Wire all the way. For all the banter, They deserve it and although it will be 12 months endless gloating they would be worthy winners.

Wire, bought my ticket on Monday to watch. The only problem is that it's in the Leeds end

Leeds for this reason but I expect Wire to do it.

Didn't notice Wiggin fans complaining when you got to the GF from 3rd in the table. If your team wants to waste energy in bowling over teams all season only to cock it up when the match really counts for something then so be it. Yep, I bet your 50 point hammering of the Rhinos was a distant memory after last week.

No team who finishes 5th deserves to win it given the way the play off system works but If I thought Leeds winning it form 5th again would finally destroy the credibility of the current format that would be a price worth paying especially if it meant returning to a top 5 system.

Alas the idiots in charge won't see it that way and will continue to bang on as if it is a hard task to win it from 5th. It's not.

So its got to be Wire. Hopefully they will expose Leeds as the mediocre team they are while they are at it.

i think any neutral has got to sway towards Wire in this one, even if they have got the most irratating fans in the league, and the gloating is going to be unbarable, I do think the team deserve it alot more than the Leeds team.

Being a Leeds fan, the answer is obvious.

As a RL fan, then hopefully a Leeds win will result in the changes needed, imo, scrap the 8 team PO system, scrap clubcall, give the team finishing top a bit more than a 10 minute celebration and photo opp with the hubcap!

Quite a few people suggesting a top 5 PO system would be better but people also suggesting you shouldnt be able to be crowned champions finishing 5th. So where do people suggest the line is drawn?

Top 2 straight final?
Top 3 with 1st place straight through and 2nd and 3rd play a semi. But then that would mean 1st getting a week off which isnt always beneficial.

Top 4 for me would be the best option. 1 v 4 & 2 v 3 semi finals. Final a week later. Simples.

I like top 5 with top place going straight through to the final.

2nd v 5th
3rd v 4th

Winners in semi

Semi winners v League winners.

So you feel good calling yourself champions knowing you've done it from 5th and been distinctly average all season but woken up for a few games? Don't be daft. 3rd isn't 5th either is it? And that wasn't under a ridiculous top 8 system. And if I'm not mistaken we were very close something like 1 point in it to 2nd that year you're a long way from the top 2 this year (9 points) it's not an attack on Leeds fair play you've found a flaw in the system and exploited it but its an attack on that flawed system which makes it possible.

Wire, gives the competition some credibility and they probably deserve it for the consistency they've shown over the last couple of seasons.
On the downside, this forum will be unbearable for months !!!

That sounds good to me. I'm actually surprised that no-one has mentioned that this years final is the side who finished 5th versus a side who lost a play-off game by 22 points. Although it's my team, is this right?

Sorry but disagree, having time off for 'good behaviour' doesn't seem to help, well not this year or last.

Do agree that something needs to be done about the regular season and profile of finishing top of the league. Well done by the way

But that would mean the team finishing top going two weeks without a game.
If we're going to have a play off system then I think the original Top Five way was the best we've had, if we're stuck with eight teams then it should be a straight knockout competition, 1v8, 2v7 etc.

Out of curiosity do you have a season ticket or pick and choose your matches? Such as don't bother from Febuary until mid September then show up?

I think if you win it from 5th under the old top five system it is far more credible because not only is it harder for the 5th placed team it is progressively easier for all the teams above them which IMO is not true with the current system and is a fact often lost on people when comparing systems.



That is a knockout competition and playoffs are not supposed to be knockout competitions. That system, like the current system, also negates all 27 rounds reducing the competition to two games.

That brings us to the other advantage of the top 5 system. The higher you finish the better chance you have of winning the GF so it makes the league competition a true qualifier for the play offs and therefore meaningful. There is a definite reason to try and win the league in a top 5 system.