Yep. You can get a team finishing 4th lose one play-off game and make the GF and the team finishing 1st lose one game and not make the GF. That sums up the problem with the top 8 system we use.

i dont agree with the system but it is exciting and it does backfire as we found out last year personally i think wigan and wire shud make the grand final and it will be a thriller but surely shaun wane may be found out in the tactical side of the game i no hes a pround wiganer and was wondering what your fans think of the job he is doing

What about this so finishing top 2 get you the first week off.
One game to get to the final.
and two bites of the cherry in case the lose first game.
Finish 3rd or lower you play 4 weeks on the bounce

Week 1 sees us lose two team
Week 2 we lose another
Week 3 another
Week 4 final

Week 1

A. 3 v 6 loser out
B. 4 v 5 loser out

Week 2

A v B, loser out

C. 1 v 2 (winner to final) loser to A v B

Week 3

D. A v B winner v C loser

Week 4

Final

That's what we used before the current system. Much better in my opinion.

It's the best and fairest

I still think top 6 is too many from 14 teams. It should be top 5.

Top 5 is ideal as it doesn't reward mediocrity. Not sure how the rounds would work though.

WEEK 1
1st through to week 2
1. 2nd v 3rd
2. 4th v 5th (loser eliminated)

WEEK 2
3. 1st v loser 1
4. Winner 1 v winner 2

FINAL
Winner 3 v Winner 4

It used to be as above week 1

week 2
3. 1st v winner 1 (winner to final)
4. Loser 1 v winner 2 (loser eliminated)

week 3
5 loser 3 v winner 4

Final winner 3 v winner 5

By this method you have to beat all the teams who finish higher than you to win the trophy, whereas last season Leeds (5th) won it but didn't beat Wigan (2nd and reigning champs).

A simpler and fairer method would be to have 4 teams play straight knockout to have the right to play Wigan each year in the final - simples!

Id scrap them altogether and have an end of season knock out cup comp for SL only, if they really want the season to run into October

I still think whoever comes first in the league should be champions

Everybody thinks winner of league must be champions, which is arguably true, but the money and viewing figures it attracts, it only makes sense.
Plus, we're brought up watching football so can only presume you must finish top to be crowned champions, when nearly every other sport in the world has a play off system.

The biggest weakness in the playoff system both here and in Australia is that in the end you boil it down to having 4 teams, playing a semi final for a final, just like a cup system.

This undermines the "second bite of the cherry" idea because it means if you've finished top 2 you can have a second bite of the cherry if you lose your first playoff but if you win that handsomely and lose your next playoff then its all over. This is what bit us on the ass last year, contrary to the view that Warrington can't handle playoffs, we smashed Huddersfield 47-0 which sent us straight to the semi, where we lost.

The same happened to Melbourne Storm last year in the NRL, they finished top, beat Newcastle in their first playoff, and lost to NZ Warriors in the semi. Season over.

True, but they did have to beat St Helens, who'd already played Wigan twice and beaten us twice. Leeds' run to the final last season only looked 'soft' because they had to play Huddersfield in week two, who were a spent force by that point and were on the back of a 47-0 thumping at Warrington. They still had to beat 8th, 4th, 1st and 3rd (who'd beaten 2nd twice) to win the trophy, with no second chances if they lost, and only the first game at home.

Even so, what we've got at the moment doesn't give enough advantage to the League Leaders, IMO. The only advantage of finishing top rather than 2nd is Club Call, which is a dubious advantage anyway. Warrington not making the final after finishing top and winning 50% of their play-off games last season showed it up as flawed. I'd go with the 5-team system, though the scrap for 8th place at the moment is providing some entertainment.

ATEOTD, that's all the CC has become now. Toulouse in '05 aside, no club from outside SL has had a sniff of winning the thing and I can't see that changing any time soon.