Dave T

Yep, I was a bit like you, thinking that it would just be the novelty stuff like the kicks, but it was almost every shot from almost every angle (one or two very quick replays were in normal). When they were showing close up replays in slowmotion ie a big hit, it was brilliant. I loved HD when it came out, but this is far more revolutionary.

I agree. At half time they showed other sports and I do agree that RL looked poissibly the best, although there were some good football shots around the goalmouth. We were quite lucky in that the venue we went to was empty and they put two large screens on for us but I think you may be right about needing a good angle/view. I thought it was a touch weird at first with some of the new camera angles, and was slightly like watching last years Grand Final when they tried the new scrolling camera thing. Some of the shots were a touch too far out too, although I suppose that was to give it depth. When Carney and O'Connor were on the pitch at half time, they looked super-imposed, it was freaky stuff at times! I loved it!

Yep, the way he couldn't stop Richards scoring early on, or the way he did nothing to get the Wigan player in touch late on was rubbish. Oh, right. Any more negative threads we can throw around? There were plenty of mistakes from far better players than mathers tonight. I like the way it is ignored that his opposite number made no mistakes by simply getting nowhere near anything all night.

Sorry dkw, not trying to be arsey, just that the point was purely about the ball carry, yet you said that Richards' and Fox's were completely different, yet they weren't.

No. The opening post was about which hand the player carried the ball in. Somebody said that Richards did the same tonight (which he did). You then said it was different and brought the final pass in, when the point was that both wingers carried the ball in the wrong (in some people's opinion) hand. There was no discussion about the pass, and the pass was not relevant to the OP's post. The pass is absolutely worthy of discussion, and in fact has been discussed, but it was you who said that the two players carrying the ball in the wrong hand was different, when in fact it wasn't. the pass is not relevant to which hand the final player carried the ball in, as each player makes their decision with the ball in hand.

No, ultimately the point is the same. The player looking to score a try is one-on-one with the last defender. Richards did not switch the ball to his outside hand, which is exactly what Fox is getting criticised for, and what the whole thread is about. You are claiming it is different, it isn't, it is exactly the same, but with a different outcome. Nobody has disagreed about the centre play, this thread is purely about the ball carrier, you have turned it into something it isn't. BTW, my comments weren't aimed at you in my earlier post.

Because that doesn't allow us to slag off the local players does it? FFS, this really is one of the most depressing threads I have read for a while on here.

Well... I was absolutely blown away! Unbelievable stuff! When we got to the bar, it took them 5 minutes or so to sort it out and it wasn't working so we had resigned ourselves to watching it on normal Sky, and then it came on. WOW! It was absolutely brilliant! I had heard plenty of opinions that it was no big deal, but I loved it. The clarity, the quality, the vibrance, it was world class, and it really is going to change the way we watch TV! Anyone else get round to watching 3D?

Pleased with that. Tough game, there will be a lot of bruises on both sides after that, some immense defence. Loved 3D too. Absolutely awesome!

Yep, I think that's where the upper body strength really came in, had he just gone for a standard tackle, Fox would have been in, he had to wrap the ball up as well as knock Fox sideways. It was anything but a standard tackle, and the more I see him the more he impresses me.

Surely that's what sport is all about though, getting excited and winning or losing being decided by individual plays? I do still think you are under-selling the quality of the tackle somewhat though. It wasn't just a standard tackle, the way he controlled Fox at pace was very good, and he had good upper body strength and awareness.

Yep, it's all well and good talking about the theory but plenty of plays that go on (and many of the best plays) are not text-book plays. Players make split-second decisons, and I think it is harsh to criticise Fox for this one. I do agree with NE though that it was poor centre play, as he could have looked to pull the winger in and put Fox in, but I think the circumstances made him flap a touch.

Update on the Wigan website earlier was that Wigan have 500 tickets left, and Warrington 600, meaning that almost 23k tickets have been sold. Should be a great atmosphere.

Yep, you make a good point, although I agree with PMJ's original post that this isn't what we were promised would happen. If everybody adhered to the rules in spirit instead of to the letter of the law then the likes of Rhys Williams and Kevin Penny would be getting more gametime from next season with us, and obviously the same would happen at other clubs. I like Hicks, he is a very good finisher and his try scoring record has always been top-notch, but I don't think it's the way clubs should be going.

My pointwas two-fold. Firstly that English coaches rarely get another opportunity at top-level if it doesn't work out first time. McNamara actually got the England job when the Bulls were going okay and he hadn't been sacked, so not really relevant. My other point was about fans writing them off. Fans are happy with Potter, yet if an English coach had taken over Saints and not delivered as much as him there would be uproar.

Yep, people are already saying it is a farce he got the job, so that example actually backs my point up, thanks. People are happy with the failure that is Mick Potter, but are disgusted by McNamara for England. How many English coaches have been sacked/released, and then found another top level club, yet week after week we hear about Aussie coaches being linked to top jobs over here despite the fact they have been sacked at clubs?

Mods, please can we lock this now? Can't see past Wigan tbh. Our defence has been off, if Wigan attack out wide, which they have been doing all year, then they will get three or four tries past Chris Riley. I think we will score three or four, but I can't see us keeping Wigan to less than that at their place.

If he had an English accent he would now be firmly on the scrapheap.

That's the theory, but it's not quite as simple as that. If Fox was expecting the tackle to come in, he may have decided to keep the ball in his left so that if his body went out he could keep his arm, and the ball in and try and get the ball down before his body touched the line. He may have got it wrong, but it's not always as black and white as what you are saying above. With hindsight, I agreed he made the wrong decision, but we shouldn't take anything away from Briscoe, as it was a brilliant tackle. Like his try in Edinburgh, he has shown he can do things at pace that are pretty good.

Serious question, was he still like that when he was having a torrid time at Wigan, or is it just now he is enjoying his Rugby again?

It's certainly make or break. The positive thing for me this year is that we haven't lost two games on the bounce, which could be crucial during the next few weeks. Hopefully we are now due a top performance as we have been a little off colour for a while now (Friday would be perfect!). Ultimately, I would be happy if the table finished as is, Wigan have held that top spot for most of the year, and we have had 2nd, I would be disappointed to blow that now and finish 3rd or 4th and lose home advantage in the playoffs. If losing Friday meant we would still finish 2nd and make Wembley, then that will do for me.

When an Aussie gets sacked, do we write them off, or do we link them to every job around?

Yep. He has weaknesses, but I'd have been happy to see him stay at Warrington, and he will certainly improve the Cas team. As GDMM says, he isn't brilliant when he has pace running straight at him from distance, and he makes the odd mistake under the high ball (but then so do most fb's). On the positives - his kick return is very good in that he positions himself well and actually runs back fast and strong rather than jogging as many do nowadays. He is excellent close to his own line and his upper body strength is very impressive, he is brilliant at wrapping the attacker up so they can't get the ball down. He is also a very good link player, and has set up a fair few tries this year for our wingers. His enthusiasm and communication should also not be underestimated. Ignore all the negatives, if you listened to most people on here, all players are ###### unless they have an Aussie accent. I hope he does well, and if he continues his Wire form then you will have made a good signing.

We need to stop comparing to other sports or tournaments. We need to see what they do and learn from them, and realise some of the benefits that they do, but it won't necessarily happen on the same scale, and that is fine. Our challenge needs to be to get more people interested. To get people who don't normally watch the game, watching, whether that is through increased viewing figures, or whether that is through more bums on seats. We shouldn't be looking at the coverage a football or RU World Cup gets and beat ourselves up about the fact that we don't get that. Those sports invest heavily in their international game and have fans who are prepared to support it in the main, and they deserve a hell of a lot more coverage for their internationals than us. Our aim needs to be to get the highest profile possible for our sport, compared to our previous best, not benchmarking ourselves against other sports WC's. Our last WC was low-profile and came across as a dour affair. We can do a lot to change that this time. It is in our hands, and whilst we may not be watched by 10m in our big games, we can do much better than we ever have before, and that needs to be our aim.

No, the Saints game had th added attraction of being potentially the last game at KR. We have got the Semi final and Catalans coming up so plenty will be saving their pennies, but I would still expect us to pretty much sell out the end. I can see a pretty high scoring one again, perhaps like the Leeds one.