LeytherRob

Discounting a product these days tends to have the opposite effect as it just devalues the product on offer, certainly when done over a period of time. I’d say the general marketing for Leigh has easily put an additional 1.5k on the gates because the club has turned every game into an event and season tickets/memberships into must have items for fans. Huddersfield have opted for laziest and most archaic form of getting crowds in and it reflects badly on Thewlis at Hudds at how clueless he seems to be about how to change things(not to mention how long he’s letting Watson run the team into the ground).

Is Wellens going the way of Cunningham?

Even with a 3 year average their utilisation score will be very poor. Holds around 20k

I still find it genuinely baffling Watson dropped him then moved him on. His talent was evident then and Huddersfield threw away the best British centre in years. Ironically Watson was complaining in the post match tonight they don't have any players that can break a game

Turned it on for the Watson interview, another classic.

He's no slouch but he's not going to be chasing from fullback. We have no one who can finish a break and once a player breaks the line it's game over. Someone with proper pace from the back could have saved 1, possibly 2 tries and finished Hardakers break. It's been an evident weakness in our team ever since promotion which is why the teams who have really put us away have always had a French, Field, Brierley, Duffy etc. It's a very common theme

Armstrong can't get here soon enough. We really have no answer whatsoever to pace.

Very good try that

Can't believe Watson hasn't at least put Connor in at centre considering the amount of missing three quarters. Crazy.

If you're going to quote me, I'd appreciate you using the full words - 'what looked like a pretty clear cut". But in any case, I'm not going to spend the match bickering and get the thread locked so I'll leave it there.

Yeah enjoy that next year Hull fans, it's been a regular occurrence this season.

Yes of course, because famously no incident has ever been missed by a referee ever.

True, but pretty frustrating they didn't check what looked like a pretty clear cut shoulder charge to Moylans head that got nothing but a penalty. Certainly looked no attempt to wrap

It’s about getting players into a wider variety of playing environments with different coaches and players they can learn off, just as having English players in NRL environments has helped us. You don’t need mass migration to do that and you don’t need to be targeting the best RU talent, it’s about encouraging clubs to do more than they currently do to try and improve the fortunes of the national side. Of course a top Toulouse side bringing through French youngsters would be great, but it’s unlikely they are going to be promoted this season and the nature of the IMG points suggests it’s only going to get more difficult in the coming seasons so unless IMG rewrite the rules that isn't likely to be an option.

Personally I don’t think France will start to really improve until there are more French players playing within English and NRL systems so the majority of the squad isn’t just pulled from cats and Toulouse. New Zealand/ Samoa/ Tongas rise to be routinely competing and beating Oz is less down to the warriors and more down to having 4/5 quality options at every club in the NRL. As for how you get to that, I think the only way to get things done in SL is appeal to SL clubs greed. I know it’s been reported they are looking for more exemptions they can add to the cap so I’d look to add one for targeting nations of interest internationally. The tricky part would be balancing it so that Catalans don’t get raided all at once.

Even post 2013 things were in a good state. The other home nations had multiple fixtures every year which were televised (bbc red button or s4c for wales) and their stronger players continued to turn out for a bit. Pretty sure I remember us having the 4 nations and European cup running concurrently and being able to watch multiple games a day. Then we seemed to give up and just cut them all adrift.

Damn, I did turn it on hoping for a France win after seeing they'd gone ahead but the predictable collapse seems to have started. One positive(and probably the only positive of this nothing game) is that France kit is a stunner. Proper collar and everything.

Yes i was hoping to see both Brogan and Brand given some game time this season, especially now playoffs are gone barring a miracle run.

Yes I’m sure there will be a clause in there, hopefully it should provide some financial compensation if he does go early

1 year seems short for someone of his age and promise

Yep, and one Newcastle really wanted to keep. He had agreed to a 2 year extension with them before changing his mind and media reports in Oz were claiming at least 1 other club was chasing his signature in the NRL so labelling him as a NSW cup signing doesn't tell the full picture. He's very much in the midst of a breakout season over there getting a lot of plaudits in the media and it's a huge coup to be able to get him over on a 3 year deal.

He certainly has the assets to thrive. It's an exciting prospect to be going into 2025 with a spine of Armstrong, Moylan, Lam and Ipape.

Yeah it's a signing I'd long given up on once he started scoring tries for Newcastle in the NRL, to get him on a 3 year deal is outstanding. He gives us several things we've been sorely lacking too in a genuine run threat from fullback, express pace and also some additional height to target high kicks, the latter of which we've sorely missed since having Mcdonald and Ferguson in 2022

Newcastle Knights confirm Armstrong is coming to Leigh for 2025

It's not just his tactics that baffle me, I think his recruitment/retention has been all over the place and should be a bigger red flag to Ken Davy. Only last year he was hailing Olly Russell as the vital cog that lets his mavericks(Connor and Lolohea) play, then this year completely drops him out his thinking to the point he reportedly signs for Wakefield. Now he seems to have changed his mind again and now he's playing every week whilst Connor sits on the sidelines looking increasingly set for the exit door. Same goes with Matty English, repeatedly saying how he was going to be the cornerstone of the pack for years to come, building a team round him etc and signing him to a long term deal - now loaned to Cas and looking like he might be off at the end of the year. With Burgess and King coming in and Hill still contracted for next year it just pushes another good young forward down the pecking order and ultimately out the exit door like Trout last year without really improving the team since the pack was already good. Then there is the decision to get rid of Jake Wardle which just looks crazier by the year.