Are the Cowboys?

[ANTiLAG]

Thank you for the correction. Been a while since I've ever needed more than a "ps"

 

[POPEYE]

I don't think it's flawed. Finishing 1st in a 26 round comp is about consistency. Being the best in the finals is about performing under pressure.

Crap

 

[AlwaysGreen]

I agree with ol mite. The shield is all that's important to purists and aficionados like me and him.

The fact that the players, coaches, officials and 99.9% of fans think otherwise is unimportant.

 

[TheVelourFog]

The regular season will never be a true measure of the best until

A. Every team plays every other team home and away

B. Origin does not affect games

 

[ANTiLAG]

Finals make for bigger crowds and tv ratings. They also make for bigger drama and league leaders losing in boil overs by bringing in a significant luck and unluck factor with a distorted uneven game significance (injuries, bad ref calls, miracle plays etc). They also stop the dropped interest when a clear leader 4 rounds out from end of season is dominant and guaranteed first. Its not like there is a Rugby League Champions League to try and qualify for by finishing in top 3 or 4.

 

[Marshall_magic]

Why? Only half the team at most if not less would be playing for the Eels in 2013.

When the Storm have Smith and Slater retire, Bromwichs leave (as Harris has already), are we going to say they sucked in 2017 cos they're useless in 2021?!

You would see the key players left, and maybe went on to bigger and better things. The Eels players who hung around never recreated their form and even the ones who left never really went on to do anything special. They were a mid table team that found form at the right time.

 

[ANTiLAG]

You would see the key players left, and maybe went on to bigger and better things. The Eels players who hung around never recreated their form and even the ones who left never really went on to do anything special. They were a mid table team that found form at the right time.

?

 

[RockWheel]

I agree with ol mite. The shield is all that's important to purists and aficionados like me and him.

The fact that the players, coaches, officials and 99.9% of fans think otherwise is unimportant.

You gotta understand where popeye is coming from with his reverence for the shield as the symbol of rugby league supremacy, instead of the team which wins the grand final. Back in his day, they used to give the shield to the team that *squints at history book* won the grand final.

 

[POPEYE]

I agree with ol mite. The shield is all that's important to purists and aficionados like me and him.

The fact that the players, coaches, officials and 99.9% of fans think otherwise is unimportant.

You are but a pawn ol' mate, still what would I do without you

 

[oval]

You're a weird dude Popeye.

 

[POPEYE]

You're a weird dude Popeye.

A soc with one foot in the grave can either fade away quietly or have fun all the way to the end, as long as I have the advantage of being the only one who knows what I really think 'weird' is far better than 'dismissed'

 

[Captain Apollo]

If you look back at the history of the NRL and it antecedents the NSWRL first Grade competition, Grand Finals did not become mandatory until 1954. Prior to then you will find going back into at least the 1920s, they always had a finals series. A Grand Final only occurred if the Minor Premiers lost during the finals, they got the right to challenge the winner of the finals series to a Grand Final. That is why the Premiers, up until 1997 always received the JJ Giltinan Shield. The mInor Premiers received otherwise nothing.

It was in 1997 they decided to try and give the Minor Premiership a bit more prestige by giving them the JJ Giltinan Shield instead, but beyond that and a financial bonus, the only advantage the minor premiers get is an easier draw in the finals series.

 

[PARRA_FAN]

I don't think the Cowboys are the worst team. You throw Thurston and Scott in there and anything could happen. They're a team on the rise and you look at their backrowers, Cooper, Hess, Taumalalo and Lowe. 2 Origin player, 1 test player and one who was backup for Origin.

A few other teams mentioned here were teams who had that good run leading into the finals and scrapped into the 8. They basically stunned teams who should've beaten them. If those teams weren't good enough to win, then they didn't deserve to get to the grand final.

 

[Cherry_poppins]

Everytime i hear cowboys my mind goes to independent films where they sit around eating pudding

I just can't help it