Totally agree re Sky commentary. For example in the NRL grand final the commentary team were quick to drop comments on the James Graham bite, Phil Gould moved the debate on to the action straight away. Compare that to the 30 minute debate Eddie, Phil, Brian and Stevo had over the red cards at the millennium magic game v saints, totally runing the rest of the game. All Eddie has talked about in recent weeks is who should win coach of the year.

What annoys me the most about the play-off's is that more than half of the league is eligible. madness

I was going to start a topic about this last night, but didnt get around to it.

Ive been a Wigan season ticket holder since 1988 and up untill the last 2 years have gone home and away, infact the only two grounds ive never been to that have involved a wigan game is Catalans and Brisbane.

However I really dont see the point in renewing my season ticket next year, its not a new thing either, Im just going out of habit and the fact that I have a ticket now, I have my match day routine down to a tee and arrive about 10mins before the match as opposed to what used to be an hour before.

It isnt even a financial thing as I get my season ticket as a gift. It really comes down to what is the point of going to 27 pre-season friendlies, I mentioned on here before the home game to warrington that I wasnt basing a great deal of importance on the match as it didnt really matter as all we had to do was play well for 1/2 games at the end of the season and we would be in the grand final, unfortunatley we didnt manage that!

I watched an NRL game for the first time in about 5 years this season and then had to go and sit through a Wigan game that same night, cant remember who it was against (may have been hull) but it was the final nail in the coffin, I felt like a blind man who had gotten his sight back and realised he had married an ugly bird! It was painfull to watch.

And then we read that the RFL think everything is great, im not sure what is more terifying, the state of the game and the fans attitude, or the RFL's perception of the game and the fans attitude.

Great post Sir

I've been saying for a long time that the regular SL season means zip. I'm not knocking Leeds or any other team who exploit this, but frankly I am at the point of thinking what IS the point of the regular season. A club with the squad that Wigan have will make the top 8 (and arguably the top 4) without breaking sweat.

It annoys the hell out of me that IL stands up and defends the top 8 system, showing complete disgregard for the fans who pay good money week in, week out.

Some Chairmen are taking the public for mugs and I'm not sure if I want to be one any more.

I don't know why they're patting themselves on the back south about the crowds increase it was inevitable. We lost crusaders and gained widnes always going to have more crowds and the big one we had saints playing in St. Helens again. To think the rise in crowds is an achievement is just ridiculous then you have the fact that our crowds have gone up most years for a while now it's nothing special.
We also had the magic weekend somewhere accessible for more fans.

The rfl are blind and its beginning to feel like the blind leading the deliberately ignorant.

Would people accept Leeds as finalists more if they came from 5th in a top 5 system? Genuine question.

I think that under a top 5 system it would (and quite rightly) be much harder for a team to qualify from 5th and therefore the answer would be "Yes".

I think the honest answer to this question is yes. Logically, I would have thought they would have to perform better per se during the season to obtain that finish in the league, compared to a stat that I saw Bilko quote for the last two seasons.....Wigan/Wire 78% league win ratio, Leeds 58%.

To be fair to Leeds though, although they had an easy (on paper) opening game if they win it this year they will have

played Catalan in France with a fantastic home record
played Wigan at Wigan the league winners
played the league runners up and CC winners.

Well I'll bring this back round to my fuss being over the regular season. Leeds to me for two years now have had zero incentive to go for 4th place. They to have been quite happy to sit in 5th and get a home game first rather than have to travel straight away to Wigan/Warrington. I think they realised the chances of beating either of us two twice are far less that one off. Thats not their fault but its one of the big flaws in this current system. Thats my main point. Warrington also had a big chance to go for 1st place after beating us, but didn't bother with it because they didn't need it. Seriously, look at the second half for the season and find me a match featuring the top 5 that counted for anything.....I can't remember any.

I have read this board from start to finish and I agree with the sentiments entirely. It's not right that teams are allowed to field weakened teams and risk losing league points in the knowledge that it won't matter as they will still finish in the top 8. I include Wigan (v Widnes) and Wire (v Salford) in that as examples. The top of the league should be the holy grail of any sport and not a 4 game knock out competition!

With the salary cap as it is in Oz compared to here, gone are the days of the games elite players coming here even if it was just for a bumper pay cheque as they used to do. Our game is far inferior to theirs and the gap in standards is growing.

We are the poor relatives and cannot sustain a 14 team competition and expect any kind of real intensity. However, I fear the clowns at RFL will not listen to the fans and will continue to spout pap. There is an element of greed in our chairmen who want more fixtures and more revenue that comes with it.

That of course starts the vicious circle of revenue allows clubs to spend on players but those clubs who could afford to spend are prevented from doing so due to the cap.

The only answer is to generate money through sponsorship as the NRL has but with the lack of intensity in our weekly rounds, I fear that won't happen and we are destined to remain the poor relative for the distant future.


I have loved the NRL on Premier this season and will continue to get the majority my RL enjoyment via that avenue.

a top five system would not just be about improving the post season but would mean that every point gained by the teams chasing a playoff place could make or break their chances in the playoffs.

In the old top 5 setup, these are the games)

Week 1Saints
Catalan vs Leeds

Week 2Saints (Winner to GF)
Warrington vs Leeds

Week 3Leeds

Grand Final:
Saints vs Leeds

No duplicate games, no boring games. I'd pay to watch every single one.

Would I be correct i saying the 5th place club in a top 5 play off would have to beat 4,3,2 & 1st (all away in consecutive weeks)to claim a grand final win.

Now that would be some achievement