LeytherRob

There is a rule about picking your strongest team, competition integrity etc, however as you rightly point out it wasn't enforced last year or any of the times cup finalists mysteriously picked up 17 minor injuries the week before a final. So whilst I think what SRD(more specifically Paul Rowley) did in week 1 was petulant and did intentionally undermine the comp, I really don't see how you can punish in a way that wouldn't fall apart on appeal.

2nd year of their 2nd 3 year plan

Yeah the league position is a perfectly accurate representation of where that squad is. It's improved somewhat in recent weeks, but it's a poor spine and a mostly average/poor pack.

0.25 grading points deduction for any points deduction or fine greater than £30k

I think there is a reasonable chance he’s at Leigh next year. When his transfer was cancelled after his accident it was stressed the door wasn’t closed, and Leigh will be looking for a Jack Hughes replacement with the new quota rules coming in. Also Allan Coleman and Beaumont are pretty close which is why Leigh players have generally been turning up on loan at Widnes more than anywhere else.

That was more down to the fact that Carters money was drying up than coaching ability, in my opinion. Wakefield were one of the lowest spending teams in the league and sooner or later teams will struggle when that is the case. Makes a big difference when you are spending cap plus marquees like they are now.

That’s crazy

Does this mean the meet the coaches event scheduled for Tuesday by Cas is cancelled?

Recently I’ve found myself becoming less and less invested in VR decisions, particularly when in the ground. I care less about the outcome and just want a decision made - I didn’t even watch the screen for the Charnley incident, just turned around for a chat then looked when they put the decision up. I’d be quite happy if they put a 1 minute timer on it and if they haven’t found something to overturn the decision then crack on with the ref call. The drawn out delays just suck all the atmosphere out of the game.

On Nsemba, the preseason talk from Peet is that he was nearly 20kg heavier than 12 months previous. I think the extra weight has nullified him a little as a second row and he looks more like a middle these days. Last year he looked a lot more agile and dynamic in contact than he has this year.

It’s a much younger/inexperienced squad at Leigh this year which always tends to come with inconstancies. Last night was a high water mark but we could quite easily get a hiding next week.

Great game that, though Leigh did well to ride out the first half. Wigan really front loaded their effort looking to blitz us which to be fair has worked comfortably several times recently.

On watching both the Martin and Horne incidents, i'm struggling to see how there is 6 games of ban worth of difference between the 2 incidents. Martin clearly pulls the shirt up on a downed player and so does Horne. I get the need for and support a zero-tolerance stance on things even if a player isn't actually injured, but I would be pretty angry if I was a Cas fan when you see a very similar incident go unpunished in the same evening's tribunal. Personally, I just want to see referees given the power to stop teams taking the mick when it comes to time wasting. Wigan* really pushed the limits on it last weekend with some tackles taking around 10 seconds to get a play the ball and the referee having to ask the player to play the ball multiple times. There doesn't seem to be any directive where referees can actually punish this within the rules. *Every team does it, I'm just using it as an example

That is heartbreaking for Cas

It was a shocker, I don’t even think Dupree collected it cleanly. He looked to drag it along the floor into his body which should be a knock on.

“Nothing in that” says the VR as Harry Smith tackles a player without the ball and isn’t even looking at the ball. That was a shocker

The regrip interpretation has been in place for years now. I don’t personally agree with it as it removes opportunities for spectacular tries which sell the sport, but it was the correct decision until they change the ruling.

Story of Leigh’s performance, a nice move immediately followed by a dumb error and some awful defence

Yeah it’s been a frustrating watch

Surprised a penalty wasn’t given for dragging McIntosh into touch after held called, that’s usually always a penalty. Doesn’t excuse the poor error and defence that followed for Leigh, mind.

Yeah it all makes no sense to me. Looking at typical bridging loan rates online, it’s at least 0.75% of the loan value per month, with 2% of the loan value as set up fee plus legal costs etc. if they’re taking out a £1-2M loan those fees will be massive. Then even if the investors are just going to clear that debt, why not just clear the initial debts for less money? Even a completely debt free SRD isn’t going to suddenly be ok, the crowds, central funding or commercial deals just aren’t anywhere near close enough to be self sustaining or they wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place.

right way and a wrong way to do things apparently, says Paul Rowley….

I don't think there can be any argument it wouldn't have been better as we now know there have been multiple loans taken out to pay players which would have been avoided. We can argue whether it would have been good enough but" better" is out of the question. Less debt to service is always better in this scenario.

Well the club is situated on the other side of a bridge to a whole lot of excrement at the waste treatment plant. It’s almost poetic.

Paul King must have a massive house for the collateral on that one