This week Harlequins staged their end-of-season presentation evening. It's always nice to let your hair down at the end of a tough campaign that, in the end, didn't go as we'd hoped.

To drop down as low as we did and to finish in such a way means 2009 can't be deemed as a successful year for us. However our start of the season was a positive and is something we will have to take with us into the next season.

Hodgson and Moore: Both in Luke's team of the season

Even if things had have even gone our way in the last round of fixtures and we had made the play-offs, I'm not sure it would have been the way we'd have wanted to make it. We would have wanted to be in good form, not limping over the line.

I did manage a hat-trick in our defeat at Warrington but I'd trade all the tries to finish in the top eight and be going into the play-offs in good shape.

On a personal level, I thought everything was going well this season up until I broke my leg. At that time Quins were doing well and enjoying some excellent results.

But when I came back from the injury things had taken a turn for the worse. We'd lost a fair few on the bounce and I just don't think as a team we got our game back in order. Injuries didn't help, but that's not an excuse.

Despite the disappointment of missing out I will be watching the play-offs. It's always an exciting time; these matches bring out the best and worst of everybody.

It's easy to say that it's going to be Leeds and St Helens in the Grand Final again. But Hull KR and Huddersfield have proved themselves on a consistent basis throughout the season, so it' far from cut and dried we'll see Rhinos v Saints at Old Trafford.

It's pretty close to call, though Leeds are playing well. It's how teams like Rovers and the Giants, and those others that haven't been at this stage before, handle the situation which will be crucial.

The first round should give us an indication of how the top four are travelling. Knockout football is tough and home advantage can make a big difference. That's what you work for during the regular season.

This year we also have the introduction of 'club call', the chance for the top-ranked side left in the semi-finals to select which team they'd like to face on home soil.

This does seem to be a bit of a gimmick, particularly as the team who gets to pick are on a hiding to nothing. If they chose a team and they win then people will say they should have always won that game anyway, while if they are turned over then questions will be asked why exactly they opted for those opponents.

I'm not sure this club call idea will last - it really should just be cut and dried at that stage of the competition.

Awards

As well as the play-offs, this time of year is when individual players are rewarded for their efforts. Man of Steel nominations have also been announced - Brett Hodgson, Adrian Morley and current holder James Graham are the trio in the running.

Personally, I think Hodgson has got it nailed on. He's been fantastic all year for Huddersfield and it would be well deserved.

I also saw the Dream Team selection this week and have to say they've done a pretty good job. Despite that, I've opted to have a go myself, taking into account what I've seen over the course of the last few months and some of the Super League statistics.

Luke Dorn's team of 2009:
Brett Hodgson (He's been consistently the best player in Super League), Ryan Hall (you can't not pick a man who has scored 28 tries), Keith Senior (Mr Consistency), Michael Shenton, David Hodgson (just squeezed out Pat Richards), Kevin Brown (He has a knack up in the right places at the right time), Michael Dobson, James Graham, Scott Moore (though it pains me to pick him because he's a mate of mine), Adrian Morley, Jon Wilkin, Ben Galea, Steve Menzies

Note: Quins players were not considered for selection

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