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Which Team Was the Best in 2020?


RayCee

The Best  

39 members have voted

  1. 1. Which team was the best in 2020

    • St Helens
      29
    • Wigan
      10


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I'm more a fan of Saints than Wigan yet I've given it to Wigan for slightly more consistent success. I explain it in the link below. Scroll to the bottom of the link article to see why:

https://rugbyl.blogspot.com/2020/11/sl-teams-rated-2020-top-teams.html

Interesting to hear your thoughts.

 

My blog: https://rugbyl.blogspot.co.nz/

It takes wisdom to know when a discussion has run its course.

It takes reasonableness to end that discussion. 

 

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14 minutes ago, Davo5 said:

St Helens,they won the big prize,unfortunately.

By the voting it’s clear most see it that way. Do you think that the grand final victory is the only yardstick? Wigan finished top of the league and a slightly better Challenge Cup than Saints. It’s hard to separate the top two, they are closely matched. I guess I expected more Wigan fans to support their team. They must be despondent with the result,

My blog: https://rugbyl.blogspot.co.nz/

It takes wisdom to know when a discussion has run its course.

It takes reasonableness to end that discussion. 

 

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5 minutes ago, RayCee said:

By the voting it’s clear most see it that way. Do you think that the grand final victory is the only yardstick? Wigan finished top of the league and a slightly better Challenge Cup than Saints. It’s hard to separate the top two, they are closely matched. I guess I expected more Wigan fans to support their team. They must be despondent with the result,

Even though Wigan finished top Saints were I felt clearly the best team through the year.

Unprovable but I imagine if the champions had been determined by who finished top Saints would have done it - which is why these comparisons are so futile. If maintaining solid results all the way through the season was the absolute priority then the teams would have done a whole load of things differently, right back to what they did in their pre-season training.

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With Wigan and Saints being the best two teams this year, we could get them to play off in a final game to see which is the best.

It would be a fantastic occasion. We could even brand it the 'Grand Final' to give it the kudos that it would deserve. 

"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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58 minutes ago, Hela Wigmen said:

Best will go down as Saints as we’ve got the pot again. Most entertaining however is Wigan, they’ve been more consistent with their entertainment level than we have, as we started poorly then hit the ground running when the restart happened and then had another bit of a dip. 

Most entertaining was KR in those games they decided to make every play a move to centre or wing

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4 hours ago, M j M said:

Even though Wigan finished top Saints were I felt clearly the best team through the year.

Unprovable but I imagine if the champions had been determined by who finished top Saints would have done it - which is why these comparisons are so futile. If maintaining solid results all the way through the season was the absolute priority then the teams would have done a whole load of things differently, right back to what they did in their pre-season training.

It's not about solid results through the season but it is about three rewards (league, cup and gf). If all that really  matters is the gf  then one (league) is a protracted way of finding the finalists and the other (Challenge Cup)  a pretty ornament in a cabinet,

Taking into account all three rewards surely determines the the best team in 2020. 

My blog: https://rugbyl.blogspot.co.nz/

It takes wisdom to know when a discussion has run its course.

It takes reasonableness to end that discussion. 

 

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5 hours ago, Dunbar said:

With Wigan and Saints being the best two teams this year, we could get them to play off in a final game to see which is the best.

It would be a fantastic occasion. We could even brand it the 'Grand Final' to give it the kudos that it would deserve. 

If you really wanted to test them in different formats, you could get one up on the NRL and throw in a cup comp to add something extra to test their metal. Maybe the cup idea is a little too left field. Stick to what you said.

Of course, we could also do what football does and and simply crown the league champs the best team. Oh, then that would be Wigan. Still, saying the best team is counted by one game rather than success over three comps is a more accurate yardstick, as you rightly pointed out.🤦‍♂️

My blog: https://rugbyl.blogspot.co.nz/

It takes wisdom to know when a discussion has run its course.

It takes reasonableness to end that discussion. 

 

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5 hours ago, Davo5 said:

St Helens,they won the big prize,unfortunately.

There were two other important rewards won by Wigan and Leeds so the season was far from a one horse race. 

My blog: https://rugbyl.blogspot.co.nz/

It takes wisdom to know when a discussion has run its course.

It takes reasonableness to end that discussion. 

 

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1 hour ago, RayCee said:

It's not about solid results through the season but it is about three rewards (league, cup and gf). If all that really  matters is the gf  then one (league) is a protracted way of finding the finalists and the other (Challenge Cup)  a pretty ornament in a cabinet,

Taking into account all three rewards surely determines the the best team in 2020. 

Well  no because the League Leaders is by some distance the third most important to players, coaches and fans.

However if what you're trying to say is that Leeds and St Helens should  be joint champions in 2020 I'm all for that.

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25 minutes ago, DavidM said:

There’s no option for Melbourne...

If the NRL had been included, you'd have been saying why isn't there an option for Saints or Wigan. 

My blog: https://rugbyl.blogspot.co.nz/

It takes wisdom to know when a discussion has run its course.

It takes reasonableness to end that discussion. 

 

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1 hour ago, M j M said:

Well  no because the League Leaders is by some distance the third most important to players, coaches and fans.

However if what you're trying to say is that Leeds and St Helens should  be joint champions in 2020 I'm all for that.

Is that a subjective opinion? As a fan not included in the survey you may be referring to, I disagree.

If true, it's a shame that the competition most valued in many sporting competitions is now so denigrated in RL. To win the league, a team has to be the most consistent performing side through the season. I've seen teams have a mediocre season, squeak into the finals series and by hitting some end of season form take out the GF.

Good on them for pulling that off but something in me says the best team over a season is the one that tops the league. Don't get me wrong, winning the GF is a great achievement but your dismissive comment about the league champions is not one I subscribe to.

My blog: https://rugbyl.blogspot.co.nz/

It takes wisdom to know when a discussion has run its course.

It takes reasonableness to end that discussion. 

 

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7 minutes ago, RayCee said:

Is that a subjective opinion? As a fan not included in the survey you may be referring to, I disagree.If true, it's a shame that the competition most valued in many sporting competitions is now so denigrated in RL.

Well the problem is you're comparing a system where it is designed not to be important with one where it is.

It's chicken and egg - it's not particularly important at the moment because it's not how the title is decided. If we were to revert to a system where the league winners were champions people would give it the credibility it deserves. At the moment it is a by-product rather than the core focus, it's very nice to win, especially if you get one or especially both the other two, but if you make it your focus then you're potentially making big strategic errors with regard to winning the championship itself.

When you say "many sporting competitions" amongst mass spectator sports you mostly mean football BTW.

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5 minutes ago, M j M said:

Well the problem is you're comparing a system where it is designed not to be important with one where it is.

It's chicken and egg - it's not particularly important at the moment because it's not how the title is decided. If we were to revert to a system where the league winners were champions people would give it the credibility it deserves. At the moment it is a by-product rather than the core focus, it's very nice to win, especially if you get one or especially both the other two, but if you make it your focus then you're potentially making big strategic errors with regard to winning the championship itself.

When you say "many sporting competitions" amongst mass spectator sports you mostly mean football BTW.

All I suggested is that some genuine credibility has to given to the league champions when considering which team performed best in a season. As for many sporting competitions, one immediately thinks of football, which as a global sport that dwarfs all all other sports combined, the league is the most important achievement in many sporting competitions. However, other sports would also have the same priority. 

That said, it would be a shame IMO if in England, the FA Cup was regarded as of little value because winning the league is the only criteria for deciding the top team. I evaluate the top teams in English football each year by allocating points to the league, two domestic cups and European success. They are weighted differently but any success in any competition merits some consideration as to which team was the most successful.

I do the same with RL. The results for RL in the UK in 2020 is below. Of course, allocating points is down to a personal opinion. 

Team TOT Leag Fnls CC Tot
Wigan 48 20 16 12 48
St Helens 44 18 20 6 44
Leeds 36 12 4 20 36
Warrington 32 16 4 12 32
Catalans 28 14 8 6 28
Hull FC 25 11 8 6 25
Salford 24 8   16 24
Hull KR 12 6   6 12
Huddersfield 10 10     10
Castleford 9 9     9
Wakefield 7 7     7
Total 275 131 60 84 275

 

My blog: https://rugbyl.blogspot.co.nz/

It takes wisdom to know when a discussion has run its course.

It takes reasonableness to end that discussion. 

 

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47 minutes ago, RayCee said:

All I suggested is that some genuine credibility has to given to the league champions when considering which team performed best in a season.

Sure you can consider it.

But in seasons when the best teams aren't playing to win the league leaders it is backwards to try and over-allocate merit to winning that trophy compared to the actual championship.

Back on topic - St Helens would, in my view, have won the championship had it been decided by who won the most league games. Like all the other teams they would have trained differently, rested players differently, approached particular games differently and structured their pre-season differently compared to what they actually did.

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7 minutes ago, bobbruce said:

In true Highlander fashion there can only be one. 

I was wearing my St Helens jersey yesterday in commemoration of the result. My wife doesn't think it looks that good on me so I don't wear it that often. Maybe my aging physique isn't ideal for a sports outfit. 😉

My blog: https://rugbyl.blogspot.co.nz/

It takes wisdom to know when a discussion has run its course.

It takes reasonableness to end that discussion. 

 

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