Seriously?

Strangely although I'm down about the weekend (easy in hindsight to say we were too conservative), it still was nowhere near as bad as the match against them when we blew the lead a few weeks ago.
That had me questioning whether I wanted to continue watching them after 'too many' years.

Next year will be more difficult because I can't see all the sides suffering from injuries as they have done this year (and yes I include the goons in that). I've really never known as many injuries overall in a season.

As we stand I could see us finishing behind Wigan and Saints nest year and maybe a few others.

I think it's worse Fez.
vs Pies in the league we were better than them for much of the game. Ita safe to say, with a rematch we ought to win.
vs Pies in GF we were 2nd best for much of the game.

Something seriously went wrong as we went backwards from the game a fortnight earlier.

Through the season most teams and fans of these team know that we are better than them, but they also know that we will crumble in the big games, this is a mentality thing and needs serious work if it is to be curtailed.

We lost the game before we had even took to the pitch....

Two interviews prior to the GF one from TS and the other off SW.

TS 'We'll win a GF, may not be this one, but we'll win one soon' (quote close enough, gone off memory)

SW 'it'll go down as the biggest prize this club has ever had...that bus will not be leaving Old Trafford with out that trophy' (quote close enough, gone off memory)

Now make of that what you will, but the signs are negative from TS and positive from SW IMO.

Nonsense.

Before their hammering by St Helens in 2014's Grand Final, Shaun Wane said, “It’s life or death. It’s non-negotiable. We have to get this win, we will.”. Nathan Brown said, "It's going to be hard".

If you'd won you'd be gloating about how great you are instead of the post-mortum and you'd be calling Wane arrogant and saying his arrogance inspired you to win. What a coach says to the press is irrelevant, most players won't hear it.

Consider what Gelling tweeted then: "I'm either walking off with a ring or being carried off with a toe tag". It was pretty much life and death for that lot, not just hot air from the coach. As an aside he didn't shine as brightly on Saturday, think we actually did well to shut him down. Just a shame about the other 12!

Don't care much for Wane to be fair. Although he was gracious and complementary after the game, I really couldn't give a hoot what he said beforehand. All billy big balls and bravado which we've all heard before and overcome in the past when turning them over numerous times.

We lost because we never got going, their pack bossed our under strength pack and they were the better team. Not because of who said what beforehand.

Wigan just had a more dominant pack, and better backs, we didn't lose the game due to pressure.

I wouldn't put Saints in the same breath as wigan and Leeds, yes you won a gf recently but that was because of flower melting down, not dome great club culture.

I think he needs to leave before we will achieve this.

His unbalanced team selection & predictable tactics, around a quick play the ball, have been a major factor in the two final defeats this season.

Sadly, owing to his stubborness/arrogance, I can`t see any change during his tenure, & we continue to come up short in the major games.

ive wanted a new coach for almost 3 seasons now... but it isnt happening.. so instead of letting it wind me up, ive decide to embrace it next season.

if you ignore the actual rugby we played and the results in the 2 finals, we definitely improved on the season before

So if Smith can learn from his mistakes, bring some decent forwards in and stop doing that silly laugh when were getting beat, then im willing to get behind him next season... sort of.

The most positive thing I feel about this season is that we have gone through what was always going to be a very tough process of reinvention post-2013, and managed to create another generation that is now competing on all fronts.

The team didn't change much from 2008 to 2013 and that was basically a team of senior players that got old together that was kept together because it was a special team and we pushed it all the way to get trophies. We got 3, and came narrowly short in 2 Grand Finals. Had it not been for injuries in 2013 we would have won that one.

But I think we all knew that that team had a limited window to win trophies. When we lost to Leeds in 2012, I remember thinking we probably have one more shot at this next year before we have to go through rebuilding. When we lost in 2013 how many of us had a kind of sinking feeling that the time had gone, especially when it was announced that Briers was retiring. I was looking at teams like Bradford and Hull (who had been competitors under Kear and Sharp but lost their way) and been worried about the future. I feared we would end up mid table for a few years, lose Tony Smith and be back in the years of mediocrity.

But Smith has rebuilt a team again that's competed and but for a couple of match saving tackles we could have won the treble this year. I see no reason to think we won't be up there again next year.

Ultimately all I hope for is to have a team that is capable of competing at the top. There will be luck involved in big games, injury, form, fitness and so on so sometimes you can be ready but not win, but in the end if you are there or thereabouts enough you will win. Sides like Saints a few years back and Wigan the last few years have been going to Old Trafford and losing repetitively but it didn't mean they were bad teams.