Dream on.
I didn't say the SL was superior. I said the top 4 or 6 teams can compete and have shown as being able to compete with their top 4 or 6 teams.
Stop making excuses for them when they come over here - they are what they are i.e. about the same as us. Don't let facts get in your way.
They are not even fully fit? And we are fully fit at that stage then?? (its only the last 2 years we have moved the match later and that was to help the whinging crims wake up from their hibernation).

Bringing the Aussies over thousands of miles in freezing November for the 4 nations won't affect them will it?

Unfortunately you have fallen for the NRL hype with no facts to back you up. Have you watched Gold Coast, the Sharks or even Penrith recently? Absolute garbage whenever I've watched them, I've fallen asleep a couple of time as some of the game were that poor. Watching their top teams is a different matter.
Many of the aussies who come over here say it is just as skillful, intense and physical.

What you might be referring to is that the NRL have strength in depth which we clearly don't, so that their comp as a whole is more competitive.
Tony Smith indirectly referred to it when he said this weekend that the gulf between the top and bottom teams did wire no favours.

The NRL is that good that 6th place in the NRL could beat the top of their own league.

We have beat every team this year. Saints haven't beat us. Therefore, how can they be champions?

Stupid format. Should go back to the 1-4 or 1-6 play off system.

I don't really have a problem with the format in all honesty, I'm not completely convinced there are any benefits for winning the league, so perhaps that needs looking at, and clearly clubcall is a dead duck but I don't think any of that derailed us so to speak, we just didn't perform when it counted, for a variety of reasons.

If Wire had won from 6th,7th or 8th they would have been worthy champions. Because they couldn't do it the easy way all of a sudden it isn't fair. You are kidding yourselves. If you had won from 8th you would be fighting off all comers saying what a great achievement it was.

You have provided great entertainment for everyone all year, great players and great free spirited rugby. You should be thankful you've not had to endure some of the rubbish served up by other teams.

You fell at the last hurdle but you should just accept it as should Wigan. Funny how you all thought your last assistant coach was crap but since he left he's been in both major finals...

Just a thought lol.

Come on guys, everyone knows the format and rules at the begining of the season. You seem like sore losers. Like it or not the winners of Saturdays game will deservidly be crowned Champions.

The simple fact here is we were the best team over the 27 rounds, and this was acknowledged with the league leaders shield (which was introduced as there was a clamour for such an achievement to be recognised). For the Leeds/Saints fans bleating on about injuries - we had our fair share too (Morley, Briers, King, Westwood, Anderson, Harrison all missed a number of games). I'd say the first four in that list can be deemed as important players.

We went into the play-offs knowing what was in front of us and we came up short against a team that played better than us on the day. Leeds played the best i've seen them all season, we were not even close to how we can play, yet failed only to a last minute(ish) penalty. Leeds & Saints have timed their runs well, and one of them in the current system will be crowned champions. That's just the way it is.

Over the course of the season we lost 5 games - Hull, Catalans, & Salford at home were all abject performances. I wouldn't have said we were well beaten in any of those games though. The two Huddersfield losses - one was largely due to half the squad getting injured within 40 minutes - the other, Huddersfield did a job on us. Out played in one regular season game then, and bar Huddersfield didn't lose a game to any of our 'rivals'(not counting the CC), not a bad record really.

We should be proud of what we achieved this season - which it two places better than last year, a piece of silverware (which is damn hard to win), and a play-off win with largely the same squad as the season before. I know i am.

I'll make a circumstantial comparison. We've achieved exactly what Melbourne Storm achieved - not bad. On the same vein - we should be seeing Saints win next weekend. On a serious note i think Saints will win - Simmons will out coach McDermott, and Saints can't lose 5 in a row.

Its like Birmingham being in the Europa League (UEFA Cup!!). They got relegated in the season the won the Carling Cup. They have their right to be there and if they're crowned winners of said cup, then so be it, whether they be a mile from the best team in England/Wales.

Speaking to media people at the championship finals it seems that the talk around their offices is "how WILL the playoffs be changed by the RFL as both top two teams failed to make it to the Grand Final".

Favourite ideas are a) 1 v 2 ...winner through, loser plays knock out with winner of 3 to 6 or b) top straight to OT, 2 to 5 play knock-out rugby.

Not that I disagree with the sentiment, tradition can be a powerful thing ... but I love the irony of people in Rugby League saying "but we've always had playoffs! it's [itraditional[/i!", this from a sport that has never been afraid to leave old things behind (lineouts, 2 additional players per team, competed scrums, theoretically unlimited sets of possession).

The playoffs are here to stay, I can't imagine a situation that would make the RFL about face on the matter.

Playoffs are traditional and are here to stay.

I get the feeling though that the constant bleeting about tiredness and Wembley being so close to the playoffs will see that moved going forward, although possibly not next year.

Wigan have made such a fuss about playing every game that they will change it.

Can anybody remember the reason why the cup final was relocated to later in the year in the first place? Wasn't it because some of the 'top' teams were bleating about the early rounds essentially being pre-season, and thus were scared about being caught off-guard by a lower division team? (That's my recollection of it, but I'm not sure if I've dreamt it/made it up over time)

Hasn't it moved twice? At one point wasn't it very early in the season, with the final before the season had really started? The reason it was moved then was because it felt like a pre-season thing rather than a do or die cup comp.

I think you're right. It's a hard balancing act to be fair, if it's too close to the end of season championship playoffs there are arguments about it being unfair to the teams (and fans' finances) involved, if it's too early in the season it's allegedly lost some credibility for being 'pre season mickey mouse'. The arguments about the cup losing it's magic & so on do get a wry smile from me though, I have a book at home about the '54 cup final replay, and news article clippings of the time have people making the same arguments as I read on rlfans these days

There's no argument at all there. We had a poor season in 1985-6 until we won our last 8 matches, finished 5th, and then won the Premiership play-off. We weren't saying how unjust that was. We all accepted the rules at the start of the season. just accept that we didn't quite make it.