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When I saw that Tomkins was out, I knew you would lose!!

Until they re-incentivise finishing higher up the table, as per the previous play-off systems, the league season will continue to rot. And a lot of people have been saying this all season.

Nothing wrong with the play off system, just got beat by a better team on the night, we had the advantage finishing first in the weekly rounds, had a week off but again when it mattered didnt turn up for the first 40 minutes. We never looked like breaking down their defence, their backs were sprinting out of defence causing an umbrella effect thus closing down the first and second phase attack, we were also attacking very flat with forwards not knowing where to be. It has happened 4 times this season, Leeds twice and Warrington twice. They only seem to wake up when it is too late, you just cant afford to play catch up against these kind of teams.

To be fair, Leeds beat us by 1, the way we played last night, if we had played Warrington we would have lost by 20+

You lost to the 5th placed team in the competition, normally that would be a team who won't really be a major threat to winning the comp. This Leeds team is a 'freak' in that sense that they can play crap all year but as I'm sure everyone knows by now are the best team in play-off football. This won't happen in years to come, as the leeds team won't be as dominant in the play-offs or be more consistent and finish higher up, or just drop out completely. The only reason why the play-offs look like a joke is because one of the most successful sides in superleague is winning yet again when it counts.

Has the league rot though? The fans turned out in numbers this year and I think it was the most watched season.



The play off crowds have been shocking!

I would love a season where you had to finish top to be champions. Imagine Wigan, Wire, Leeds and Saints going at it all year to finish top?!! that would be great!



Its really hard to justify paying £200 plus for a season ticket when half the top teams don't try in the regular season.



Don't know how the coaches motivate their players to put their bodies on the line in the regular season when the points available don;t matter. Since the top 8 system was brought in, its statistically proven you are as likely to get to the GF from 5th as you are from 1st!!



No wonder we can't attract new fans.

The fans are already there, but also there is a recession. It does not matter who gets to Old Trafford next week the fans of the 2 teams will be 20,000 plus each. The clubs need to cut the cost of these play off matches or offer some kind of incentive to season ticket holders. I have been to Leeds in 2003 and 2010 and watched us come away from Headingley victorious at this stage of the season. The atmosphere both times were about the best i have had watching the game, maybe it is because we won on both occassions.

Last night the game itself was electric but with the stadium being half empty it didnt seem the same.

How do you come to that conclusion?



Only Leeds have made the gf from 5th and despite not playing great during the season we have won 5 out of the last 8 so it's not a massive shock

which should tell the RFL something.



the main problem is that the RFL are "owned" by Sky.

wonder how long it'll be before we have a top 12 play offs, with more games for Sky to fill their airtime with?

The main weakness with the playoff season is that in the end the whole season up to the penultimate week comes down to one thing: creating four teams for a semi final > final situation as in any Cup.



The advantage of finishing top four rather than fifth to eighth is that you get a 'second chance' in the playoffs. But if you win your first playoff, you lose the right to a second chance.



Wigan have done exactly what we did last year - top the league, then play a storming game in the first playoff then that's it you are into one slip and you're gone territory.



So the full season apart from two weeks is about turning 14 into 4, then who are deemed Champions and who are deemed Bottlers comes down to fitness, form and luck in a two week window of the season.

I think the clubs voted the play offs in ???



The clubs want play offs as it brings extra revenue to them, I'm pretty sure the players want them as well.



I do think the top 8 needs reducing but with no relegation it leaves more than half the clubs with nothing to play for.