If Bradford or Wigan were to scrape 8th with a 50:50 record, they would then have to win three consecutive away games before a GF at Old Trafford against a rested Saints/Leeds (most likely). Get through all that lot and you can make an argument for them as the top performers of the year.



Funny now Saints fans who loved the play-offs in '99 seem to have gone off it of late. And Bulls fans who weren;t so keen have come round to it

BTW Bulls vs Wire had plenty of meaning in it yesterday thanks to the extended play-offs. Go back to first past the post and then it's meaningless.



I think clubs need to get round to making each game a contest worth winning in its own right, regardless of what impact it has on the rest of the season.

I think you might be missing the point. Some people may be looking at the league table and thinking: "uh-oh Saints are peaking too early and will get turned over at Old Trafford again. If it weren't for the play-offs Saints might actually win something from SL instead of having to settle for the CC". Again.

The whole league is asleep this season. How many classics have we seen on Sky? How many competitive games have we seen? How many games can you say were honestly played at full intensity?



The vast majority of games I've seen this season have had the atmosphere and flow of a friendly. The players don't want to know because they know there is nothing to be gained from it.

Eh. That's more likely to be down to the two extra clubs than the play-offs. We had play-offs last year and every year since 1998 so why would the league go to sleep now? Or are you on a wind up?

I don't mind the play off system, but only when the fixture list is inconsistent to justify them. Otherwise, you might as well have regular league champions...



That said, isn't it ironic that as soon as the league became somewhat more interesting; Saints winning in '96, Bradford in '97 - it was reverted back to play-off's.



Imagine these last few seasons with Leeds and Saints vying for top spot with five or six games left. Oh well...

The Playoffs are good, but there should be massive benefits for winning the league.



In fact, I'd go so far as to suggest that the league winners should qualify automatically for the final.



It's a joke at the moment, and as a Leeds fan, I am more than happy to watch us plod on for an inevitable second place finish. I don't even think about Saints.

With the gate and Sky money from that we'll all have to go semi-pro.

I like the play-off system. You have to be consistant enough to qualify and then good enough to beat those equally consistant in an all or nothing gorefest.

......traditional too!

Or in the case of this season's Top 8, mediocre - which I think adds merit to original poster's message.

Weird thread

No problem with the play-offs, big problem with the format.



If you finish in the bottom half of the league, you have no right to be anywhere near the play-offs. Such a format is not far away from "everybody gets a trophy".