Assuming we finish top and looking at the table who do we want to face in the first round of play offs Leeds or saints both will have a point to prove cant decide as i dont want in go like last year when we hit a brick wall when it matterd against saints

PS i cant see Catalan droping points so will finish 3rd.

Providing we beat them in the last game of the season, I would be delighted with having Saints twice in the playoffs, I genuinely think we have the mental edge and a far better set of players than them and couldn't see them beating us after 4 comfortable wins before the playoffs

It could well be Saints - Leeds sudden death in playoff week 2. Tasty game, guarantee it won't be those 2 again in the final, they'll beat each other up big style so we need to be brave enough to pick the winner of this tie in the semis.

Win win for us, that's the way it looks on paper anyway!

Catalans preferably

looking at recent results, and going off last year, it seems all 3 are trying to finish 5th,
which is prob as good, if not better, than 3rd or 4th

That's what makes the system a joke.

Would you rather play Wigan away, Wire away or Wakefield/Bradford at home?

Les Catalans please

Exactly, the benefit of getting a week off if you win in the top half is outweighed by playing a lower team from 5th IMO. Top 8 is ludicrous for a 14 team league anyway, but it should at least be the case that the higher you finish the better your chance of reaching the GF. I know it got a lot of stick in the NRL but the McIntyre system they used up until this season is much better than this current one.

Surely Wigan would pick Warrington if it comes to that point in clubcall, after all we are the playoff bottlers, so that would be an easy route through to the final.

Tempting as that sounds, I understand that you can't deny a team a home semi by picking them, so providing you win in week 1 that little scenario won't happen.

Anybody.

We're not in good form but hopefully we'll find some in the next couple of weeks. If we do we can beat anybody but if not the teams are much of a muchness.

Even if Wire were to be lucky enough to get through to the final against Wigan, I can't see our old men having the stamina to play two tough matches in a row.

Am I right in thinking we can play Saints next week beat them, we finish top they come 4th. We play them again in the first play off game. Hopefully beat them again and then if they win their elimination game we can choose them again in the club call for the semi?

Yep bang on, very good chance of us playing them 3 times in 4 weeks at the DW. And the RFL wonder why the P/Os are so poorly attended.

Yep and you can beat them 50-0 in those first two games, if they beat you in the semi thats all that counts, they go to the final and your season is over.

Yep. You can get a team finishing 4th lose one play-off game and make the GF and the team finishing 1st lose one game and not make the GF. That sums up the problem with the top 8 system we use.

i dont agree with the system but it is exciting and it does backfire as we found out last year personally i think wigan and wire shud make the grand final and it will be a thriller but surely shaun wane may be found out in the tactical side of the game i no hes a pround wiganer and was wondering what your fans think of the job he is doing

What about this so finishing top 2 get you the first week off.
One game to get to the final.
and two bites of the cherry in case the lose first game.
Finish 3rd or lower you play 4 weeks on the bounce

Week 1 sees us lose two team
Week 2 we lose another
Week 3 another
Week 4 final

[uWeek 1[/u

A. 3 v 6 loser out
B. 4 v 5 loser out

[uWeek 2[/u

A v B, loser out

C. 1 v 2 (winner to final) loser to A v B

[uWeek 3[/u

D. A v B winner v C loser

[uWeek 4[/u

Final

That's what we used before the current system. Much better in my opinion.

It's the best and fairest

I still think top 6 is too many from 14 teams. It should be top 5.

Top 5 is ideal as it doesn't reward mediocrity. Not sure how the rounds would work though.

WEEK 1
1st through to week 2
1. 2nd v 3rd
2. 4th v 5th (loser eliminated)

WEEK 2
3. 1st v loser 1
4. Winner 1 v winner 2

FINAL
Winner 3 v Winner 4

It used to be as above week 1

week 2
3. 1st v winner 1 (winner to final)
4. Loser 1 v winner 2 (loser eliminated)

week 3
5 loser 3 v winner 4

Final winner 3 v winner 5

By this method you have to beat all the teams who finish higher than you to win the trophy, whereas last season Leeds (5th) won it but didn't beat Wigan (2nd and reigning champs).

A simpler and fairer method would be to have 4 teams play straight knockout to have the right to play Wigan each year in the final - simples!