This is playoff rugby league!!!

The season is over, now it is all about winning the grand final, and to do that you have to beat the best.
We are unlucky to face Leeds in week one, however, recent history tells us that if you want to win the grand final, you are going to have to beat Leeds in either week 3 or at old trafford!!!!

These nerves and worries and fears, are what the playoffs are all about.
Everyone has spent the entire year complaining about how little the regular season means, and now that we get to the stage where it means something, we are remembering, that with that comes the nerves and the emotions!!!!

When we lost to Leeds at home in the semi the other year, it was heartbreaking but that was still one of the best games I ever saw because it was such a rollercoaster of emotions which is what sport is supposed to be all about.

If we lose next week that "three in a row" could potentially start with Saints at home (depending on the Hudds V Wigan and Saints V HKR results), followed by Leeds away. Our record in those two fixtures makes the prospect of winning them both in successive weeks look unlikely. Next week matters! Even if we win though, the prospect of having to play Leeds again two weeks later is hardly mouth watering.

Bring back the top six format sharpish. I'd feel a lot happier now with a week off next week then a trip to Huddersfield the week after for a shot at a short cut to Old Trafford, knowing we would have a home game V the best of the rest to fall back on if we lost it. This top eight format does my head in!

Couldn't have summed it up better. It's what makes the play offs special and makes us all a bit skitzo this time of year.

This is why I love the grand final and playoffs. You have so much riding on these games. Everything is on the line. Every knock on, penalty, mis placed pass is crucial. You go skitz during the games. You wait all season for these games. This is what it's all about.

Yep, once the play offs come around the wait for the next match is agonising. Somehow even the challenge cup doesn't inspire the same level of intensity or anticipation. Love or hate this format it does have strange way of messing with your mind. I mean whoever wins on Saturday is going to be thinking great a home semi but do we really want a week off? I think over the years it hasn't proved to be very advantageous. There is also the possibility of winning when it doesn't matter and losing when it does or worse still losing to one of your biggest rivals twice in 3 weeks on the big stage!

I doff my cap, good Sir.

Trafford, here we come.