ThePrinter wrote:
It's not a case of "holding back" per say but come on, if you watch team sports you know teams have often taken their eye of the ball in the league when cup matches have come around. Wigan basically handed the 2013 LLS to Hudds once they got to the Semis of the cup. Warrington still had plenty of time to make the top 8 in 2009 but failed to do so but did win the CC. In football, teams that have floated around the bottom of the league have made finals, some even winning despite being relegated like Birimingham and Wigan. Both Liverpool and Chelsea won the Champions League despite finishing outside the top 4.
The comparison with football is tricky as they often have midweek games and generally play more games than rl and do a lot more travelling, especially for European games, albeit it has a less physical involvement.
Your rl comparisons are also aimed at the latter stages of the cup which by proxy is also into the second half of the season. Neither apply to our game on Saturday. Quote honestly, if top level professional players can't manage one game a week little more than 12 weeks into the season then we have problems.