Agree, and I think mental fatigue is also an issue. It is very difficult to maintain top performances from the start right through to the end of the season. Even the great Wigan sides of the late 80s and early 90s bombed in games from time to time. It is a big ask psychologically to be excellent 100% of the time and if things start to go wrong in a game, then the team can suddenly feel under pressure and may not respond well to that pressure, as we saw in the Leeds game.

Last night was no more a training game than the CC Semi where we deservedly (and thanks to our players winning it, not yours losing it and not the referee) knocked your lot out. We lost to Wakefield not because the players or coaching staff don't care, but because Wakefield played a blinder and we didn't play well enough. We lost because we were missing a halfback, a centre and our best second rower and the guys that came in (Stevie Ward excepted) didn't do their jobs well enough, neither did some of the more regular starters. We also got a bit unlucky with some of the calls - apparently Wakefield never knock on, never strip a ball and never pass forward - but that wasn't why we lost. We just weren't good enough on the day.

But are Leeds good enough on most days? Yes. The fact that only two matches of note in the last three seasons haven't involved the Rhino's kind of suggests that you should be looking a bit closer to home as to why you're failing - it's certainly not because Leeds don't try against Wakefield.

This Leeds squad has won SL from 1st, 2nd and 5th, won it playing the best rugby in the competition, and when playing a close second to an electric Saints side. They've won it with a record breaking attack and won it with the meanest defence, and they've won it having been the most consistent side over a season as well as being relatively inconsistent - but you lot talk about this side like they're a bunch of grunters who are fortunate to even earn a living. It all sounds a bit like sour grapes to be honest.

So Leeds, with one Challenge cup win in 30+ years, are the model we should be aspiring to? No thanks.

9 losses in 22 games would suggest otherwise.

have a day off

Wire are a team that do seem to get sucked in and intimidated

I don't think anyone is saying its easy to win it from 5th. But its easier now than in a top 6 playoff. If all results went to the highest placed team then Leeds would have to beat

Catalan away
Saints away
Wire away
Wigan at OT to be champions.

4 top notch teams to win it. Under a top 8 you only play 3 top notch teams with the first of those teams coming off a loss and likely to have been in a bruiser.

No, I'm not saying we should aspire to be like Leeds.

I am saying that they have been playing knockout football pretty well in the last few years, because a side which is on paper poorer than ours are the SL champions and has just knocked us out of the cup.

We need to learn how to perform at our peak in the big matches. If we do then no side in the league, including the Wolfs, will be able to live with a full strength Wigan.

Is it not player power thats Leeds' problem? They can beat anybody on their day but its on the players terms, IMO McDermmot has no say in their results. The Leeds team are uncoachable for a lot of games and the leeds fans can choose not to pay their well earned and stay at home. How can they meet a salary cap if they decide not to play at their best?
If the wires destroy leeds at wembley do you think their fans will attend the remaining home matches? ?

I don't think anyone was saying at any point that 5th is better than 1st or 2nd, or even top four, but I do think at the moment, Brian Mcdermott has weighted up his squad and decided that given the current league placings Leeds have more chance of winning silverware by not going flat out between now and the Challenge cup final and settling for 5th spot to give them the best possible chance of winning one or both competitions.
By the same token, I doubt Tony Smith would be too fussed about whether his team catches Wigan or not. It's certainly not beyond the realms of possibility that they will but they could also decide to rest half a team before the challenge cup final if they thought second place was a certainty.
The recurring theme here is that with the current system there just isn't enough incentive to battle away to the end to get as high as place as possible because the rewards of finishing higher in the table don't really justify the effort involved. Under the top 5 system it did in that every league placing had significant advantages over the one below it.

i love to read the wigan fan's perception of all things rl,however some fans can't resist having a pop at the most successful sl side saying that they are finished or have been battered
upto date we have played 2 big games that count this season and have subsequently beaten both Manly and wigan when it mattered
how many big games of those that have mattered have wigan won so far?
as a rhinos fan i fear the wolves more than i do wigan should we meet in the play offs

simple ,1st and 2nd go straight to old trafford.

I think you have put the situation into a nutshell, perfectly. To go all out for every round, with the inevitable back-end fatigue appears to be counter productive. The seemingly best approach is to ramp up to the playoffs, with a relatively fresh, season-long rotated squad.

manly didnt turn up and manly are a poor NRL side this year. You got lucky on every level agaisnt wigan in the semi, THAT wont happen again my rhino friend., to say you aren't scared of ANOTHER Wigan good hiding is a blatant lie.
Wigan beat an all time great side in Brisbane in Australia, you will NEVER do that

I haven't seen much resting up this NRL season.