Then we could read the line "shows just how poor the standard of SL is nowadays" rolled out YET AGAIN for the 4,789th time on this board this year

yeah because it's brilliant isn't it?
got the sake of the game in this country the whole game needs to kick on. seen most leeds games this year and enjoyed 3 or 4.
speak to other fans and they say the same

That doesn't mean the standard is lower though. I agree the game, in general, isn't as good as to watch. However I think that's a consequence of more teams upping their game and defences naturally improving.

Personally I think we need to look at quite significant changes to the rules to make the game more enjoyable to watch.

When the likes of Tony Smith are saying the game is stagnating at best that cannot be ignored - something needs to change i.e influx of better players and coaches

You must have been drinking before you posted that

Not saying it is, just having a bit of fun with how many times that line is rolled out on here

It would help if most of the officials implimented the rules already in place on a more consistent basis.
Wrt other teams upping their game Cas have kicked on FC repeated last years efforts thus far & Wakey deserve a mention.
Bearing that in mind though ST's Wire & Wigan have all gone down in performance standards/Consistency so i do think the standard overall is down across SL.

Saints I don't think are any real different from last year. Wigan clearly had injury problems just like Cas did 12 months ago.

Warrington have obviously gone downwards but it's almost a straight swap between ourselves

Performance wise ST's have been on a downward spiral since winning the GF imo.
Have Wigans injuries been worse than they had last year they were winning games on a regular basis with 8/9/10 players missing?
Cas are still playing their same style just getting better results with an obvious better squad.
Wrt Wire their demise imo is as much down to TS staying too long & their inability to pick a settled 6/7 as anything else.

Grizzly Bri by plenty.

Saints I agree with have been on a downward spiral since 2014 (2013 they struggled tbf) but no real difference from last year.

I think Wigan's injuries have been a bit worse this year and even if you factor in us taking Wite's place then teams like Wakey and Salford had taken advantage so in a way better than 2016.

I can understand and agree with the argument that the standard or game isn't as good as it was say back in 2007 or back when we won in 2004, but to suggest a significant difference between 2016 and 2017 is really pushing it

From my own pov ive enjoyed less games this year that dont involve Leeds than last & i used to watch or record every televised game.
I also dont rate this top 8 structure it should be a top 5/6 imo with the Team finishing bottom relegated & 2nd bottom in the million pound game v the 2nd top championship team.
Id like the magic W/E to either kick the season off or be the week before as a 9's comp.