Human Punk

The championship GF is, in a way, more important - it's not just about a trophy and some cash. It's purpose is different, so there's no reason why it should follow the same rules as the SL GF. You could easily argue that the table-toppers should be promoted without a play-off, as happens in football. The SL GF was brought in to provide an end of season spectacle, and I don't see where the competition for promotion to SL would have anything to do with that - in which case the league leaders have already been disadvantaged by having to play at all. A home tie is a small recompense for that.

What with the Wire-Cats game not being on, I found myself idly wondering if I could put together an 'all-Smith' superleague team. I didn't quite make it, but it looks a pretty useful side so far. Anyone with nowt better to do want to fill in the blanks or make improvements? 1 2 Lee Smith (Leeds) 3 Damien Smith (Saints) 4 5 Chris Smith (Saints) 6 Tony Smith (Cas etc) 7 Matty Smith (Various) 8 9 Aaron Smith (Saints) 10 Cameron Smith (Leeds) 11 Michael Smith (Cas) 12 Darren Smith (Saints) 13 Jason Smith (Hull FC) 14 Tim Smith (Wigan) 15 Mark Smith (Wigan) 16 17 Ref Russell Smith

The KIng incident aside, I don't think there was anything much to complain about. The refereeing of the 10m was poor, and affected the game as a spectacle, but didn't favour one side over the other. The fact is that Saints were poor in attack, and dire to watch, as they have been for most of the season so far. Compare that with Cas v Wire in the challenge cup semifinal. One can only hope that was the game that any potential RL converts might have been watching. And to even things up, Wigan have been pretty eye-bleeding all season too. SL is becoming less and less a spectacle for the spectator who isn't a RL die-hard. I've no idea what needs to be done to sort that though, so just ignore me.

I think that's a general rule all round. It's rare in any sport for a returning player to enjoy the same success as first time round, and that's probably just the nature of it. I couldn't imagine going back to work for a company I'd previously left, it woyuld be horrible. George is doing the right thing here, for himself, WIgan and whoever he signs for next.

Perhaps someone will be able to confirm my recollection of the occasion when Paul Newlove was racing in to score for Saints with an open field in front of him, when 20 yards from the line he collapsed with, yes. a snapped achilles. Would you believe that the opposition defender, on reaching him, picked up the ball and handed it to Anthony Sullivan to score under the sticks? No, you wouldn't believe it, and rightly so because it didn't happen. Unless I'm mistaken, the opposition in the day were Hull. And I also believe that they won the match that day.

Hull by 16 or so for me. Catalans again keep on disappointing. The Catalans marquee signings never seem to deliver - I suspect it's easier to treat a spell in the south of France as a holiday than it is if you're in, say, Warrington. Hull on the other hand are looking pretty useful. I wonder if the Giants are thinking they missed a trick with Hodgson.

No

Have I got this entirely wrong, or is it not that the Broncos full time status makes them the only team who can realistically fulfil the fixture in France, due to the quarantine restrictions. The quarantine rules affect all the other clubs differently to London, which is why there's one rule for them and another for the rest. I don't see what's wrong with that. And since they can fulfil the fixture, they should have done, regardless of the fact that they said they would.

Some great names on that list. among them I think Sculthorpe and Farrell were iconic figures of their time - Scully v Farrell was almost as keenly anticipated as Saints v Wigan itself. I went for Sculthorpe down to his GB displays, which were at times brilliant. Farrell, as captain, tended to try too hard - it was like he felt he had to lead by example for the full 80 minutes - and his performances suffered badly for it.

I sadly agree. Back in the day it was possible to wax lyrical about RL to the uninitiated. Nowadays it feels like bigging up the merits of the Beezer homes league. Stick with it though - we have to hope that there may still be good times to come.

Unfortunately if they do replace Price (and I appreciate that the wire fans have probably suffered enough to want him out) then whoever comes in will have to deal with the Widdop white elephant. Wire looked excellent against Saints, but since Widdop came into the side they've been pedestrian, and that's down to him. I don't see how a new coach would be able to bench Widdop, given the fanfare around his signing, and I'm not convinced he's going to improve any time soon.

These people did some pretty bad things on occasions. Folau is constantly, always and often actively a homophobic bigot. There's a difference.

He's not superman, just a despicable individual with a fair degree of rugby talent and a strange moral code. Can't disagree with Elstone's comments. Very disappointed in Catalans - used to wish them well, but any fondness for them has gone with this. Sadly don't see them getting relegated though.

The 3x8 idea is great. After 18 games there will be at least one team which has no chance of making the top 8, so they'll have 4 games in which to give all their academy players a chance at the top level.

I'd like to give a mention to Andy Farrell. He always seemed to try too hard (probably because he was the captain), which usually meant trying to make all the tackles himself and leaving huge gaps in the defensive line as a result. I can't fault his effort, but the performances were way below his club standatrd.