OMEGA

Jacob Miller must have a grudge against Matty Ashurst

Sloppy penalty from Crowther changes the momentum back to Catalan, very poor discipline from a player who’s only just come on

Is it me or does McMeekin look like Sam Tomkins on steroids

He spent 3 minutes determining if the ball carrying arm had hit the ground BEFORE THE PASS from the tackle. Then said he needed to see what direction the ball came out forward or not. If the ball carrying arm is up and a pass made then he has to be ruling on a forward pass and VRs aren’t allowed to do that.

We should get rid of the live call, it used to be that benefit of the doubt went with the attacking side so Try’s were scored when video evidence was inconclusive. Either the Ref has seen it or he hasn’t, and if he can’t make a decision then he should leave it to the Video Official.

Explain? To me he just said that Lino passed the ball forward from the tackle

I thought the vR couldn’t adjudicate on forward passes?

Tanginoa as a starting prop ffs Hell do ok but he’s a right sided second rower and that’s where he does real damage, that’s where he earned his spot in last years dream team. chester has a couple of players who can bust a game wide open, Johnstone and Tanginoa so he decides to play one of them out of position.

Tomkins - Wellens Makinson - Robinson Gleeson - Connolly Newlove - Senior Hall - Carney McGuire - Harris Long - Brough Peacock - Walmsley Roby - Newton Graham - Fielden Farrell - Joynt Burgess - Ellis Sculthorpe - O’Loughlin

Its impossible to pick one player! The positions are so different, how do you compare a prop like Peacock with a Centre like Newlove or a Half Back like Long? Added to that the game is so much different to what it was 25 years ago, for example how can you judge who is the better Full Back between Wellens and Tomkins as their role in the team, their job description is almost unrecognisable from each other. If I we’re picking a best of Super League era team with all players in their correct positions that is another matter but selecting one player can’t be done.

George Williams has been very poor in the game Vs Penrith this morning. Anonymous for the most part but he made some sloppy errors throughout the game. He did handle twice for Whitens try but threw a couple of forward passes, went behind his runner twice and threw a lazy intercept pass for Cleary’s try. Whitehead was solid and threw a peach of a pass for Crokers try while Hodgson was busy achieving very little despite looking busy. Best of the Brits was Sutton again, ran hard and often poking his shoulders through the tackle on a few occasions. He tackled everything that came his way and was dominant in almost all of his collisions.

The way Chester picks the team he’ll have the jockey in the stand and the horse riding the stable boy!

I can’t argue too much with that but I’ll have a go We need to learn the lessons of the past and recognise that some players are outstanding domesticity but are ineffective at international level. Sinfield was a prime example of a player looking world class for his club team but struggled to have any impact at international level. Hardaker is in great form but falls into that category so I wouldn’t select him anymore, he earned his chance and got it, fair enough but he was found wanting. Hodgson is another who’s game doesn’t gel with international football. I’d throw Evalds in as a choice at Full Back, he’s been one of the stand out players in that position for a few years, he has genuine pace, knows where the try line is, joins the line to great effect, picks his passes well, is an instinctive support player (a hugely underestimated natural ability), returns the ball well and is as good a last line defender as anyone else we might consider. I’d throw Oledski in as an option at Prop and McShane has earned his selection ahead of Powell IMO. I’ll go out on a limb and suggest McMeekin will rediscover his best form at Catalan and could force his way into the squad by the time it’s named. Bentley is in good form and could also make a strong case by the end of the season. Maybe a year too early for him but Harry Smith might come into the reckoning largely for his kicking game which is one of the best in the SL. I guess it depends on how many games Lamb gives him throughout the season and how well he settles and pushes his case. As I said, maybe 2021 is a year too early for him much like Welsby and maybe Harvard.

I feel a bit sorry for Elijah Taylor, he’s been sold on the Salford team that was Coached by Ian Watson and has reached 2 major finals in the last 2 years. Unfortunately that’s not the Salford he’s playing for and while he will no doubt give everything it’s only going to get him busted up in this current Salford team. Hull look like they are shaping up for a genuine tilt at something special in the Superleague and could(on this form) rattle the usual suspects.

Player in possession feels he’s in a compromised position where the odds are he’ll lose ground so goes to ground without a defender touching him.

I’d move heaven n earth to get John Helm out of retirement, he’s a Rugby League man and one of the top commentators in the world! John Helm would increase the professionalism of everyone else on the SKY team and would certainly make their broadcasts more watchable (listenable)

It’s a stupid rule change and I for one don’t need to watch the rest of the season to know that. It seems like typical Rugby League tinkering with something that wasn’t broke for no apparent reason and it’s very difficult to police by the officials. If they really wanted to change something they should have made ball stealing illegal in any form as that would have allowed ball players to open up a bit more and would have improved the fluency of the ball movement.

I wouldn’t argue that Hull have been the better side, they’ve looked very good in this game so far and were excellent against Huddersfield. They benefited from those 2 decisions though and who knows what Salford could have done with 2 sets on a 12 man Hulls line.

Sutton’s been there or there about for a while, even in his final season at Wigan but he just needed a bit of maturity and to get his own conditioning right to step up a level. He certainly looks like a player who could contribute to an England team that’s going to have to pick some new blood after losing S & G Burgess, O'Loughlin & Graham. I’d only argue that Hodgson is not good for the international team no matter how intrinsic he is for the Canberra side. His style of play is incompatible with the faster speed of delivery needed, his penchant for stepping out from dummy half and holding onto the ball before passing is cumbersome and only deprives his receivers of crucially required time.

Elijah Taylor is a class act as well as a workhorse, he’d have been a superb signing for any club

2 very costly poor decisions have gone against Salford there The obstruction on the inside of that break is a professional foul during a try scoring situation and is more deserving of 10 minutes than the Salford players indiscretion. Taylor clear as the nose on your face strips the ball from Ackers in a 2 man tackle but ref gives a knock on.

34 unanswered points now, against a Wigan team missing quite a lot of strike in Gildart, French, Manfredi, Marshall etc that’s just not good enough from Chester!

He’d be second favourite against Tanginoa that’s for sure and I doubt he’d trouble Lyne either

The end is also down to the diminished number of competitions. For example, if Wakefield lose to Catalan in the Challenge Cup then they’re effectively playing out the season for survival and pride! When we had the County Cups, Regal Trophy there was more of a chance of success and the fans had a chance to get excited about the club. Wakefield are one of those clubs who are just too far away from a Grand Final so without a CC run there’s only a relegation battle to get the blood pressure up, hence the dalliance with ‘The Million Pound Game’.

Wakefield bombed at least 3 nailed on Try’s where it seemed easier to score than not to. The Tupou break, Fifita’s round the man pass to Tangata and the Lyne forward pass (which wasn’t) to Senior would all have been scored under or near the posts. 18 points blown!