UTK

Indeed it already ruffled some feathers when Inglis signed for Warrington when Souths got him off their books for the following season. I feel the furore died out relatively quickly as Inglis is going to play in a different comp. However if Burgess attempted to come back to Souths, especially after they already got the benefit for Inglis as well there would definitely be some questions raised by other clubs.

You're correct, in Australia a leg pull and markers not square are given as 6-again. General offside is a penalty still. I'm going to assume the directives may be different in SL based off that game. Initially in Aus markers not square was still a penalty but that was changed after a few rounds to become a 6-again offence. Catalans looked exactly as you'd expect a side that hasn't been training and has half their spine out to look, simply unable to convert good field position and the whole side ran far too many cold lines all game. In saying that Wigan's defence was immense, covered Cats perfectly for the majority of the game and never allowed any extra space to be found. Powell easily MOTM - Brilliant kicking game out of dummy-half and brought forwards onto the ball nicely.

Thompson cut from the squad 24 hours prior to the game due to calf soreness. Feasible to think this may be something he's been struggling with after being thrust in the deep-end following the 2 week quarantine and months without games. Shame as he was quite strong last week.

While he hasn't set the world on fire, he also hasn't really done anything wrong. Appears to me he's a bit of a victim of circumstance in this case as the interim coach appears to enjoy rearranging the deck chairs by resting different players and trialing new halves/centre/backrow combinations just about every round. I can't see the Dogs troubling Canberra too much this week so I daresay he'll be back in the rotation in whatever capacity that may be next week.

Luke Thompson has been left out of the top 17 this week and named 18th man with the Bulldogs stating he is being rested after playing 7 straight matches following his time in quarantine.

Got to say I'm not a fan of no scrums, doesn't do anything to speed up the game when the markers float in no-mans land waiting to run down the shot clock. Then once play resumes there's no additional space on offer, I feel the NRL's movable scrum has been quite a successful innovation on the other hand.

Officially announced by the Knights, signing on a 3 year deal starting next season.

The Newcastle Knights have just teased the announcement of an imminent signing of an English centre, from the obscured video presented it appears to me that it is Dom Young of Huddersfield. Would anyone be able to confirm this to be the case? If so, as someone who has never seen him play would anyone care to share their opinion of his potential?

As opposed to a quota system I feel a development slot may instead be beneficial, salary cap exemption for a domestic player from a Northern hemisphere country other than England. Obviously there would have to be certain stipulations worked out to ensure you don't have a situation where say Theo Fages or Reagan Grace just don't count on St Helens' cap, however it would certainly provide more of an incentive to take on players closer to the Quinn Ngawati level in the squad. If not in SL it's definitely something the NRL with their greater resources should look to implement imo with their development list system to foster domestic players from outside the big 3. Probably looking to align more with the NFL international player pathway in that case, but even in that situation you could get French or Welsh guys getting a look in for a few seasons downunder at no cost to the clubs cap.

James Tedesco ruled out of the game tonight v the broncos due to a temperature. Ryan Hall is the only back in the remaining 19-man squad so will likely start on the wing with Morris or Manu to move to fullback.

No authority provided in this article to back up the proposition, but alleges there's a rumour the Panthers are in talks with Liam Watts for next season and beyond. Concedes he's still under contract in the article but I suppose considering the Covid-19 impact on finances clubs may be more lenient in letting players walk if they're compensated correctly - First i've seen of it however so i'm not sure if I would put too much stock in it just yet. https://westernweekender.com.au/2020/06/masked-panther-panthers-eye-uk-prop/

Staggs suspended next week would probably indicate Herbie will find himself in the starting side against the Roosters, will be a good test for him.

Agreed, a rotation inclusive of Lussick, Sidlow, Singleton and Springer is strong enough (however potentially lacking a degree of skill) to hold their own and not lose too much quality when subs are rotated against most sides. I've been slightly dissapointed with Ackers to start the season, don't think he's attempted to be a running threat enough through the middle of the field to speed up the play-the-ball a bit. Additionally as a smaller body he has been picked out as a target for opposition forwards, would have been handy to have Cunningham available to shore up the middle a little further.

Despite his rocks or diamonds nature i think Miloudi should have started ahead of Wallace in the centres - not a natural outside back, would be better used in a 14 role to be subbed on in the spine somewhere. Caution to the wind tactics should be altered when in poor conditions, especially tonight where there was a wind advantage to be taken in the first half to gain some good field position. Gigot despite his errors tonight is a quality player and that did show in some of his limited touches - keeping him for the season would serve them well as the rest of their spine is quite dire, if they can fit him in that is. Will be interesting to see the difference when they finally play with a full-strength middle (if they ever do) once Lussick and Singleton are both available again.

Staggs and Hingano out is a big loss for Tonga, GB could run away with it if they turn up to play.