arcticchris

The fix for that would be to say that you only concede a 6 tackle set instead when you kick within the opposition 20 whether it goes dead or taken on the full in goal so a true attacking intent kick is not punished.

Speaking of which I saw someone today in a hospital reception area today in Leeds wearing a New York rugby league jersey. It was a really good kit design and I so wish the transatlantic expansion had continued and thrived.

Where are they being televised

That’s a real shame. Serevi would have been sensational at full back or as a running stand off.

Hopefully the NRL move for Will Pryce works out causing him to kick his game up a couple of levels and he can be the running threat from 1 or 6 interchanging with Welsby and then Dodd or Smith as the controlling player at 7. Mikey Lewis would be my next in line currently as he feels like something different that could unsettle the very best teams much like Lee Briers but with more pace and less guile. I still rate George Williams but think we need to be planning for the next World Cup.

So much this. England vs France is a grudge match of the very highest quality in this sport that could be marketed very well. A big venue like the World Cup final venue in Manchester would have given it that big event feel.

I like the concept of the 6 again rule and how it worked before the defence coaches cottoned on to being able to concede one extra tackle to defend as being an acceptable price for slowing things down and getting their Defenders set again. Making it a 9 tackle set for an offence on the first tackle would be a much greater deterrent as it would be very rare for a team not to get into strong attacking positions after that many tackles.

Having been to the final as a neutral (Wigan fan, tickets bought as Christmas present) it certainly felt that the Leigh fans were all in on the rebrand look as at least 90% of those in merchandise had either the new kit/leopard print bucket hats/Wember Leigh t-shirts rather than older traditional design shirts. I reckon it really pulled in the female fans to kit up who might not have wore a replica shirt. The whole thing could’ve easily tanked had they not had a strong on field performance this year but they went bold and to their credit it has been a big success.

Hock and Hardaker would be interesting as would Latrell Mitchell in a few years time.

Far too much like common sense for international rugby league

Hearn is right. The 2013 World Cup is probably the last time our great players had a profile above our sport that was fitting of their talents. Union has gone the same way since taking the BT Sports coin for all their club games lessening their reach along with the autumn internationals going to Amazon Prime. The likes of Welsby, French, Walmsley, Will Pryce etc should be widely recognised by the average sports fan but currently they are not.

Collective bargaining agreement/arrangement

And in those minutes he did very little to suggest that he deserved more game time in the tournament

Knowles got shown up badly by Victor Radley about what a modern day 13 needs to offer

First time ever for me to be wishing them well but thought they were gritty in defence and strong in attack and thoroughly deserved the win. Only real notable poor play was Lussick running and then passing wide to Lomax in the first DG attempt rather than swing it back to Welsby or Dodd who were both central and back in perfect position. Always good to see Phil Gould made to eat his words from an arrogant prediction. Penrith were largely pedestrian in attack but this was forced by excellent defensive discipline and line speed. They looked far lesser a threat without their star second rowers punching holes out wide and not bringing in a decent hooker to replace Koroisau looked a very complacent and costly decision. Welsby and Dodd will be in high demand and Roby was simply immense once again and the game will miss him hugely when he eventually hangs up the boots.

Thought it was an enjoyable game and, as a Wigan fan, I was surprised how much I got dragged into feeling warm towards Saints. The front row and spine were excellent with the exception of Lomax who was abysmal. Welsby confirmed his World Cup form and the Roby/Lussick tandem set the tempo and direction in attack very well. Penrith is a massive step up from today but in that evidence they can at least be competitive and emerge stronger with credit.

True enough but if they are underdone it will be their own fault as Saints have only played 1 friendly game and rested most of their World Cup contingent so really both sides will have a hit out each on Saturday then the big match the week after. I would be very surprised if Saints got within 10 next week but this week I can see them winning potentially if things go well early on.

Agree with all this. It’s a no risk deal as he had no position of strength to negotiate from so it will be a cheap contract and he covers 3 or more positions. Most felt that Hampshire was the more gifted of the Hampshire/Williams halves pairing that dominated at junior level but that Williams was physically more ready to break through into the first team on a regular basis. It’s extremely difficult to bring through 2 young halves at the same time and only Leeds with Burrow and McGuire fully managed it in the last 20 years. Maybe this can be the move that unlocks the latent talent within him.

Hopefully they will all become quality players at first team level but it doesn’t say much about the future prospects for top class spine players etc that the vast majority of the list are prop forwards.

If the difference was around 10% then the pull of bigger crowds and greater chance of winning trophies and playing in the biggest matches would imo sway the majority of players.

I can well imagine that French was able to leverage the serious high bid from Leigh to get Wigan to move their position but I very much doubt they actually ended up offering more money than Leigh to seal the deal.

The emergence on the mainstream stage of Wheelchair RL is the most exciting thing to happen to Rugby League in at least 2 decades and is potentially the jewel in the crown. It is the best way of getting the rugby league product out to people free of the historic class war northern baggage. Advocates like James Simpson, Seb Bechara and Tom Coyd present a very different vision to what has come before in the running game. It is important to celebrate the pioneers like Gogledd and build on their successes.

Really developing nicely but tough to keep 2 premium halves long term and Moses is more important to their structure.

In all honesty that era Australian side was the best Test team of all time and almost every player was genuinely in the conversation to make a world 11 with at least half being certain picks.

Quite possibly. I was trying to pick players only in their World Cup positions so Suaali’i was the most unlucky to miss out. Just picking too 2 centres rather than on who plays left and right Olam would have snuck in ahead of Crichton. I rate Mitchell Moses highly but think Welsby offers a wider variety of utility value off the bench.