MZH

You are maybe right. I just don't see how else you are going to be able to play this mid season and get sides to really buy in. If it's just a stand alone event it needs to be a pre season comp, otherwise it's just going to be the reserves that turn up.

The only way you can have this mid season and get teams to really take it seriously is if it has an impact on the SL. Is it too "out there" to have the tournaments be worth SL points? Say 4 groups of 3. The 4 group winners go to the semis and then a final. If you don't make it through the group you get nothing. Losing semi finalists get a point. Losing finalist gets 2. Winners get 3 (and a trophy). That's 15 games spread over a weekend. The teams will send their strongest sides because there are league points to be had. Do it twice a season (say May and August). I think it could work.

Not sure if that's a genuine comment or not but yes of course he would. The size difference is enormous, he would totally overwhelm him.

Will they reach another GF in the next few seasons? No I would say that's unlikely. But on the back of this season I hope that they can build on the exposure that they have had, get some more bums on seats and enjoy a period of stability. Competing for the playoff spots. I see no reason why they can't. I think Watson is a top coach.

You've almost got to treat them as different sports. Look at it like boxing. If Tyson Fury fought Floyd Mayweather it would be a farce. Fury would utterly destroy him. But does anyone consider Fury to be the better boxer of the two? It's unfair to compare different sets of people with completely different make ups. You can only be the best in your own class amongst your peers. The odd occasion that I have watched women's RL I have found it to be very entertaining. The men's team would run a cricket score past them. But that is irrelevant.

To be fair to Schofield he has been complimentary towards the women's game in the past. I haven't seen the game in question to be able to comment on the quality of it. But if a similar comment was made about a men's game (and it often is) then no one would care. Just because its the women's game it doesn't mean they should be immune from criticism. And saying the standard was poor isn't in itself sexist. That said people need to stop comparing to the men's game and just appreciate it in its own right. No one says that Dina Asher Smith is much slower than the men, or that Simone Biles can't vault as high as the men. They are rightly applauded for being amazing athletes in their own right. The same should go for our own women.

When I first saw it I thought that it would be simple. I did get them all eventually but was really racking my brains and only had about 15 seconds left. Embarrassingly as a Hull fan it was Gateshead that I got last.

Well I don't suppose Beauden Barrett is going to turn up, but there may well be a few decent amateur RU players in the area who fancy giving it a go.

At the start of the season Salford were pretty much written off by everyone. I cant even remember any of their own fans who fancied them doing anything. Even the ones who were more positive still said they have some good players but it's a skinny squad and the long season will take its toll. To think that they have made the GF is almost unbelievable. I jokingly mentioned Hull above, but in all seriousness it does make me a bit jealous. Salford don't have the resources, and a lot of their squad is players that have been rejected by other clubs. Yet they have shown what can be done when you try to play the right way and when you truly give everything to the cause. I hope that they can lift again next week and go one better, but it almost doesn't matter. Just getting there is an amazing achievement. I just hope the fans and players enjoy the occasion and make the club proud. I can't imagine many neutrals won't be behind you.

I cried uncontrollably watching Hull a few times this season. Can I get free tickets too?

I doubt it. This is a fairy tale season for Salford, but the team is breaking up, and they probably don't have the resources to get here again any time soon. But he can do great things with Wigan.

Not one of the best, but not the worst by a long shot.

The game was already over but that rubber stamps it. Outstanding performance from Salford. As for Wigan. The fans couldn't be bothered to turn up, the players have put in a performance to match.

I don't see much wrong with that tbh.

It got over the line for sure but I wasn't convinced he kept control. The first angle seemed to show his hand/wrist come off the ball, it was the defenders hand that was on it. It was inconclusive I would say, so you have to stick with the on field call.