Dunbar

I'm not sure which I find more shocking, the fact that he has actually decided that releasing this content is a good idea (it is the exact opposite of how a leader should behave) or the appalling quality of the writing. It is almost unintelligible at times.

He must be favourite as he had some massive performances but I still think Nathan Cleary will be very close. He was 6 points ahead the last time we saw and when Penrith win... which they do a lot... he is always front and centre. This week was the first time Penrith lost with Cleary playing this year wasn't it.

I have just paused Sky when the ball was played and I can confirm that Richardson was just offside there. There was only 5 or 6 yards in it but that's enough.

According to the commentary team the ref has just signalled a set retard. It may not have been the best set from Cas but that's a little harsh.

He has been consistently very good this year and today as the intensity ramped up in the finals his performance against the Penrith pack was superb. James Fisher-Harris has been (rightly) lauded as the best prop in the NRL this year but Burgess completely outplayed him.

Is that not something that can be tested for? My daughter has some mild allergies and she has that pin pick test every year where they put a little bit of everything on the skin and then see the reactions. I would have thought bee/was sting could be tested. Would provide a bit of peace of mind.

Just 10 points conceded by Wigan in the last 3 games with two shut outs. If Peet is the defence coach and Lam the attack then they are getting rid of the right one at least.

Tom Burgess ran for 212 metres in a mammoth effort for Souths against Penrith today.

This idea that women's tennis players are overpaid or equally paid based on sets played is a bit of a myth. The majors see men play best of 5 sets and women best of 3 but the vast majority of the tennis circuit in both the men's and women's game are best of 3. Take the 2021 Canadian Open as an example of a non-major... both are best of 3 sets and the prize money on offer for the men was $3.5M US while for the women it was $1.8M. The women may have played 8 weeks a year for comparatively better pay (dividing prize money by sets played for the 4 majors... although even that will depend on the prize pot) but for the rest of the year they are certainly not overpaid... in fact paid less for the same amount of effort is probably the best description.

I will just echo John's words from his post on the 7th of August... the trolling of match threads is getting a little tedious.

Bit disingenuous to talk about a wonderful performance from Walmsley as if its somehow reflective of how lacking in entertainment Saints were. A terrific display from a world class player.

I think we can all agree that this game is completely, undoubtedly and well and truly over. No way this Saints outfit will let a commanding lead like this slip away.

I have said many times, I hate squad numbers and I would love to see teams walk onto the pitch wearing Jerseys 1 to 13 as it would really help newcomers to understand the positions and the play. Anyway, on the BBC site. The thing is, it isn't just a one off, pretty much every match the home side are listed in positions 1 to 13 and the away side in the way Leeds are here. It's weird.

Apologies if it has been mentioned in the myriad of topics covered so far but one thing that I always notice (and it does annoy to be honest even if it is minor) is the way the BBC website shows the lineups for Rugby League teams. Invariably the home team is shown in positions 1-13 as they would walk on the pitch but the away team is shown with the forwards then the backs (if you forgive, as a Union team would be shown). Example tonight with the Saints Leeds game: St Helens v Leeds Rhinos - Rugby League - BBC Sport

Very good news. Good luck to all parties involved.

Presentation is key. I vote we dust off Tina Turner (she is only 81), get Alex Walmsley and Sam Kasiano to run around a beach in short shorts to Simply the Best and go all out for the Gen Z audience.

Getting Rugby League on a free to air channel is significant for me. And I hope they make the decision to go with the best possible audience and presentation rather than just the highest bidder. More profile for the game and its players is vital and a fresh production style will not go amiss either. The eternal optimist in me says growing awareness via free to air Super League and then a successful World Cup at the end of 2022 would do wonders... but I have been down this route before!

100% correct. The League Leaders Shield is awarded to a team that has achieved the stated criteria. The winners are awarded the Shield and prize money and the players given medals (at least they were, I assume they still are). Finishing top also offers the best route through the play off's. It is absolutely fine to have the opinion that the achievement is not significant etc. and certainly the champion team in the country is the one that wins the Grand Final but to say it doesn't count for anything is wide of the mark as that is very much a personal interpretation.

For the majority of the sports history in this country, we have used a play off system to determine the champion team. I'm not sure how we can say we have adopted the NRL idea.

I hope they carefully considered all the implications before making that decision.

We have that guy (I forget his name) who pitches up on here every year at the end of the regular season to congratulate the league winners as champions because he doesn't recognise the play off's and grand final as the 'correct' way to determine the winners. I wonder if he will do the same this year with double French 'champions'.

You say that in jest, but let's not give the Aussies ideas for more reasons not to come.

I have an idea that may address issues we are seeing at both ends of the professional game. At the top end of Super League there are clubs that have wealthy backers who want to spend beyond the cap to attract talent... Australian or other nationalities from the NRL or even top class Union players etc. Maybe even more wealthy individuals could be attracted if we were not artificially holding the talent acquisition back. And here, we have lower tier clubs suffering through funding shortfalls. So how about we let clubs at Super League level spend above the cap but for every £1 they spend they pay 50p into a levy which is used to fund lower level clubs. All it would take is half a dozen clubs spending £500k to a £1m each and we could have up to £3m for club development.

It made me laugh when there was a 10m offside call in one of the games at the weekend and Phil Clarke in commentary complimented the ref for saying to the players that the defensive line can't move when the ball is placed on the floor... they have to wait till the ball is played with the foot!

You don't have to cede any control of the sport to achieve the parts you mention around digital marketing and visual presentation. Some of the best known brands in the world outsource their digital and social media marketing (Nike, Google etc.). What we need is recognition that these strategies are vital to the games success and commission the work. Now, it would be a crying shame if we had to bring in someone just to recognise this... but surely bringing in the likes of Hearn would be this recognition anyway. So why not cut out that part and get cracking! I just don't have a massive amount of faith that anyone at the top of our sport recognises the digital and broadcast shape of the world today.