Quote: Grimmy "Is it harder to finish top than to beat the very best teams in consecutive weeks in knock out games? Fair enough it is difficult to be consistent, even given the amount of p*** poor teams we play, but it's also very difficult to beat the best teams.
We finished top last year but we won 0/2 games against Wire, 3/4 against St Helens, 2/2 against Catalans and 2/4 against Leeds. So overall that's 7 wins from 12 games against top 5 opposition, and 1 win from 3 games against top 5 opposition in knock out games. I would argue that last year we were good at beating the 'easier' teams, but when it came to the top sides you might as well toss a coin, then when it came to big knockout games we really struggled. That's not the description of a champion team for my money.'"
And if we'd held out for 2 more mins against leeds (A Big if) and beat Wolfs making it 1 from 3 would that make us a Champion team?
If we'd have lost EVERY game against the other top 5 that season - But won 3 games in the Play offs (Maybe down to other teams injuries/suspensions etc. etc) would that make us a champion team.
Unfortunately comparing any system based on results from a year when a different system was used is flawed.