounded variables in predictive statistics on wikipedia if you're keen.

To help you out, the variables which are confounded are 'league ladder position of champions' and 'name of club crowned champions.'

Another club finishing 5th and then winning the title would offer some support for your theory (it wouldn't be incontrovertible though, I fear, nor would it for many years of occurrence - so to answer that question the only likely answer is 'never'), otherwise the argument that Leeds are more likely to win the title from any position is at least as good at explaining the observed events. In fact given that stretching our sample back a few years shows Leeds winning 3 of the previous 4 titles (before the 2011 5th place triumph) from positions 2, 2 and 1 probably offer more support for the latter theory than yours.

I'm not going to claim the evidence is incontrovertible though. It isn't. It's still highly circumstantial given the number of possible factors in explaining the process of deciding the championship.

So because Leeds finished 5th that means that, in a 17 man sport, 1 individual couldn't have possibly put a ton of effort in throughout the year?

As for the reality of the situation, feel free to try make it out as if i'm claiming all is great at Leeds and that i might see things through blue & amber tinted glasses but on other threads throughout the season and afterwards (you wouldn't know because you went into hiding) i've been critical in the areas i think deserve criticism. But unlike yourself i don't have some deep personal issues that make me hate praising other peoples efforts and success or begrudge or look down upon others who still get enjoyment out of the game.

Your opinion is not based on facts. But then as you profess to only watch Leeds in a one or two of the big games each season it is to be expected you are a bit flaky when comes to sound judgement regarding the Champions.

With the notable exception of JP no other Leeds player "gets stuck in" as consistently as Brett Delaney IMO ....an opinion that can be backed up with facts that made him Leeds top tackler (14th in SL) and our top Marker tackler (8th best in SL) He was our 2nd best forward both for carries and metres made.

Your notional accounting is as flaky as your judgement regarding the Champions. What you still fail to accept is that only Leeds have become Champions from outside the comfort of the top four. That they have done it twice from the handicap of 5th position is more a testimony to the exceptional talents of this Leeds team than your one eyed attempt to belittle this historic achievement by trying to make out it is an easier path than from the top 2 or top 4 positions.

They did just enough in the regular season to ensure they were fresh enough to get to the GF.. they knew damn well they could beat ANYONE in the playoffs.. home or away.. they had to just do enough in the regular season because the squad size was lacking a little.

Don't ask him that for I fear the answer
Fortunately unless someone 'quotes' him (please don't) I'll never find out.

Maybe you could tell us exactly what you expect from a champion team? Given your obsession with the NRL I thought I'd check how Melbourne got on this year in the regular season & how they treat their supporters. I had first hand experience of seeing the Storm in June/July, incidentally in the middle of their 6 game losing streak. They were rubbish.

Are they worthy champions despite having the audacity to play below par in a few fixtures?

Oh. You might need to wear a bib to collect all that spoon-fed dribble, courtesy of a compliant and obsequious RL media correspondent. Wasn't an interview with Peter Smith of the YEP by any chance was it?


I doubt GH would willingly sanction such an honest appraisal to the media of how the team approach regular season fixtures - with reference to the ethos in operation at the club of course.


Because you're the one who brought the subject up in the first place?


If you can't answer the question, just say so. Oh, what's this below?


So do you think tossing it off during the regular season and finishing 5th has a lot to do with team ethic and solidarity between players in the group? Or, if not, then is it a case of that team ethic and solidarity only kicking in during the games which really count?

Are you claiming that Delaney doesn't understand the Leeds ethos in operation during the regular season?

Five game losing streak actually - Rounds 16, 18, 19, 20 and 21 - they had a bye in Round 17. Such losing streaks in the NRL mid-season are not unknown at clubs who provide key players for Origin duties. Melbourne were handicapped by the loss of Slater and Chambers to injury, whilst Cronk and Smith were missing for a few games or backing up from Origin when they did play. They were forced to re-jig their 1, 6, 7 and 9 combinations. Apart from the big loss to the Raiders (after backing up from the Origin 3 decider just 3 days earlier), the other losses during that period were still only by small margins. There are no such handicaps for a team like Leeds in SL where 3 out of 4 fixtures are against whipping boy SL rabble.


Playing below par in a few fixtures (due to circumstances beyond their control), finishing 2nd and becoming champions on the back of that in a highly competitive league is distinctly more worthy than tossing it off throughout the regular season in an uncompetitive league, finishing 5th and just turning up for a couple of finals fixtures at the end.