the History books also shows Dewsbury as champions in 1973 and they finished 8th Wire topped the League that year but you got nowt for that then....could it be worse than that.............. yes the following year 1974 Wire won the end of season play offs .....great Wire must be champions....??? No... they changed the format and the league leaders (Salford FFS!!!) were crowned Champions. So lets take this one on the chin and glad we werent on Tinternet in 1974...


We can leave the History Book to the Wigan Fans they love it, and Apparantly Wires arent in it anyway...

Ask yourself whose season you would have prefered to watch as money-paying spectator?

Wire, whose stylish and free flowing rugby and mainly consistant performances, saw them finish top of a 27 match league, with the highest points scored and lowest conceded, and even opposing fans proclaiming how good you are?

Or Leeds??.....Dismal for most of the season, fans wanting the coaching staff out, due to just how poor they truly were, and taking regular hammerings off your main rivals (and even some not-so-main rivals!!)??

Yes, they came good in the last month to take a trophy, but as somebody who pays good money to be entertained, I'm more happy to have followed Wire this season than any other side.....We Wire fans have been royally spoilt this year.... Yes, there was no trophy, but we got to see some of the best rugby league served up, by any side, in recent history.

they won the grand final, champions end of, rob burrow said it right in his interview, its not how ya start its how ya finish, all in all, grand final was an absalout corker to watch imo, good to see a lot of footballers on twitter praising the game.
hopefully wire will perform the same again next season and just go that little bit further.

Really?! Who has said what? I'm not on Twitter.

I was'nt going to comment on this subject,but here goes ,why wait till you look like a decent team before you complain about the play off system?I mean not so long ago when both Wire and wigan were aspiring to be mediocre and trying to get into the playoffs, sure you wont going into the play offs as sacrificial lambs..You wanted to get to GF and if you won you would have been called Champions.A couple of years someone wrote the salary cap is working now it wont be long before we have a team winning the title from....6TH well there you are.Leeds may have been in a false position this season,maybe not ,but I'll tell you one thing that is what the RFL are aiming for more than 2 teams having a chance of winning SL.

Absolutely spot on! Leeds were by far the best team over the playoff game period, again.

Interestingly, would this discussion be happening on this section of the forum if Wire hadn't won the league this year?

In my opinion, which I have held for several years, is that there are three major trophies to be played for each season. Each should hold equal importance for the reason that each competition has a unique quality about it and deserves recognition for that very fact.

Joey BartonFooty Focus done, good people. Now to the big one.....come on Saints. This rain could make it tasty'"

Great post we've had a great season.... after watching the Wire for 30 years..... I've been blown away by the passion and skill provided by the team this year... did we get the big prize... No... is there something to build on.... absolutely!!!

2 challenge Cup wins, then league leaders shield... it's all about building momentum.... We will be much stronger next season for this year

"oh the history books tell it ,they tell it so well.
the cavalry charged ,the Indians fell,and the names of the heroe's we were made to memorise.
with guns in our hands and god on our side."
DYLAN

there are 3 trophies to play for in a season and 3 DIFFERENTcompetitions.Why tag play-off champs with league champs?

These sort of 'friends' are going to call RL a joke anyway. Do they watch Wendyball? How is the Champion team of Europe decided?

The SL champions are the ones who win the Grand Final - everyone knows that and plans their season accordingly. The playoffs and the final are a great way to finish the season. I really enjoyed the Saints Wigan games and whilst we got the wrong result our match against Leeds must have been great for the neutral. Then the Final on Saturday was excellent too. Had the SL Champions crown not been riding on these games, then they wouldn't have been half as exciting and Old Trafford would have probably had half the crowd too.

So why do we need to change the format? Only problem this year was there was that half the teams in the playoffs didn't offer a credible challenge. Therefore those teams need to strengthen next year to do better. That is what needs addressing - more teams able to compete at top level - not the competition format.

uh? championship of what? i have no0o0 idea as i detest football ,bunch of overpaid ,publicity seeking morons with egos the size of there weekly wage

Yes, but I bet lots of your 'non RL friends' like it. As they feel free to comment on the game you know and love, fire that one back at them.

how vey true, we all knew the format before the season started. as you stated and i have to agree blowing huddersfield away did us no favours, better opposition may have conditioned us enough th beat leeds. i hope the other teams come out stronger in superleague 17