Beaten Salford today so it's likely they'll be in the MPG as they've already beaten London and I don't think Batley or Featherstone will offer too much in terms of resistance.

However, the way Leigh are playing, along with other sides in the competition, I'm wondering if they'll even need the MPG?

Which will be a shame for Bradford because if Leigh get promoted then we'll never get another decent performance out of this team

Well, assuming they see off Batley and Featherstone, they essentially need another win to get third place and avoid the MPG entirely.

I think they'll fancy beating either (or even both) of Hull KR or Huddersfield

The big 'problem' for the likes of us is that, should Leigh get promoted, it will be touted as 'proof' that the Middle 8 concept works, thus no need to ever go back to promotion and relegation.

How would Bradford benefit if the system reverted to straight up promotion and relegation?

If Leigh go up, there's every chance that it could be Huddersfield coming the other way. And if Huddersfield get relegated I might just die laughing.

I'll bite. Despite this awful season, Bradford are still one of the biggest teams in this comp and would be promotion contenders. We'll see a different mind set from us next year (as will Halifax, experiencing the tinpot shield will give any player plenty of motivation to avoid it again)

Now we've a decent coach, our recruitment should actually be better (it can't get any worse) We've an actual HB and a decnt FB for next year already! Some outstanding juniors coming through and we're going to see the benefit.

Long way for Leigh yet. We smashed Salford by 50 last year and didn't even manage to get home advantage in the MPG.

Note my use of the phrase 'likes of us' - I lump us in with Halifax et al nowadays!

I should have thought my point was obvious. Finishing top of a league of ones peers is easier than having to beat teams who have been playing at a higher level all season - as Leigh found out last season.

Both you and Ryan Brierley, eh?!

But that still does not explain how Bradford would benefit from a one up one down system. If Leigh were not to get promoted or if they were and a SL team came down Bradford are still a million miles away from been the team in position to take advantage. At least with this system there is still the chance that a team can do badly, like Bradford did, but sneak in to the top 4 then put some sort of miracle run together, make the MPG and then win a one off game. Last season was a perfect example of that, Leigh were by far the best team in our division but fell apart and Bradford were literally minutes away from a promotion that over the whole of the season may not have been deserved.

They're not a million miles away. Have we had a wretchered season yes. But that's because we played with no 7 for most of it. Lots changes in 12 months. Bradford have a decent spine for next year.

Leigh have finished top of the championship 3 years in a row, lost 3 games, beat a super league side yesterday, and that still might not be enough to earn promotion.

Thats my whole point, no team is near Leigh at the moment so change the system and Bradford have less of a chance of promotion. Its still very unlikely as it is but at least the chance is there. Things will get worse for Bradford before they get better, obviously the money problems are well documented and wont get better for most of the off season, it also sounds like the players coming in are run of the mill championship players so there will be some levelling off which will pretty much cement them with the likes of Fev, Batley, Fax etc.

I hope Leigh do go up and superleague team get relegated.

Especially if it's Salford Or Huddersfield.

Just watch them moan. They'll just have to cut their cloth and reap what they sow.

As a side note am I the only one that's noticed that since Huddersfield decided upon signing Bradford players as their recruitment policy. They've started to go the same way as Bradford?

Well, that's not strictly true, Mick posted on Twitter that if the Bulls had made their missed kicks in 6 of their lost games this season, they then would have finished 2nd in the table on 36 points, which would also have seen Leigh finish 1st on 38 points. Not bad considering we'd played the majority of the season without any actual half backs.

Where has this belief come from that Leigh is 'head and shoulders' above any other championship team? The results across the whole of the regular season don't support this and they were knocked out of the Challenge Cup by a team in the division below. By beating Salford yesterday, they only achieved what has already been achieved previously in the Middle 8s. They still have a very long way to go to convincingly demonstrate they are deserving of a place in SL. Looking forward to the rest of the Middle 8s - I would love a Championship team to get promoted, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.