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.

i agree with digger its how you react to the defeat that counts if it were me i would want to show everyone what we can do and bounce straight back and to be honest celtic away is the best possible chance they have of doing it. I have plenty of confidence that we can still kick on into the play offs and give it a good shot of old trafford.

you need to bear in mind we will have a lot of players coming back on saturday all with something to prove.

Raleigh, sculthorpe,Finnigan and Bruno. Probably a couple of others. They should all be up for it as they will be playing to be in the next big game to show they can do better than those who did not perform at Wembley. There are at least TWO big games in the playoff possibly 3 or 4.

The difference is we are fans and want to see our team flying high all the time. For a player who played and lost in a huge final, doubts about how capable the side are and if they are good enough...it all starts creeping in. Also, the emotional drain of the week leading up to the final and the day itself. Takes a hell of alot of you.

All of us on here know full well that the Giants are good enough, the players should too but we can't underestimate the effects this loss could potentially have. Look at the record of the previous three or four losers in the cup final. All have gone on to lose at least their next two league games and in our case I believe we lost our next three.

Spot on

And i would hope that some of those at Wembley try to lift themselves too, to show they can.

Firstly, What a credit to RL the Huddesfield fans are. I have seen a lot of congratulatory posts, especially from Giant Daz. What a true fan of RL he is!! He has been nothing but complentary to Warrington and it makes me fill up with pride at what an awesome game we all follow and enjoy.

So much so, I really hope Huddersfield do well in the play-offs and go on to win it (assuming we don't make it!!). I wish you the very best of luck, and will be cheering you all the way this weekend when you play Wigan.

The day at Wembley was phenominal - which was down to the fans of both teams as well as the players.

I couldn't have wished for a better final against one of the best teams in Super League in terms of players and supporters.

Thanks for the sentiments, but you will have to put your support on ice for a week - we play Celtics this weekend! Hope you can do a job on HKR though!

Cheers mate, i try to give credit where it's due and Wire and there fans have always been smashing to me - never had a problem with them.
Some fans can be very bitter and hold grudges etc - and for theat i tend not to want their clubs to do well.
As i said before i couldn't have wished the cup back to a better set of fans.

I also expect to see you at OT decked in the C&G !!

If you watch game with your eyes open for [ieverything [/ithe ref did/did not do, you'll see that Ganson didn't ping Giants once for offside, whereas you consistently were. So no way was the ref 'sympathetic' to Wire. One example is for Monas's try - the markers at ptb weren't square ( Monas even pointed this out to Ganson ) and every defender was standing in front of the try line. Monas scored so if didn't matter, but it illustrates the point.

The point being you have no class.