Super League play-offs explained

The new system for the engage Super League play-offs is a little confusing. Therefore, to help you understand Last Tackle explains how the 2009 play-offs will look.

For the purposes of this example we are assuming that the home team will win.

Top eight after regular season:

Leeds Rhinos
St Helens
Huddersfield Giants
Hull Kingston Rovers
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
Wigan Warriors
Castleford Tigers
Catalans Dragons

Week One: Qualifiers and Eliminators

In week one, first will play fourth and second will play third. The winners will progress to week three while the losers will have to play in week two. Meanwhile, fifth will play eighth and sixth will play seventh. The winners will also play in week two, while the losers will be eliminated.

Qualifier one: Leeds v. Hull KR
Qualifier two: St Helens v. Huddersfield
Eliminator one: Wakefield v. Catalans
Eliminator two: Wigan v. Castleford

Week Two: Preliminary Semi Finals:

In week two the loser of qualifier one will play the winner of eliminator one, and the loser of qualifier two will play the winner of eliminator two. The winners will progress to week three.

Hull KR v. Wakefield
Huddersfield v. Wigan

Week Three: Semi Finals:

Week three is where the element of choice comes in. Of the two teams that contested the qualifiers in week one the highest-scoring side will choose which of the two week-two winners they want to play. Let’s assume that was Leeds, and from that assume they would want to play Hull KR once again.

Leeds v. Hull KR
St Helens v. Huddersfield

Week Four: Grand Final:

Here’s the simple part. The semi-final winners will play each other in the engage Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford. The winners will be declared champions.

Leeds v. St Helens