17 stone giant

We could have played until midnight and still not scored. I thought we started ok, but our inability to score means that the opposition know they just need to stay patient and take their chance(s) when it comes along. Leeds did that and they deserved to win. I don't think I've ever seen so many players slip over in a match. I'm sure everyone will be glad when the pitch is fixed. Frustrating times as a Saints fan, but I think we'll pick up enough points in the next few months to be safe. I'll take 17th and an FA Cup win (which of course won't happen).

Laugh it up, fuzzball. Of course the truth is that you can't know for certain the answer to either of the questions. Maybe some people would have thought the same about Offiah and Davies when they were playing union, but they did ok for GB. Apparently both of them had offers from RL clubs, so I think I'll trust the knowledge of the people at those clubs instead of your arrogant opinion. Just to be clear, it's fine if you think they wouldn't have made the teams. That's a valid opinion. But to laugh at the question as if I'm asking if Jimmy Crankie could make the Kangaroo or GB te

I'm not aware that anyone has said that every great player would be great in the other code. The thread is people pondering those players that they think might have been. We know that it's possible, because we've seen the likes of Jonathan Davies, Jason Robinson and others do it. It's just a fun thread for people to imagine what it would have been like if certain great RU players had tried their luck at RL. If that's not something you wish to do, you're probably best off in another thread. So you think that pondering whether Meninga would be a great table tennis player, and Gus Risman

Am I the only one who doesn't get the constant fuss about VAR? When it comes to offsides, surely officials have always drawn a line in their heads regarding where they believe the forward to be and where they believed the defender to be, and then compared them. That's what offside is. I get that deciding exactly where to draw the line isn't an exact science, especially when it's something like a players arm - as per Ings against Villa. But having drawn the line where they (VAR) think it should be, it's a simple case of which line is then nearer the goal. I just don't get the fuss. In

Yes, which is true. Lomu played rugby union and therefore at that moment in time, he couldn't play league. Meninga played league and therefore at that moment in time, he couldn't play union. Great 'rugby players' were and still are split between the codes. No, I didn't say anything about the supply or the same kind of talent. This is something you've invented to argue about. You're only disagreeing with something that you've invented me saying. It's really not a difficult concept. This thread is about players who were considered great/excellent players in rugby union and people we

An excellent player and I wish him well if he does move to RU. I hope he fulfils his dream of playing for the All Blacks. It would be great if he was able to play in the RLWC before departing.

I didn't say anything about the talent being thin - I said that I wished the best 'rugby players' could have been available for both codes. Obviously that's not possible, as a player can only play one sport at a time, but I was speaking hypothetically. I gave the example of Campese possibly playing for the Kangaroos, but equally I would suggest that Meninga would have walked into the Wallabies team during the same era. The point being that, in my imaginary world, both the Kangaroos and Wallabies would be selecting from all of the best rugby players in Australia, and not just from those wh

Some great names being mentioned. It would have been very interesting to see how they would have done in rugby league. As someone who enjoys both codes, it does frustrate me a bit that the talent in 'rugby as a whole' is split between the two. It would be nice to be able to wave a magic wand and make all the best players available. Would David Campese have perhaps made the Kangaroo squad in 1990? Would Guscott have been in the GB team? etc. I'm sure a few of the French RU players would have improved their RL team - e.g. Blanco, Sella.

I would have liked to have gone to a GB v Australia match at the Old Wembley. Either 90, 92 or 94. Not bothered about 97 as it wasn't the proper teams.

I enjoyed the Man Utd v Liverpool game. I thought Rashford, in particular, was superb. Such a shame it wasn't played in front of a crowd, because I think it would have gone down as a classic game if there'd be that aspect to go with the on-field drama. Glad Southampton went through too, although I expect Wolves will knock us out at Molineux in the next round. I hope Ralph puts out our strongest team and really gives it a go.

Wrong decision in my opinion, but that's modern football - certainly at a club like Chelsea, anyway. I know that things haven't been amazing for them recently, but why give Lampard the job if you're not going to have some patience and see how he develops - which means giving him longer than 18 months. He certainly hasn't been a disaster there. I expect him to be back in management very soon, and I'm confident that over the long term he will prove himself to be a very good manager. I'd certainly be happy to have him at Southampton, if someone was to poach Ralph.

Disappointed for the Bills, but Kansas were worthy winners. I can't see Tampa being able to stop them, but you never know. Home advantage and Brady's experience, etc.

Love the theme tune. Have never gotten into watching it regularly, but didn't dislike the episodes I have seen (mostly 1980's ones with Baker, McCoy, Davidson). Might have to find time one day to properly watch a few episodes.

Watched the Bills, Ravens, and (1st half) Browns games. Great performance by the Browns to go 28-0 up in the 1st quarter. Pittsburgh were all over the place early on. Pleased that Bills got over the line against the Colts, although a bit disappointed that they will now face the Ravens. Was hoping that would have been avoided until the next round. Now have to decide whether to back the Bills or Lamar.

It's irrelevant where Aston Villa were on the last day of the last season. The statement is based on where a team was positioned (in the Euro Club Index) on Jan 7th 2020, compared to where they then were on Jan 5th 2021 (hence it being 12 months). Using whatever measures they are using, Aston Villa only improved by 231pts in those 12 months, whereas Southampton increased by 259pts. If you were to analyse the improvement of teams from, say, 10th July onwards, I imagine that Aston Villa would be ahead of most other English teams (including Southampton) in terms of improvement.