Far more to do with the teams than the system. If (and it was possible pretty much up to the penultimate round) Leeds had pipped the Dragons to 4th, who believes it would be the Dragons and not Leeds travelling to Wigan this weekend? It's all speculation (all of it) but I certainly don't believe that.

I'd rather see Leeds do better in the regular season, but not at the expense of peaking at the right time for the play-offs.

For the record, I'd rather see the top 5 system brought back, but I still don't think 5th is an easier ride than 4th.

As for Leeds regular season performance....

If the Playoffs were 5 or 6 teams would Leeds have finished higher than 5th this year? I don't know, maybe.

If Leeds didn't have to play a WCC, CC Semi, CC Final and fit in Wakefield at home 2 days after the first Exiles game, compared to the teams around us, =#FF0000Saints, Catalans and =#FF0000Hull who didn't have to do ANY of those 4 things (=#FF0000Huddersfield had to do just 1, the CC Semi) and don't have the tag of beating the current SL & WCC Champions around their necks motivating the opposition especially when we travel, would we have finished higher/more points clear of those 4?.........Most definately IMO.

Have to agree with Jeff on this one. Leeds have had steady season with not that much to get the heart pumping.

It makes me wonder of our coach isn't as daft as his Neanderthalic expression portrays - ramble through the season without breaking too much of a sweat, aiming to get the 5th spot.

Beat 8th (not too hard)- beat the team that just got beaten by the top side 6 or 7 days earlier (a little harder but not a massive ask) then you're 2 games away from being Champions. Put in two top draw performances a season and your Billy Big Bollox.

You sum it up so much better

.....but sadly have to agree. The present system is broke.

Credit to Leeds for taking full advantage, but anybody who invests in a season ticket is definitely being short changed.

Can they do that without exposing one of the obvious flaws in the current format? That's probably the approach they should take but it'll never happen.

The Play-Offs are supposed to represent the climax to the season and from week two/three onwards (depending on your point of view) they do but I simply cannot understand the logic behind week one.

The original top five format worked better because at least it consistently produced the Grand Final the Regular Rounds predicted it would - 1 V 2. People moaned about that but I saw it as due reward for the effort over the Regular Rounds maintaining their relevance and integrity. That system was also flawed though judging by the results as the team finishing 3rd only won 1 from 8 just as we see today from 4th. IMO it's the effect of having a second chance in your back pocket that results in a loss of focus and underperformance in week 1 leading to a loss of momentum that results in an almost automatic exit at home in week 2 to a team that finished lower but crucially one with momentum coming off a win.

That's why I'm currently favouring a top 7 format as outlined earlier in the thread over a return to the original top 5. Straight-forward knock out to ensure 100% concentration and committment to what should be the pinnacle of the season.

Week 1 - League Leaders - bye, 2 V 7, 3 V 6, 4 V 5
Week 2 - 1 V Lowest survivor, highest placed winner V next highest
Week 3 - GF

I agree that week 1 makes no sense, and invariably ends in repeats in the same games in week 3. Other than a week off and home advantage, winning in week 1 gives no benefit.

I quite like that cut-to-the-chase format. I think we'd have seen the same Semi Final line-up had that system been used this season because there's only 4 genuine competitors in SL.

[uWeek 1[/u
(2) [uWarrington[/u V Huddersfield (7)
(3) [uSaints[/u V Hull (6)
(4) Catalan V [uLeeds[/u (5)

[uWeek 2[/u
(1) Wigan V Leeds (5)
(2) Warrington V Saints (3)

Still doesn't solve the dilemma of a team like Leeds coasting it during the regular season, finishing 5th, and only having to turn up for 2 tough games to win the title. I'd prefer the route to be tougher for a team finishing as low as 5th to win the title - where they'd have to turn up for 3 tough games and beat all the genuine competition away from home in successive weeks. Therefore the Top 5 system still gets my vote.

5 team format as it originally was. League leaders deserve a 2nd chance at any stage. League leaders also deserve to only have to play 1 game to qualify.

An away trip to a team finishing above you should always be considered a tough game, even if it doesn't fit into your neat little classification. Its just that the last 2 seasons 4th has been occupied by teams who haven't lasted the pace.

The 5 team play-offs were the best though, but we won't see them again unfortunately

I approach masturbation a lot like Leeds do the super league season

We all know what the real prize is and the end result is all that matters, start slow don't rush and save your best for the business end, if people want to pay to watch that's fine.

Whereas I approach it a lot like Huddersfield.

Start very fast, promise a lot, but it's all over very quickly.

Not many people willing to pay to watch, unless I offer knock down prices.

I'm a bit more like Crusaders, it's all very excting to start of with, with a smile on my face, but ultimately I'm doomed to failure, and everything ending in a damp squib !!!

I'm more like Wigan. I did it a lot more often in the 1980s.

You're more like Saints I hear, you do it in a shell suit and Argyle socks.



[size=85This is a better direction for the thread than those boring fekkers re-hashing for the fiftieth time the tired old discussions about playoff formats.

[/size

W*nker.

I suppose I'm like Wakefield then. I need a bit of assistance to get where it matters, but ultimately I don't last that much longer.

Great innit?

How would I know? I wasn't watching.

There's a subscriber to my web feed that user the name El Diablo. though it was you. My bad.

This is a clear breach of my, err, that person's, confidentiality. You promised me, erm, I mean, you promised that person, who I don't know or anything, anonymity.

Saints are like a guy with no feeling in his penis.

They can always go the whole way, and give pleasure to others, but never get that feeling of satisfaction for themselves

My girlfriend is like Hull, very physical and smells of fish

My mistress likes men from cas. She is quite loose down below and the extra fingers help.

My missus is like Bradford. Spends too much money and doesn't even go down.