By this I mean the league being a lot closer and not really such thing as a big4 anymore(more like a 2) and that Hudds., Cas, HKR are real challengers.

The days of the big four are long gone.
Leeds and Saints are the two best teams by some distance.
I don't think any comparison with the NRL is appropriate as we saw how Leeds and Saints finest competed in the World Cup when faced with the NRL's best. They and England were not at the same level, they were a mile off!

In a nutshell.

Lock the thread.

I think you've both missed the point....in a big way.

short answer no

I agree.

You weren't comparing 'quality', but comparing the competitive levels. I think the days of most games being a foregone conclusion aren't yet gone, but we're certainly making the right strides to get rid of them. I think by the time of the next license thing we'll know for sure if our league is as close as the NRL season after season.

No way.

Say what you want about the salary cap, but the league is very even at the moment as aresult of it and after 3 years of licensing it will be more so, hopefully

No !
Nothing else to add , a bit of a silly thread imo !

A+ on totally missing the point.

you can add us to your list, and the answer is no

I'll help you out here tom

He is NOT comparing the standard of the game
but
the standard of competitiveness

meaning all the teams that play in said leagues are evenly matched

This season i will agree with you tom, good shout

I would agree. Its a lot closer this season, very difficult to predict most games. For example, leeds and hudds tonight. Last year i would have said leeds by 20, but i think hudds will get the win tonight, and we're in for a tough game next week

tbh i still think come the end of the season we will see the usual suspects in the playoffs;

Saints
Leeds
Wigan
Bradford
Wire
Catalans

some of the teams who have made a very good start such as wakey, huddersfield and castleford will drop away as the season really hots up.

happens every year.

considering there is 8 playoff spots i think hudds will definately be in there with either cas or wakey

Some people have missed the point, but the answer is a resounding NO.

Look at the NRL, 8 different teams have won the competition in the last 8 seasons.

giants