Black Country Wire

What's the seeding in the middle 8s? Is it 1 = SL9, 2 = Champ1, 3 = SL10, 4 = Champ 2, etc,?

Not sure what Premier League money has to do with anything. I was just saying that being defending champions does not and should not give you immunity from relegation (or playing in the qualifiers) the following year.

Why not? Leicester City won the Premier League in 2016 and this year were involved in a relegation battle so what's the difference?

I can only speak for myself but moving Thursday (and Friday) games to an earlier kick off would make it EASIER for me to attend as I'd be able to get the last train back home! Wouldn't have more than top 4 in the playoffs personally. Having a team finishing 5th or 6th and then being champions makes a mockery of the whole thing TBH. 1st v 4th, 2nd v 3rd, winners to Grand Final Not sure we can sustain a top 14 at the moment and personally I have absolutely zero interest in a 9-a-side tournament so wouldn't bother. The Magic Weekend only works when its proper games for league points IMO.

Not a question of being negative. At the end of the day, the result of this game IS meaningless. The game at St Helens on Sunday is the only one that means anything. But each to their own, if you're looking forward to it then great, I'm pleased for you. Personally, I'm more looking forward to games that have league points at stake. Again. each to their own. Personally, I'd rather lose 50-0 tomorrow if it would guarantee a win in Perpignan next week. I can appreciate the novelty value of the game but personally I can't get excited about non-competitive fixtures. Obviously a lot of people are interested and that's fair enough. I'm not here to tell them they shouldn't be that's up to them - you pay your money and make your choice as the old saying goes. Nothing to do with parochialism, just a matter of priorities and I'll prioritise a league or cup game over an exhibition match any day.

It's a glorified friendly - it is a bit steep. No league points at stake, no trophy, no progression to a next round, I'm struggling to see the point of it TBH other than as a practice game against a side we wouldn't normally be playing. I hope people enjoy the occasion and it's a good spectacle but I just can't muster up a great deal of interest and I'm just hoping we don't get any injuries ahead of the meaningful games to come.

Frankly I hope they are taking this week's game a lot more seriously than next week's as this week's is actually a meaningful contest, whereas the outcome of the St George game is, let's be honest, irrelevant.

Biggest away following I've ever seen from Salford. There's normally just about 200 or so huddled in the middle of the stand. This time there must have been well over 1000 almost filling the end. Not sure which woodwork they've all come out of but good to see that there's more of them now prepared to make the massive 14 mile journey! Who knows, now they've made that pilgrimage maybe some of them will make it all the way to Huddersfield at some point! Seriously though, they were a good bunch and there was singing from there throughout which is more than could be said for the home stands for the most part. Maybe we struggled adjusting to a Saturday afternoon game! As far as Penny's concerned, since his first spell he does seem to have learned how to catch the ball rather than just dropping it!

Fair enough, but I think once in over ten years counts as "not very often".

Jimmy Lowes made a career of backchatting the ref and I don't recall him being censured for it very often. It seems some players have the gift of the gab and can get away with it.

Blimey. After Rooney's antics, you'd have thought the News of the World would have lapped THAT one up!

Quite honestly, that's all I was interested in so works for me.

Bloody hell, no, the last thing we want is golden point in league games.

I'd have thought that more than not would have had both, although I've no official subscriber numbers to hand.

There's nothing like RL fans for making mountains out of molehills. The Ryder Cup has been scheduled for this weekend for a few years now. It was the RFL's decision to bring the GF forward a week (due to the Four Nations). And frankly, a domestic competition is always going to play second fiddle to a major international event. Had they played it on the 2nd Saturday in October as previous years there would have been no competition, especially as the international football has been shifted to Friday. The Ryder Cup would have been shown on SS1 today regardless as to whether yesterday's play had been rained off. Are you honestly saying that people who want to watch the GF won't because it's on SS2 rather than 1??? TBH I didn't watch the build-up programme because all the previous ones I've seen have been vacuous and lightweight. Sounds like this one was the same. At last we have a valid critcism. No one cares about this. Anyhow, it's not just Sky, the radio coverage has been shunted to Sports Extra because of the Ryder Cup as well. So blame bad planning on the part of the RFL - they could have held the GF either last week or next week and had little competition, but no they decided to clash with one of the biggest international sporting events of the year.