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In the grip of play-off fever

4:05pm Thursday 4th October 2007

By David Craven »

The Grand Final is just nine short days away but I for one don’t want this season to end.
After 31 consecutive weeks of covering the game – save a Challenge Cup final respite and one all-too-short holiday – I thought the unrelenting schedule might now be wearing me down.
I reckoned I’d be all primed to switch off, kick back, maybe tackle a few lingering jobs around the house, get the car serviced, fix the guttering, even venture out for a few beers.
Maybe I’d even leisurely watch some of that Rugby World Cup. On second thoughts, I’d rather traipse around town shopping with the missus.
Strangely, though, just as I venture into hibernation, I do find myself hankering over more rugby. Why? Put simply, in four little words – Super League Play-Offs.
There has never been a more exciting end-of-season climax. Ordinarily, most Bulls fans wouldn’t want to even contemplate watching Leeds versus Wigan tomorrow night; it involves their fiercest rivals and the side that somehow dumped them out of the competition. No thank you.
But they have to tune in, in fear of missing another classic. Every game so far has been thrilling, enthralling, breathtaking and amazing in equal measure.
The quality and sheer drama these play-offs have provided has been immense.
Bradford v Wigan, Hull v Huddersfield, Hull v Wigan, Saints v Leeds… each and every one has delivered 80 minutes of cracking action that rivals anything in the world of sport.
Any one who ever doubted the play-off system since it was first introduced in 1998 must now concede it works – royally.
Instead of whimpering to a halt as could often be the case with the old first-past-the-post format, Super League is now bubbling up towards another almighty Grand Final finish in the most intriguing campaign to date.
The bosses at HQ must be rubbing their hands in delight. The play-offs have proved a great advert for the game and just in time to boost interest in this autumn’s Great Britain v New Zealand Test series. I'd nearly forgotten about that. Those jobs will have to wait. Bring it all on.



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