Chris22

https://www.totalrl.com/fans-question-rfl-super-league-competence/ This very much feeds into the 'state of the game' debate. I agree with most but not all aspects of the letter, especially the timing of the Super League Show.

What is understandably frustrating for fans is that Tetevano saw red for his tackle the other week and Faraimo saw yellow for a very similar tackle today.

A really dominant first half by us. Big try by Percival before HT. If we didn't get that, it would have been a very different game. Our challenge is to become more clinical when we're on top. Huddersfield the better team in the second half. We only had one real chance in the second half and took it, which kept Huddersfield at a distance. Thought Huddersfield put in their best performance of the season and pleased that we showed the patience needed to get the win.

I would usually bash England playing a game in a stadium with a sub 10K capacity. But in this case, there's a very good reason with the Rochdale - Fiji connection. Restrictions permitting, it would be great to see a full crowd and with England missing players from the Grand Final in all likelihood, it'll be a very tight game.

The big call for Saints is what to do with Welsby when our numbers 1 -7 are all fit. With Makinson out this week, the belief is Naiqama will move to the wing with Percival and Welsby at centre. If Percival is still out, then Nisbett will come onto the wing. With the way Huddersfield have been playing, we should win if we play close to our best. But we haven't really clicked in the first half of games yet, so Huddersfield will surely be targeting a big start to rattle us.

I am largely not in favour of naming or renaming trophies after players when they suffer horrible illnesses. That is for the reason stated in this thread that many more players will suffer in the future, equally worthy of recognition. But, given Rob Burrow's achievements in Grand Finals, including probably the best try in Grand Final history so far, I think this is worth considering.

I've just made the point on Twitter, but we are using win percentage this year. As neither side won, then both will reduce in win percentage. Have both sides just technically lost? What happened with the Newcastle v Widnes tie the other week?

If Hardaker had a run at full back all season, I think he would be a meaningful challenger for the full back role. As he moves back to centre once French returns, I think that will almost guarantee Tomkins the number 1 jersey, and probably see Hardaker as a squad or back up player in the Word Cup.

Haven't heard anything but it wouldn't be a shock. No sport changes its structure as much as us. Our obsession with structure will no doubt continue to be prioritised over meaningful changes.

Really enjoyed that match. Hull KR might gain some confidence by holding on to win, another loss after a big lead would have been hard to take. I don't like to criticise officials, but Kendall made some poor calls, the HKR no try especially. We need to be very careful because we will encourage players to dive when feeling slight contact at a kick.

I haven't read this thread...but that title is a hell of an overreaction! I wish putting Leigh in Super League was the sport's biggest ever mistake!

I don't think we should want to 'solve' it. Previous attempts at that led to systems like the top 8, where bottom half clubs made the play offs. We shouldn't have a race to the bottom. If a team isn't good enough to compete for silverware, we shouldn't put the bar so low to create artificial competition.

Continued our record of struggling in Cup games. We were fortunate that Leeds had nothing close to a half back on the field and that Tetavano made a stupid challenge or we probably would have lost. Thought Leeds did as well as they could have but understandably struggled badly with their kicking game. Paasi the highlight for Saints. Really strong runner and great impact off the bench. We did the job just about. In the Cup especially it's all about winning. On to the next one!

I think if we are saying that it shouldn't be a red because a player hasn't suffered a head injury from a high shot, we are on a slippery slope. We tolerate attacks to the head too readily in this sport. And then wonder why ex players sue. The question for me is not why Tetevano was sent off, but why other incidents get lesser punishment.

Pains me to say it - but probably Andy Farrell. Played at half back, loose forward, even at prop. Could pass, field kick, goal kick and had incredible strength. He and Sculthorpe both brilliant, but Farrell edges it for longevity.

Wire have got a lot off contract this year I think. Will be interesting to see how or if Powell can juggle recruiting / retaining a Warrington team for 2022 with his Castleford duties in 2021.

Coote and Paasi back for us this week, Percival likely too. Smith may be available following his HIA, but anticipate Welsby will get that last bench spot. With us at close to full strength and Leeds hammered by injuries in the backline, would expect Saints to win. Complacency is a risk as is playing potentially half-fit players. Sean Long has spoke of how determined Saints are to win the Cup for the first time since 2008, so would hope to see us throw everything we've got at this one.

Saw in the press today that Wigan will play a very strong team. Looking forward to watching this, but can't see beyond a big Wigan win. Would be a success for York to compete. As others have said, a real sham that York don't have the opportunity to play this match with fans. What an occasion that would have been in their new stadium and a great opportunity too!

I anticipate Wane will pick a 17 something like this. Tomkins Makinson Gildart Percival Johnstone Lomax Williams Walmsley Hodgson T Burgess Bateman Whitehead Knowles Farrell Sutton Clark Watts We do have a lot of depth though. The likes of Hardaker, Connor, Trueman, Cooper and Thompson are all top quality players to include in the case of injury or lack of form. Then there's Roby too, but I anticipate this season will be his last so he won't be available for internationals.

Criticisms of the commentary team aside, listening to the same commentator and pundit four plus times per week as we have over the last couple of weekends gets a bit much (even if they were top class)

It's a cracking stadium by the looks of it. York seem to be doing things the right way since their near financial collapse a few years ago. Building slowly and with stability. It won't bring Super League immediately, but if they do get promoted, their approach gives them the best chance of staying in the top flight.

Would France hosting the whole tournament be a risk? Yes. An enormous one. An expensive, loss-making flop cannot be ruled out. I wonder if France as a co-host would be a safer step? But, arguably, the riskier option may be to do the same as we have always done. Sometimes you must be brave enough to take a leap of faith. We do need quite advanced planning though. In 2009, Japan were confirmed as hosts of the 2019 Rugby Union World Cup. At that time, Japan has not won a single World Cup match since 1991 (a record that remained until the 2015 tournament). Since then, Japan have defeated South Africa, Italy, Ireland and Scotland, all of whom are considered 'Tier 1' nations. They went on to host an incredibly successful and profitable World Cup, with a substantial economic boost to the country as a whole. A World Cup in France is viable, but not standalone. It must be part of a wider growth strategy.

A lot of sports fans last year did not take up refunds of season tickets that they were entitled to, in order to support their clubs. Fans again have still contributed to club's this year, again, with little return for it. The club may be punished with fines due to this indiscretion. If I was a Featherstone fan, I would be furious if money I had donated was used to pay a fine caused by breaching lockdown rules.

That game was in the Saturday evening slot that Sky gave us the boot from years ago, and on the Main Event channel. Potentially a winning formula, especially in the summer months when there is no football.

I was impressed by Castleford today. Evalds slotted in well, that was Trueman's best performance in a while. McShane adapted well to moving to the half back role. Without O' Neill for most of the match and O' Brien too, it was a great win. Saying that, whilst Cas were short of 1 half back, Warrington were short of two. I don't see what Austin and Widdop offer that cheaper options like Miller or O' Brien don't. When the score got to 20-8, I had no doubt that Cas would win, which showed Warrington's lack of attacking threat.