Southampton Leyther

Bloody hell, everything we touch is going wrong so far. Appalling start from us.

That is a very patched up Leigh side. The lack of any real size on the bench is a big concern. I assume Trout, Mulhern and Big Joe will be asked to pitch in with some long spells in the middle. Hope we can get this one over the line against a big big Catalans pack. Hoping Ben McNamara can show a bit of flair in Gaz's absence. He's mostly been a steady enough presence in his few games so far, letting Locky Lam take the lead. Would like to see him stamp himself on the game a bit more today.

I'm not sure there was ever going to be much of a bidding war for Salfords players anyway. The obvious star player is Sneyd but he turns 34 in less than a month. Im sure some clubs would like to sign him but doubt anyone would offer a big fee to get him when he is approaching the tail end of his career. Some of their other more attractive options (Watkins, Lafai) turn 34 this season also. Nobody is going to offer a meaningful fee for Ormondroyd, Deon Cross or some of the other players allegedly gaining some interest around the rest of the clubs. They MIGHT get a small amount for Nene Mcdonald if multiple clubs were to go in for him but other than that I'd be surprised if any of their players brought in a fee that would be genuinely helpful to Salford considering the size of the hole they are in. It will purely be about reducing the wage bill to something approaching sustainable.

Of the current crop I'd say Welsby, Lewis, Brierley and Tomkins all play into it and love getting a reaction. Saw George Flanagan Snr mentioned and Ben Reynolds and would agree with both. Deliberately winding up opposition fans every week. Although Reynolds can do what he likes frankly after winning a CC for the Leythers. Always used to get far too annoyed by Scott Murell at fax too. Celebrating every opposition mistake like they'd just won the league!

Matty Peet surely. He's a young British coach who has currently claimed every trophy going. Of course Wigan have got a hell of a squad for him to work with but that is some going and he seems like a decent enough bloke. Although that said, as a Leyther, I am a huge fan of Lam and wouldn't swap him for anyone right now. He's doing great things over here.

Too tight to call this one. Salfords home record is fantastic, Leigh are in great recent form. Think this comes down to which side turns up fully focused and ready to play on the night. Excited and nervous for this one. Grew up watching Rowley in a Leigh shirt and he is one of my heroes, but I hope we can get one over on him on Friday. Up the Leopards!

Missing Ipape is a huge blow. We just have so much more zip and threat out of dummy half when he's on. Davis is solid but isn't an out and out 9 and it sometimes shows. Hoping he has a stormer! Too tight to call this one, the HKR side looks very strong.

Surprised how many are arguing about the red. Vaughan makes no effort to bend his back, initial contact is leading with his shoulder, moving upwards directly into Trouts face. Red all day long. Trouts 6ft3 or 6ft4 so its not as if there was a big height difference in play. Wire did well to battle on with 12 but Vaughan has only got himself to blame for that one. Clear red and he'll miss 2 games minimum as well I'd guess.

Yep, missing our entire starting front row today plus our 13 and Captain. Briscoe has been replaced fantastically on the wing by Hanley but none of the others have been replaced with a similar quality. We are trying and I can see the bones of a good team in us. Just got to tough it out for now. We'll get better. The effort is there to see at least. We are so stupid at times though!

Good game, brutal defence from both sides. Thought the call on the Briscoe disallowed try was absolutely awful though. Really key decision and he got it so wrong. Not to give the try was fine as Mellor clearly touched it but the Sts player (Bell?) Blatantly lost the ball into the Leigh man in the initial contact. Should have been leigh ball 30 yards or so out, instead Saints camped on our line again and that was the end of it. Very enjoyable match but a few key decisions at the back end felt more than a little unfair. Proud of the Leythers on that display. Congrats to Saints. A cracking game of RL all around.

Holmes and Big Ben missing too. Good to see Kai back, hope he's not too rusty.

That 2nd try was b*locks. Clearly hit the ground before his boot.

I think a key thing here is to step back, stop going off one frame pictures (picked to suit either argument) or super slowed down footage. Watch it at full speed, as it happened. 12,000+ people watched it live and nobody was in any sort of uproar. The commentary team praised it as committed defence, and even though the Paasi one was right in front of the Saints fans there didn't seem to be any outrage during the game. Watch the clips, the whole clips in full speed as they happened live and it gives a clear picture to me. Desperate defending, putting your body on the line to try and win a massive game and lead your team to Wembley. MRP agrees and the witch hunt from Saints and Wellens is completely unwarranted.

That's not what happened. I don't know where this narrative has come from. He takes him down by the legs in full flight. "Player makes legitimate initial contact with upper thigh of opponent who is moving forward." They've looked at it and that's the conclusion, exactly as it should be. He's not attacked the knee, he's not tackled him with his head. He just didn't. I'm sorry for Paasi getting injured but making out Asiata's committed some terrible assault to the knees with his head is just absurd. They've got this one 100% correct. It was a quality piece of defence and should be praised, not vilified.

Think that wraps things up nicely. Absolutely hysterical reaction from some to determined defence chopping down 2 big lads by taking the legs. It's textbook stuff taught at U7's. Pathetic over reaction. Great defence.