Scandalous if true. Pretty big 'if' though I reckon.

Ross Heppenstall ‏@rosshtanda 5m5 minutes ago
Writing an interesting story for tomorrow's paper about a head coach's job for 2017. #rugbyleague

Read into that what you will!!!!

Probably Batley's. Even Ross is trolling us now

I wonder how much of this is down to Ferres. He after all does the deals. Do he and Lowes work well together?

I do understand that we got into the £1m play off game but it was because we finished above the other three championship teams. Leigh fell off a cliff. We effectively finished above Sheff and Fax who weren't great.
It consisted of two leagues. The SL teams and the Championship teams. We finished below all SL teams. We won 3 games - one was Salford and lost against a Championship team. We won our championship league.
I don't see finishing 5th out of 8 as a magnificent achievement when two of them were below us in the championship. Someone had to do it in the championship. Leigh were favourites but their demise let us in and we were better than the other 3 - but not by a mile. It was either us or Leigh which is why I don't see it as a big deal really.
It will hopefully be Leigh or us again this year - so no big surprise if it happens again.

What an odd post! What do you mean "but" it was because we finished above the other Championship teams? It wasn't a "but"! It was exactly what we had to do FFS!!

And nobody "let us in". It is ridiculous to say that. We got to the playoffs ready to play, Leigh didn't. Had they also been ready, who is to say it would have been any different? But regardless, that is and was the "sharp end" of the season and Leigh bottled it, we were far better at the playoffs than they were.

What I find most interesting about the playoffs is that Wakefield's meltdown did give us a one-off realistic chance, but it also skewed the playoff league. What would be interesting this year, if we managed to finish top, is to see whether we could get the automatic promotion 3rd place. That should be at least a bit more realistic in a sense this year if the 4 SL clubs are fairly evenly matched, and start taking points off each other. That 3rd place could be at least more than academic.

I still wouldn't put a penny on it, mind, but at least it isn't totally impossible, whereas winning the MPG will be.

Not sure how you can say the MPG game is impossible. Anything can happen, red cards, injuries refereeing decisions etc. For me i think it's more difficult to finish 3rd as we would have to win all our championship games and sneak a victory over an SL side and hope that SL side implodes. I think it's important to get a the MPG at home. But tell that to James "Im not bothered where we play" Lowes. If were were more consistent in those middle 8 games, we should have got Wakey at home and i would have fancied us to win that.

I think Lowes's attitude of these games don't matter are having an effect on the players. (same reason it was no coincidence that Lowes and Smith both moaned about Easter, and both Wire and Bulls lost Monday) Yes these games won't decide if we get promoted, but it will make the games that DO matter easier.

I've already talked about us getting to the MPG last year on another thread. We weren't that good in the play-offs. We took some right tonkings and Jimmys inspirational selections such as Walker and Mendieka at Hull KR and the french hooking legend JPB in the MPG cost us.

I am speaking from the viewpoint that if we end up in the MPG then it will be a SL club and I've not seen any that we might remotely hope to beat.

Whereas to finish 3rd well, of course it goes without saying that WE first and foremost would need to do our bit, but the thing is, it doesn't just depend on us, it depends on the results of the other clubs too, and they can't all win all their games.

For devilment, and for those who say it "doesn't matter" where you finish in the "pre-season" - if we called a halt in the league today, here are the Super 8 fixtures. Would it matter that we had our fixtures and not Leigh's, anyone think?

What I meant there FA (probably not written very well) was that all we or Leigh had to do to get into the £1m game was to finish at the top of our championship league of 4 teams assuming the 4 SL teams will take positions 1-4 which they did and probably should do if all went to plan.
It turned out like two competitions with the top of CH. playing the bottom of the SL.

This year will probably be the same to get that 5th place. Be the top CH club. Once Leigh had imploded we would have had to have been poor not to get into the £1m game.
That is why I don't see it as a massive achievement to get there. Just be better than Leigh. I don't mean to talk down the other two clubs but in reality it should be us or Leigh again. Beat Leigh and the other two and we are there.

That is how I see it. I do agree with your point above about finishing top in the championship as any advantage over Leigh and the bottom SL club is vital and could just be the difference.

Correct.

The problem with that though is that more often than not, to finish 3rd we're probably going to have to beat a SL team along the way aren't we? Tough ask to finish 3rd with just 6 points, would have to be a bizzare set of results for that to happen? I'd have thought there was more chance of a Championship team winning the MPG (again long odds I agree). With finishing third you are banking on two SL clubs having stinkers and finishing below us and presumably losing to at least one championship team on the way. I'll admit you are better at this stuff than me, but seems unlikely

We don't really disagree at all, it's just I view the chances of winning the MPG as nil, so that's why however slim the chances of auto promotion may be, they're not (quite) nil. We beat Salford last time round (though if we played tomorrow, they'd put 70 on us)

Fair enough, I agree we aren't a million miles away - is that coming from the viewpoint of catching SL teams "unaware" in a regular game rather than a do or die scenario in the MPG where the opposition are more likely to be pumped up?

I haven't done the numbers yet this season (as the finishing positions are far too uncertain to make it worthwhile) but last season it was very interesting to predict EVERY game one by one and then see where that left you.

There are so many permutations, but just for instance, if we beat (say) Salford and then did as well as them in the remaining fixtures then (barring a points difference disaster) we would be bound to finish above Salford. If we also do better than each of the other 3 Championship clubs (even a tie but superior PD will do) then we'd be 3rd.

Big IFs

Unfortunately in the current situation just beating the other 3 championship teams is a pretty big "IF" in it's own right, and just taking a top 4 slot at all is not certain without an improvement from the performane in the last few games

Playing the other top 4 teams. Current record this season= 2 draws and a win. Hardly stuff the get excited over, is it?

The games will be a different entity come the 8's though.

Look at our hay days in SL - 2005 getting spanked by Saint at home in June by 60+ points, then beating them in the play offs...same principle isn't it?

Certainly are - but that's the unpredictability of sport and why we all love it!

Injuries, poor form, refereeing, on the day errors, bounce of the ball...etc ....etc

I can certainly see a Championship club making it either in 3rd or via the MPG - it would be great for RL if that was sooner rather than later

I think we need one to go up and one down either this year or next.
If it goes past that supporters will become disillusioned with the system.
Maybe that will then make the RFL change it to automatic one up, one down.
For that to happen though I do believe both Leigh and the Bulls need to stay pushing for promotion and show they are ready.

Its ridiculous. How many teams in the Championship would get their promotion rejected because their ground is not fit for purpose?

Us, Leigh, Fax?

London and Sheffield haven't even got grounds but sure they could play at a Football ground.

Then there's the question of can Fax and Sheffield afford to run a SL squad?
Im not sure they could, I hope they could but we couldn't at the back end and our crowds are a lot bigger than theirs.

The P and R system is grossly unfair,the only thing it rewards is poor form with a chance to redeem yourself against inferior opposition and a one off shot against superior opposition providing your form doesn't drop off in M8's.

That would be interesting. Presumably then we could sue the RFL as our landlords for leasing us premises unfit for purpose?



We haven't sued anybody for absolutely ages

Leigh? Brand new ground? Why wouldn't that fit the bill?

Us & Fax - far from perfect, but both previously SL grounds?! No worse than HKR or Wakey for example....

The stadium rules were to fit with franchising criteria I think. We no longer have franchising so, logically, (I know!) there shouldn't be an RFL stadium requirement anymore....

I assume he means those are the ones that ARE fit, rather than not fit. As they're probably the 3 best grounds in the division.

Yes I did mean that. Sorry.