Another who seems to think that Rugby League only began with Super League. Are we now going to wipe out over 100 years of League Championship titles because Sky Sports weren't around to say that they counted?

I just don't understand where this idea has come from that this title doesn't count because 'not everyone takes it seriously'? If some teams don't take it seriously, that's their problem, not the league leaders.

Back in the pre-SL days, if someone said that the Champions weren't Champions because opposition at the lower end of the table packed in before the season ended, they'd have been rightly laughed out of the pub.

The LLS is still the hardest trophy to win (that Wigan won it this year with only one game remaning, and almost didn't manage that, surely proves this). The only reason some people don't accept the LLS as a major achievement is because Sky deliberately try to play it down for fear it will overshadow 'their trophy'. Are we all such sheep that we fail to recognise what's right in front of our noses because the likes of Wiggy and Slaphead say we shouldn't?

The only reason some people don't accept the LLS as a major achievement is because Sky deliberately try to play it down for fear it will overshadow 'their trophy'. Are we all such sheep that we fail to recognise what's right in front of our noses because the likes of Wiggy and Slaphead say we shouldn't?'"

This, this and more this!! I've been saying for years that the only reason the league championship no longer matters (in Skys eyes) is because some idiot fans choose to do whatever they are told! It's up to us as spectators to decide what is important and what isn't...not Sky! To illustrate the point; how long do you think the Grand Final would last if no-one bothered turning up to it every year saying 'it just doesn't matter'? I, for one, don't need Rupert Murdoch or his ilk to tell me what I should value and what I shouldn't. Shame on anyone who does!

Never said that. The playoffs only came in in 1998 anyway, not at the beginning of Super League whilst you're being presumptuous for some reason.



That was then and this is now. Hardest trophy or not, if coaches are willing to rotate players and thus risk losing games to keep them fresh for the playoffs then the competition has been devalued, no matter what nostalgic diatribe you attach to it.

Would fans be happy with the league leaders shield and nothing else every year? The answer to that is all that needs to be said - which is of course not, as the winners of it are almost universally not considered champions anymore by media, players, coaches and fans.

For the record I prefer the league system, but I don't live in Disneyland.

Did you mean Pedantic?

What about a guard of honour on to pitch?

Coaches saving players to keep them fresh for bigger games is nothing new. St Helens used to specialise in wrapping players in cotton wool in the weeks leading up to finals and semis. The only team who didn't, as I recall, was John Monie's Wigan side. Likewise, it wasn't unusual to win the Championship in the pre-SL era because other teams had stopped trying. By the time you reached the final few weeks it was nearly always down to a two or three horse race. Teams could finish top depending on how easy a run-in they had at the end. So that's not a new situation either.

The difference between now and then is that Sky TV say that it doesn't count anymore. If they turned around tomorrow and said it did, we'd all celebrate an amazing victory in 2012.

I agree that as things stand, the Grand Final is the main event, and no amount of nostalgia will change that. But whatever the likes of you, me, Eddie and Stevo say, coming top of the league is still a massive achievement and I find it odd that this reality isn't appreciated a little bit more than it is.

Will be a poor following from our lot.

What's the point when we will probably be there the week after too?

THIS!!

Congratulations from a Wire on your acheivement this year. the sad fact is it couldn't be appreciated any less.

Only if we can make it into a schoolyard tunnel of death as soon as the first player sets foot onto the pitch.

Rofl I havd seen it all now... Sad s

To get out of St Helens?

Not if you win you won't?
Saints approach to this game will be interesting. Will they play a weakened side (rest any slight injuries and prepare for for a game at Wigan) or go full on for a victory which will probably mean they go to Wire.

It doesn't matter to Wigan, they'll still be top.