Well clearly Tony wasn't when he chose the side.

........ and the players weren't much bothered for 60 minutes


.................... and Wigan weren't too bothered tonight either.

I am afraid the playoff system has got a big problem. Nobody is bothered about winning the hub cap. Cue meaningless games where sides are holding back for the playoffs and are......well, not really bothered.


Except of course the fans. Who are bothered, because they have paid good money to see a competitive game.

ahhh, good. People are starting to see that the play-offs are killing the weekly rounds.

When the side that finished 5th won the GF last year, the smarter coaches realised that the 'king had no clothes'. Wigan put out a weak side and were beaten by Widnes - so what, are they bothered ? That must be the 3/4 th time we have rested players for a match against a lower table team. As long as you finish top 2 or 4, does it matter ?

Preaching to the converted here, i've been saying this all season, i've even stopped going to games because they are meaningless.

Said before say it again after last seasons anti climax just being in the top few teams will do me.

I've thought for a good while now that the play-offs should be the top five only.
The winner of the hub cap to go straight to the GF, and the other four play each other for the right to play them. This would be an incentive to finish top, therefore leading to competitive games all season and ensure that a team finishing in the bottom half of the table would not be crowned champions.
Fans buy their season tickets to watch a season of hard fought games, not a mad three week scramble at the end of the season(which is not even covered by the season ticket).
This is what happens when you are ruled by Murdochs shadowy empire.

Life itself is meaningless if you take it to that level.

If you win at Old Trafford this season, somehow I doubt you'll a) miss the game and b) moan about the meaningless regular season games.

Competitions like the NRL, NBA, NHL, NFL all have play off systems. If Super League decides it wants farcical games where teams don't try to win, it's because the competition is so utterly rubbish.

The top 2 used to really mean something as the winner of that playoff game went straight through to The Grand Final.

The playoff system as it works now doesn't reward the higher placed teams enough. It's a right mess.

If they didn't have the play-offs we would not have lost that game tonight. Is that right?

So, what do we do?

Does the RFL just paddle it's own canoe against the stream, or realise that a 27 round competion means ZILCH to the top side. They must decide what they want.

This season, it's almost like no-one wants to win it!
Come on, Wigan, who, whenever they've met any decent team this season (with one exception), have shafted everyone. No wonder Wane rested some tonight. We need to have 27 rounds of competative rounds of RL.
After all, we're all doshing out £20 a shot, for games that hardly mean a thing. The RFL ned to look at this, quickly.


Simple way of ending this situation.

Win the hub-cap. You are in the final.
2nd plays 3rd to qualify for the final.
That's it.
Too many players, playing games they don't need too.
If we MUST have a play-off system, let' s just have it for the elite, eh?
No more players "running themselves to water", when it's the season's end, and we've got internationals in a few more days.

Leeds got lucky last year, it was a freak, and not likely to happen again.

Let's make the play-offs high intensity, and keep our players relatively freash for end of season tournaments.

Lets stop kidding ourselves that we choose when we win and when we lose.

The last two years we've been knocked out of the playoffs at home, and last year we were knocked out of the Challenge Cup at home as well.

If we can pick when we win and when we lose might it not have been a good idea to maybe win some of those games?

said it years ago this play off system is a shambles..bring back the old relegation system 2 up and 2 down...whoever wins the league are champions and if we are to have an end of season comp revert back to the premiership play off system we had years ago 1v8 2v7 3v6 4v5...did`nt we win the prem at elland road from 4th but we werent classed as champions

Unfortunately, Sir Rupert (who's company props up our game) doesn't like this concept

Play off winners are here to stay....gggggrrrr


I wouldn't put it past them trying this on with football, within the next decade or so.
Rupert's company like play-off strategies.

playoffs happen in football but just don't decide who is called champions only promotion