I liked that comment too. Great banter.

Nobody's saying we didn't deserve to be there. Nobody's saying Nathan Brown is a plum for losing one game. I agree we didn't get the rub of the green in the first 25 minutes. But they say the harder you work the luckier you get, and Warrington worked bloody hard according to a good game plan.

Me too. I was hoping that the 2nd half would see that issue sorted.

I should point out I still haven't watched the TV coverage of the game yet. I suppose I might watch that and revise my opinion completely! I doubt it though.

We stopped your 2nd phase brilliantly, those little balls on the inside you like to play we shackled them straight away and if you look at your first few sets your struggled to make yards, which the exception of the faiumu forward pass you were unable to cut us open also.

Again, only going to go one way.

You've got the Cup, you deserved the win. Don't come on here spouting crap a few days later, it's poor form.

I am a great believer in the fact that you learn a lot more in defeat than you do in victory. With that in mind I think Saturday's events should stand us in good stead for the rest of the season and the play-offs. For a start, none of the players are going to want the experience of losing a big game again. They will realise how important it is to start well and stop the opposition getting momentum - once Warrington got their couple of tries to go 18-6 up they were so keyed up and determined that they wouldn't get caught. Hopefully next time we'll see ALL our players step up and grab the initiative - heads seem to go when Kev went off and they seemed to be looking around for someone else to make it happen. The game passed a lot of players by - again, they should be determined that this wont happen again.

I'd say that Smith got some things spot on - keeping Briers away from first reciever on the last gave him acres of space to get the kick away - but mostly the difference was in the players when they crossed the white line. Warrington played nervelessly and completely seized the day. Giants seemed to let the occasion get to them and played without the same confidence they showed in the semi. I'm sure it will be different in the next big occassion, we've still got a fantastic chance to win something this season.

I think you're right. I think looking back Nathan and the coaching staff made an error resting the key players againts Saints, it possibly would have been better to have rested against Bradford at home and then try and get a confidence boosting win away at Saints which given their performance that evening was highly likely. It is worrying to hear Brett Hodgson say that it is going to be very tough to raise the players for the playoffs. To be honest, they are paid to do just that and I don't think preparing excuses in advance is going to wash. If we play like we know we can then we have every chance of contesting the grand final, going out on a whimper after such a great season will be far from acceptable.

Whether we win another game or not we've had a great year. In the last two games we've lost two lads with season ending knee injuries, including one of our halves, and we've had a major blow of being beaten in a CC Final and underperforming in it to boot.

The injuries really couldn't have come at a worse time, bang at the business end of the season.

I thought that too - my immediate thought when I was watching the players straight after the final was the exact opposite of what Brett said. I'd see it as a huge inspiration for the playoffs. If I was a player I'd be determined that we wouldn't experience those feelings again. People view things in different ways though and I think Brett will get over it and be well up for the playoffs.

All this negativity is so depressing! Cast your minds back to February when noone gave us a cat in hells chance of doing anything! Many predicting finishing 10th in the table at most, bookies not even considering us for the Challenge Cup even when we got to the Final.

As for the players they are so dissapointed at losing on Saturday they all believed the cup was theirs and it showed when picking theirs medals up and at the homecoming. Not sure how they can pick themselves up but this saturday and the Wigan game will show us just how much they wanted success this season!!

A good win this weekend and then top notch preparation the week leading in the Wign game will give us every chance of getting two wins from two and heading into the playoffs with a bit of belief. It's at times like this that I can see the use of hiring in a sports psychologist to help prepare the players mentally...some coaches are superb at this.

This next 2 weeks will not only test our players but our coaching staff too who have the unenvieble task of trying to get their confidence back up and get them focused.

losing the cup final at Wembley will hurt - it hurt me just by watching - god knows how the players are feeling but NB has to get them fighting and hungry for it again now.