Chris22

Any idea why Wigan took French off before the hour? Would probably have got even more but for that!

Very impressive performance, I'd go as far as to say better than our away win at Catalans in the cup. Welsby, Sironen and Paasi were all immense. Rather wish we hadn't bothered appealing Mata'utai's ban now! He'll get a massive ban for lifting a potentially injured player. Avoidable and deserved. I am a bit frustrated that this is now a red card but wasn't earlier in the year (and may not be in the future given our track record). No issue with the red but we must stick with that approach. Defensively, we were excellent given two backline reshuffles and our attacking slickness was better. Four points from six having played 2nd to 4th in the league in consecutive weeks is very pleasing. Looking increasingly harder to see past a Saints v Wigan final this year.

I think the fact that club officials cannot verify something as simple as whether an attendance given is accurate is quite something. If the club cannot be certain of that, then how can they be expected to run a business?

Bennison kicking for us again. Fair play to him for sticking his hand up, but he's not a natural and none of our senior players are willing to step up, so we'll probably not convert too many. That means that what already was going to be a close match will be closer still. If Huddersfield play to their best, its too close to call. If they are off their game, then I'd back a Saints win.

Nigel Wood appearing to be as transparent as ever...

Here you go!

In more positive news, the England v Brazil women's opener at Headingley has already sold over 5,000 tickets!

I'd leave it where it is. Best Magic Weekends have been at Newcastle and Cardiff in my view and a lot to do with having a stadium based in the city centre. Really feels as though the sport has taken over the city (in a welcome way) that never happened at any other venue. We are guilty of overthinking in the sport. We get a profile boost, an event that is unique in British sport, a profitable event and consistently over 60,000 fans attending across the two days. Would it be nice to get more fans through the door? Yes. Would it better if the sport could grow as a result? Yes. Could we do more to that end? Probably. But I'm not sure of the desire to move it. What do we think we could do in another city better than Newcastle? If we simply place the event in another city and do the exact same as we do in Newcastle, do we really think more locals would attend or the sport would grow more? I don't think it would. Probably something that we should just enjoy for what it is rather than micro-analysing.

The gap between Saints and Wigan was huge last year and this year is small. I still think we are slightly better, but there's not much in it. Thought both sides were poor in the first half. Wigan made lots of errors and we were poor in attack. I suppose that was offset by several outstanding tries in the second half. Hopoate assured for us at full back today and Batchelor outstanding. His composure for the last try especially was superb. I'm not sure if the red card swung it or not. But a shoulder charge with direct contact with the head has been a red card for the last decade now. Reckless and avoidable by Singleton. We are without our first three choice kickers, so I can forgive the missed conversions. But I think it was wrong to put the responsibility on Bennison. He has never been a regular goalkeeper (I believe) and a senior player like Lomax should have taken the responsibility. I suspect we may see these sides in the Grand Final, unless something unexpected happens.

I'd expect a Wigan win. Reason being the game will be close and we will be going up by 4 points and Wigan by 6 points at a time. I'm not sure we can overcome the absence of any recognised goalkicker.

Perhaps a better way to avoid being banned is not to punch opposing players in the head?

Exactly right. We had consistency at the start of the season which was "all we wanted", apparently. Now we have a total mess where similar incidents received vastly different punishments.

Incredibly, Lees seems to have been banned for the Walmsley incident. Walmsley hits the Catalans player high, which leads to him falling into Lees' shoulder, and Lees gets banned. Very strange.

I'd suggest a Woolf-coached Saints would have a far better shot at winning a World Club Challenge than a Holbrook-coaches Saints. Woolf has out defence very well drilled. We could see that even in his early days, which is probably why pushed Sydney close despite several key players out. I'd say we would have given Penrith or Melbourn a decent match but lost in recent years. Obviously, if we played them on a more level playing field (i.e. not a pre season warm up for the NRL side), then it would have been a different story.

Whenever a coach leaves it is either the side improves and "they did it for the coach" or they get worse / stay the same and the disruption is blamed. I've never been too convinced by these narratives. But in Smith's case, when you blindside the club and announce you're off and criticise club management, it's hard to see how that wouldn't create friction. He's a great coach but I wonder if the manner in which he's handled his exit might put new clubs off?

Regan is born and bred in Rugby Union territory. I recall reading quotes from him saying that his dream as a child was to play for Wales, and when people say 'Wales', they mean the national RU side. I'm not going to hold it against him for deciding to go back to what is *his* sport, in the same was that Rugby League is *our* sport. He's been great for Saints, won lots of trophies and I believe is very well-liked amongst our team. His contract is up and he'll honour it. Disappointed to lose him, but genuinely do wish him luck.

Can anyone recall a larger comeback than 28 points? I can't!

Welsby is a half back in my view. He's been good in every position he has played, but in my view he is comfortably at his best when he plays in the half back role. I think he'll end up in that position alongisde Dodd, once Lomax retires. For now, we seem to think Welsby at #1 is our best option as Lomax isn't a viable option there anymore with his repeated knee injuries and increased amount of running that a full back does.

Toulouse play Wakefield next, Leeds at home before too long and have Salford at home to come. There are some winnable matches to come, but they'll need to win them all to stay up. Today was a similar match and they did the job.

Excellent match I thought. When we went into the second half with a backline of Bennison, Davies, Batchelor, Mata'utai and Grace, trailing, I gave us no chance of winning. Whilst we didn't win, we put ourselves in a position to. One of those games that you couldn't grumble at either result, our turn to come out on the wrong side of a tight match today. Thought Welsby was outstanding. Took a leading role today which was really impressive. Goal kicking is an issue for us. We were unfortunate to be on our third choice kicker but we don't have anyone with Coote's accuracy this year which can cost you in these types of matches. Catalans were good today. They have had a solid year so far without hitting their 2021 heights. Big win for them as I reckon they'll need a top 2 finish if they are to reach the Grand Final again. Makes our match against Wigan next week all the more important!

Looks like we're going with convert your own try approach - we've not had this since early in 2009!

Should we score in this second half, I've no idea who will kick! Lomax is the most experienced but hasn't kicked for almost a decade. Maybe Roby will look to add to his one career conversion?

Never been convinced that Hull are any better under Hodgson than they were under Radford or Last.

Might change my view since we have four of our first choice backs missing!

Are England better than Samoa? I think so, yes. Does that mean England would beat Samoa? No. I'd make us favourites, but if the same squads played each other 10 times, I'd say England won win about 70% of those. Compared to a few years ago, you would say England would win about 95%+ of matches against Samoa's squad then. I would be more surprised by a big England win than I would be by Samoa winning. Justification for the decision not to go for the 'super-group' format and a boost for the international game that we don't need an England v Australia opener anymore to grab attention. Really hope St James' Park sells out and we have a cracking match to open the tournament.