The present Leeds team are clearly a special bunch of guys and ARE worthy champions. Yes you have just heard it from a Wigan fan! I don't have a problem with a good side winning the GF and even winning it from 5th position or even 8th for that matter. However, I don't think it looks good for our great game that Leeds play relatively poorly for most of the season and then come good at the right time. Its good for them but it isn't good that many people are now saying that the regular season doesn't matter any more. Personally I think it still does matter. I have enjoyed Wigan's good consistent form all year and have witnessed some great rugby seeing us finish top. It is just unfortunate that form dipped at the vital time together with suspensions and injuries. However that happens in rugby. That wasn't caused by the current play off system.

John Monie once said "Great teams are not great all of the time, but are great when they need to be"

This is a great Leeds side.

Fair play to Leeds, to win it from 5th is an excellent acheivement but to do it in 2 consecutive years in unbelieveable. Leeds have shown over the past few years that they can't sustain their best performances over the full season but are capable of beating anyone in one-off knockout games. I don't like the currrent playoff system and that definitely has aided them, I don't think they'd have done it under the top 5 or 6 systems and the fact the first game for 5th is against 8th is a complete joke IMO.

I think its hard to argue that Wigan and Warrington have been the best 2 sides over the last 3 seasons but Leeds have just managed to keep in the competitions, get up for the big games and this approach has seen them compete in more finals win more trophies than either of the 2 "better" sides.

Since 2010:
Wigan - 2 LLS, 1 SL, 1 CC
Wire - 1 LLS, 2 CC, 1 GF app
Leeds - 2 SL, 1 WCC, 3 CCF apps

Which record would people prefer?

It certainly is.

As much as people will crow about them not being consistent, I'd swap our more consistent season for their ultimately more successful one.

Great teams find a way to win when they need to, and that is one thing Leeds can't be accused of not doing!

Wigan were unplayable at times a few months back, some of the best rugby I've seen in the Super League era. However, the coaching staff knew that you don't win anything by playing well early to mid season, and they clearly peaked far too early. No matter which way Wane dresses it up to make his first season more credible, the league leaders is a minor honour and every team knew the score at the start of the season.

Funnily enough, there wasn't this amount of complaining and 'disillusionment' about the play off system when Bradford and Saints were the ones finishing top but winning no worthy silverware by the end of it.

Nonsense !

Great sides are when you compare them to other great sides over a long time span.

If this Leeds team are great, what was our team then when we won 8 in a row and almost the same number of actually being proper Champions ?

RL at the moment is just average, right across the board.

And Superleague is NOT improving the game, contrary to what the SKY pundits state.

Remove the blinkers, the current Rhinos team have done what they siad could not be done twice. Its not luck its down to having something the other teams currently do not.

Look I don't care what YOU look like !

Leeds are NOT a great team. All they have done is like winning the Challenge cup twice. That's all.

Win a few matches and proclaim yourselves Champions. You can't be a Wigan fan can you ?

RL is mediocre at the moment full stop.

LOL is that because your beloved team got beat by those nasty Rhinos in the play offs - LLS if Warrington had not got to the CC final they would not have been beaten by Broncos the week before therefore winning the LLS that you set so much store by

its all wrong in my book

sky , who lets face it own and control the game, should bring back the premiership if they want an end of season nock out comp ,

keep the play off system for it , but give the title of 'champions' to whoever finished top !

i dont give a toss about the the teams with nothingt o play for , its up to them to raise there own standards to be in the mix

the sooner we move away from the current set up the better

OR

to place more emphasis on finishing top , and keep the set up similar to what it is now , reduce the 8 to 5 or 6 , but the team finishing top only needs to win one play of game to get to the GF or , finish top , go straight to OT

the way it is now totally devalues the regular season and finishing top . ffs , players risk life and limb all season when they only really need to turn up 2 monthe from the end ,

what would the rfl do if the fans only turmed up with 2 months to go ?!

Leeds are a GREAT team. Five Grand Final wins in six years is the mark of a GREAT team. Nine of the players who beat Saints in 2007 played in their win V Wire on Saturday.

They have beaten the fourth and first placed teams away to get to the final, and then beaten the second placed team in the final.

Leeds DESERVE the accolade of a GREAT team.

Sadly, they are a great CUP team, and that is what the league has been reduced to.

I'll be there again next seaosn, but I can FULLY understand anyone not renewing their season ticket.
Maybe a half-seaosn ticket might be a better investment - Just watching the games that teams might actually care about winning.

but you need to accept that the 3 MAJOR trophies available WCC GF & CC arre all knock out cup competitions and that the LLS is a MINOR trophy.

It has always been that way in the SL era and largely throughout the preceding 50 years in various formats.

I understand if fans want value for money in terms of the ST but the difficulty is if they reduce the number of SL teams to 10 to make the league a more intense competition week on week then the clubs will need to charge a much higher ticket price per game.

!0 SL Teams League with a reintroduced Top 5 Play Off.
Leeds
Warrington
Wigan
Saints
Catalan
Huddersfield
Hull/HKR merger
Wakefield/Cas merger
Bradford
London

I have no problem with Leeds being champions because they won the competition as set out before them. What I find odd and slightly irritating is the insistence of certain Sky pundits calling it a great achievement from fifth.

One of the ideas of finishing higher in the league is that you get home games in the play offs whereas we all know that's not ideal, look at Wigan's home and away record this year.

I know it's hypothetical but doesn't anyone think Wigan could have done a much better job from fifth.

Re: We need cheering up

Paul Wellens knocks on Sam Tomkins door, Sam opens it and Wellens shouts "trick or treat!"
Sam, stands there scratching his chin and asks for a "trick" ,
Wellens says " sorry I havent got any" and walks off....

Com'on I least I tried,...