The fans are already there, but also there is a recession. It does not matter who gets to Old Trafford next week the fans of the 2 teams will be 20,000 plus each. The clubs need to cut the cost of these play off matches or offer some kind of incentive to season ticket holders. I have been to Leeds in 2003 and 2010 and watched us come away from Headingley victorious at this stage of the season. The atmosphere both times were about the best i have had watching the game, maybe it is because we won on both occassions.
Last night the game itself was electric but with the stadium being half empty it didnt seem the same.

How do you come to that conclusion?

Only Leeds have made the gf from 5th and despite not playing great during the season we have won 5 out of the last 8 so it's not a massive shock

which should tell the RFL something.

the main problem is that the RFL are "owned" by Sky.
wonder how long it'll be before we have a top 12 play offs, with more games for Sky to fill their airtime with?

The main weakness with the playoff season is that in the end the whole season up to the penultimate week comes down to one thing: creating four teams for a semi final > final situation as in any Cup.

The advantage of finishing top four rather than fifth to eighth is that you get a 'second chance' in the playoffs. But if you win your first playoff, you lose the right to a second chance.

Wigan have done exactly what we did last year - top the league, then play a storming game in the first playoff then that's it you are into one slip and you're gone territory.

So the full season apart from two weeks is about turning 14 into 4, then who are deemed Champions and who are deemed Bottlers comes down to fitness, form and luck in a two week window of the season.

I think the clubs voted the play offs in ???

The clubs want play offs as it brings extra revenue to them, I'm pretty sure the players want them as well.

I do think the top 8 needs reducing but with no relegation it leaves more than half the clubs with nothing to play for.

Nothing wrong with the play offs at all. Same in the NRL except the top 2 there did what they had to do.

Plus as Hull fan I'd rather have played you than either Wire, Saints or Leeds as I think we'd have done better against your less unpredictable style. (RE: the first poster)

It will change in the coming years judged on the play off and final crowds.The play off system is not working and the fans have voted against it by not turning up for the matches.

Personally I would like to see it go back to the top 5 which was the only credible play off system going IMO, as to win from anywhere other than 1st, you had to beat everyside above you.

It also gave proper benefit for the slog of coming 1st after the season, whereby you could only go out by losing two in a row (and if this happened- then you probably shouldn't be there)

Under the old system, our season would not be over due to a dropped ball by an under 20s player as it is now, and we would have got another chance.

If we cant have top 5 then we should have a top 7 play off IMO

1st week top gets off

2nd plays 7th
3rd plays 6th
4th plays 5th

Then you could still keep the club call which is not as ludicrous as it is now with only 2 choices..and actually becomes quite interesting and tactical as you can pick any one of the 3.

Therefore all play off games are knock out, with a benefit to the top side

This year we would have had.

Wire v Huddersfield
Saints v Hull
Catalan v Leeds

With wigan then picking anyone of Wire Saints or Leeds in the semi.

The remaining unpicked two then play off on a neutral venue - so that in the semis only the top team gets home advantage.

While top doesnt have the benefit of having a second bite as in the old top 5 - I would counter this by giving the top team a converted try handicap, meaning that any team would have to beat them at home by more than a converted try to knock them out - thus ensuring that one unlucky play couldnt undo 27 weeks of hard graft!

Another benefit is we knock another week off the season.

Lets change play off system so Wigan can win ?

That results in the same semi finals we have now but less games from revenue.

What is the point?

No i do not think thats the real reason most on here complain tbh. That's a rather simplistic view would have made no difference this season or last we were not good enough to get to the grand final. Look at the attendances for the playoffs Shocking tbh and that is a sure sign that supporters of most clubs view the present top 8 as a joke. System need to change and the chage needs to come sooner rather than later.

We need to go back to top 5 and have relegation if a team who meets SL criteria wins the Championship. Its that factor of no relegation that has caused SL to become very sterile at times in the past as teams in the bottom third of the league have nothing to play for. So to stop clubs from just not trying towards the end of the season they bring in the top 8. Unlike the NRL we have 5 good SL sides and the rest are very poor whilst most of the NRL sides are of a very good standard ours are not.

My preferred format is this. using this season table as my template and the results.

Week one League Leaders have the week off

1. Wire v Saints
2. Catalan v Leeds


Wigan V Saints Winners go to the GF
Wire V Leeds Winners play the losers of the above game for a shot at the GF.

We would get less games and more intensity than we had on the 1st week of the play offs.