23 Jul: SL: Wakefield Trinity v St Helens KO 3pm

[tonyXIII]

1 minute ago, Man of Kent said:

Saints are back. Watch out Hull, Salford and Wakey...

Saints versus Leeds for the GF? Same old, same old, same old, yawn.

Come on Cas! Everyone is counting on you to overturn the history books.

 

[Old Frightful]

4 minutes ago, tonyXIII said:

The Beeb has it as 16 - 44. ???

 

Looks like it was, apologies.

Too busy arguing on another thread. 

[Man of Kent]

1 minute ago, tonyXIII said:

Saints versus Leeds for the GF? Same old, same old, same old, yawn.

Come on Cas! Everyone is counting on you to overturn the history books.

 

Saints will make the top 4 based on that no problem and that was without Barba...

[tonyXIII]

Just now, Man of Kent said:

Saints will make the top 4 based on that no problem and that was without Barba...

Agreed. Can't see us stopping them, and once they're in the play-offs, they have the experience to go all the way to the GF. As have Leeds. The only team I can see stopping those two is Cas. I would love to say Hull, too, but they are too erratic.

 

[Scubby]

5 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

Saints will make the top 4 based on that no problem and that was without Barba...

Agreed. Saints are dark horses. Barba's return is not to be sniffed at 

[Wollo Wollo Wayoo]

Pathetic and predictable performance from Wakefield.  I should be still at the ground celebrating a top 4 finish but I'm back home gutted.  

Lack of a competent full back killed us yet again this season!  5 good tackles wasted every time because the subsequent kick loosens Grix's bowels.

 

[OMEGA]

This season was Wakefield's opportunity, Catalan Wigan, Warrington & Sts will not be as bad next year, neither will Huddersfield judging by their resurgence under Walsh.

What looked like a breakthrough year a few weeks back is now beginning to look like a bit of an anomaly as the big clubs begin to get their acts together.

As for Wakefield Trinity, 2016 8th and a CC Semi Final compared to 2017 5th and a CC Quarter Final is a small step forward or arguably we've taken a slight advantage of other teams lack of form.

Given that we've spent more on the salary cap I think it leaves a question mark over whether the coaching staff have it in them to take the club further and cope with the higher intensity of the vital games.

 

[Wollo Wollo Wayoo]

9 minutes ago, OMEGA said:

As for Wakefield Trinity, 2016 8th and a CC Semi Final compared to 2017 5th and a CC Quarter Final is a small step forward or arguably we've taken a slight advantage of other teams lack of form.

Our failure to bring on Max Jowitt during 2017 would have been unbelievable this time last year.  That to me is the most upsetting and step backward of this season.  

[Gerrumonside ref]

Just stuck a cheeky tenner on Saints at 11/1 to win the GF.

[Faithful1865]

1 hour ago, Scubby said:

Agreed. Saints are dark horses. Barba's return is not to be sniffed at 

Not if he's running the right lines!!

[Agbrigg]

2 hours ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

Just stuck a cheeky tenner on Saints at 11/1 to win the GF.

After what I witnessed today they are very generous odds , quite tempted to have a punt myself.

That was the best display I have seen from a visiting team at Belle Vue this season

[redjonn]

2 hours ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

Just stuck a cheeky tenner on Saints at 11/1 to win the GF.

I'm thinking of punting Wigan for the double..... with Salford losing form they seem able to get to Wembley, plus with some of the injured returning and getting match fit the 4th place is between them and Saints.   Wouldn't be surprised to see a Wigan v Cas semi play-off.

[Southerner80]

If Wigan get all players back and fully fit can definitely win one off games. 

Saints look strong too. Definitely see them kicking on from here.

Salford and Wakefield probably been playing beyond their baseline abilities for a while so over  a long season things balance out... 

[Eleftherios]

23 hours ago, OMEGA said:

This season was Wakefield's opportunity, Catalan Wigan, Warrington & Sts will not be as bad next year, neither will Huddersfield judging by their resurgence under Walsh.

What looked like a breakthrough year a few weeks back is now beginning to look like a bit of an anomaly as the big clubs begin to get their acts together.

As for Wakefield Trinity, 2016 8th and a CC Semi Final compared to 2017 5th and a CC Quarter Final is a small step forward or arguably we've taken a slight advantage of other teams lack of form.

Given that we've spent more on the salary cap I think it leaves a question mark over whether the coaching staff have it in them to take the club further and cope with the higher intensity of the vital games.

 

So you are assuming Wakefield will not improve next season?

An anomaly? 2015 played in MPG after a shocking season, last season scraped into 8s, this season (which isn't over by the way)finished 5th after the regular rounds. Steady progress I'd say.

We're still well under the cap and will be until we can create more revenue. Carter has his business head on.

[OMEGA]

2 hours ago, Eleftherios said:

So you are assuming Wakefield will not improve next season?

An anomaly? 2015 played in MPG after a shocking season, last season scraped into 8s, this season (which isn't over by the way)finished 5th after the regular rounds. Steady progress I'd say.

We're still well under the cap and will be until we can create more revenue. Carter has his business head on.

I'm assuming Wakefield will spend a similar amount on the salary as they did this year and will therefore be around the same of very slightly better.

As for the progress

2016 Semi Final and 8th compared to 2017 Quarter Final and 5th - a small step forward but as I said, there has been anomalous season long performances from Wigan, Warrington, Sts and arguably Catalan and Huddersfield.

If these teams revert back to their normal standards next season then it will be very difficult for Wakefield to maintain their current positioning. So I'd be expecting 7th, 8th or 9th which is about average for Wakefield.

I think the poor seasons that Wigan, Sts, Warrington have had have created a superb opportunity for Wakefield but they seem to be blowing it and are unable to cope with the higher intensity of the matches that you get at the business end of the season and Cup competition.

As you say we are well under the cap and we've had a great season but until we can spend more I don't expect us to challenge the big teams. This year was a chance due to poor seasons by other clubs but we're slowly blowing it.

[Eleftherios]

13 hours ago, OMEGA said:

I'm assuming Wakefield will spend a similar amount on the salary as they did this year and will therefore be around the same of very slightly better.

As for the progress

2016 Semi Final and 8th compared to 2017 Quarter Final and 5th - a small step forward but as I said, there has been anomalous season long performances from Wigan, Warrington, Sts and arguably Catalan and Huddersfield.

If these teams revert back to their normal standards next season then it will be very difficult for Wakefield to maintain their current positioning. So I'd be expecting 7th, 8th or 9th which is about average for Wakefield.

I think the poor seasons that Wigan, Sts, Warrington have had have created a superb opportunity for Wakefield but they seem to be blowing it and are unable to cope with the higher intensity of the matches that you get at the business end of the season and Cup competition.

As you say we are well under the cap and we've had a great season but until we can spend more I don't expect us to challenge the big teams. This year was a chance due to poor seasons by other clubs but we're slowly blowing it.

And of course, there's been no improvement in the standard of rugby played by Trinity has there. I'll leave you to the negatives and try to be positive.

[OMEGA]

28 minutes ago, Eleftherios said:

And of course, there's been no improvement in the standard of rugby played by Trinity has there. I'll leave you to the negatives and try to be positive.

Ha Ha

Im not being negative at all, I'm also trying to not to be rose tinted.

Im an avid Wakefield Trinity fan and want the team to win every match and become a force in the game again but I'm not going to kid myself that we're already there, I'll leave that to you!

[Eleftherios]

1 hour ago, OMEGA said:

Ha Ha

Im not being negative at all, I'm also trying to not to be rose tinted.

Im an avid Wakefield Trinity fan and want the team to win every match and become a force in the game again but I'm not going to kid myself that we're already there, I'll leave that to you!

I never said we're already there, I said we've made progress. That's all anyone can hope for at the moment.

Let's see what the next seven games bring.

[OMEGA]

3 hours ago, Eleftherios said:

I never said we're already there, I said we've made progress. That's all anyone can hope for at the moment.

Let's see what the next seven games bring.

And I'm not saying there hasn't been significant improvements, I'm just asking if we've missed an opportunity this year?

 

[One F in Wakefield]

2 hours ago, OMEGA said:

And I'm not saying there hasn't been significant improvements, I'm just asking if we've missed an opportunity this year?

 

We've created an opportunity maybe, joint 4th after each team has played home and away is a great achievement considering our budget.  We've signed on quite a few of our top players on 2 year deals, got Johnstone to come back in etc.

We've got a good squad together, just need to keep it together and add a couple more next year and build like Cas.

I'm not too worried about what other clubs do, the likes of Wire and Hudds have a way to go before you'd consider their squads to be better than Wakeys imo.