31 Jul: CCSF1 - Leeds Rhinos v St Helens KO 8pm

[chuffer]

Cracking game that, great advert for the sport.

This.

Shame about jiffy though, he'll always have a place in my heart for his time at Widnes but please, bbc, get him off that mic

[back to the future]

Apart from the mom selection BBC presentation light years ahead of Sky.

 

 

Agree made it much more enjoyable

[David Wild]

Really enjoyable game.  Great advert.  Both teams played really well but I think Leeds deserved it......just.

[redjonn]

This.

Shame about jiffy though, he'll always have a place in my heart for his time at Widnes but please, bbc, get him off that mic

 

I thought Davies and Kear was a good combination... sorry to disagree but I still like Davies on the mic.

 

As to other peoples comments on MOM... Sinfield was certainly a contender, don't see how Peacock was ahead of him... a lot of Leeds players played well.  JJB had one of his better games always making yards.   So it would be difficult to select and depends upon how one see's the game. Hardaker had a solid game and Moon caused problems. 

 

For me you have to be in the right places and Leeds in the main had a good kicking game when Sinfield was doing the field kicking and certainly marshaled the team around.

[absentee thoughtlord]

Thoroughly enjoyable match. And great to see it on the BBC.

 

But... how in the name of all that's holy did Kevin Sinfield win the man of the match? Andre Savelio was by far the most stand out player. By. Far.

[EastLondonMike]

Good game, and great to watch RL on the BBC on a Friday night. Great advert for the game, and hope plenty we're watching it.

Thought Savelio was outstanding in a losing side today.

[1976PMJwires]

Wow, what a stand out atmosphere, passion and pride, how good is our game ?? respect to saints for their part in a truly fantastic game of rugby league

Well done Leeds, what a team....... Peacock is a freak, for me the greatest ever player in super league

Question, who is the best, who has perform every season for 15/20 years. Wow, he's a freak

[redjonn]

Thoroughly enjoyable match. And great to see it on the BBC.

 

But... how in the name of all that's holy did Kevin Sinfield win the man of the match? Andre Savelio was by far the most stand out player. By. Far.

 

would have been a good choice.

[fieldofclothofgold]

Peacock ? I wonder what the odds are for him to turn out for Hull KR next year if they are struggling?

[amm]

Belting match, thanks to all the players for a very entertaining Friday night on the BBC. Well done Leeds, the best team won.

 

JP my MOM for that try on it's own - well it's as good a reason as Jiffy picking Sir Kev

[Wiltshire Rhino]

THAT WAS FUN!!! LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!!!

[chuffer]

Peacock ? I wonder what the odds are for him to turn out for Hull KR next year if they are struggling?

No chance...he's English

[Ant]

No chance...he's English

And too young for FC

[Saintslass]

Superb match. 2 quality sides. Leeds would have blown away most teams in the first 20 minutes. They are not just stylish they are very well coached and conditioned. Those offloads require great strength and organisation to work as well as they did.

Once again the HJ shows itself to be a fabulous RL ground. So atmospheric. It sounded like the crowd was mostly Leeds which when Saints' fans only had a hop and a skip is a credit to the Rhinos. Good to see Ronnie still has all the moves. That belly flop takes some doing.

I think that must reflect where the mics were because the South Stand was at best two thirds full, both ends had full blocks that were totally empty, and the East Stand wasn't full either.  I would say there were more Saints fans there than Leeds fans and by a distance.

 

Good game but frustrating as a Saints fan.  I didn't believe we would win, went along more in hope than expectation.  But for Mose to drop that ball just when we were actually on top having scored two tries to bring us within four points, driving forward again about 10m or so from our line made me want to pummel him in the belly (since that's about where I would come up to on Mosoe!).  That one act cost us momentum which ultimately cost us the game.  We might have lost anyway but we were in with a real chance at that point and that's in spite of our 7 bottling it, our 6 being enthusiastic but decidedly limited and half our forward pack opting out of the battle.

[BBR]

Great game. Great commentary. Just wish the beeb would stop saying that there is a big crowd or a packed house when it so clearly is neither

[GaryO]

I think that must reflect where the mics were because the South Stand was at best two thirds full, both ends had full blocks that were totally empty, and the East Stand wasn't full eiWalsh  I would say there were more Saints fans there than Leeds fans and by a distance.

 

Good game but frustrating as a Saints fan.  I didn't believe we would win, went along more in hope than expectation.  But for Mose to drop that ball just when we were actually on top having scored two tries to bring us within four points, driving forward again about 10m or so from our line made me want to pummel him in the belly (since that's about where I would come up to on Mosoe!).  That one act cost us momentum which ultimately cost us the game.  We might have lost anyway but we were in with a real chance at that point and that's in spite of our 7 bottling it, our 6 being enthusiastic but decidedly limited and half our forward pack opting out of the battle.

What cost you the game lass was Luke Walsh, without doubt the worst defender I have ever witnessed playing for a top class team in 50 years of watching RL, full credit to Brian Mac for targeting this weakness, please watch the game again and take note of Walsh he is a liability to the rest of the team in this department, when games are tight as this one he will lose you more games than he wins.

I would also go as far to say that this halfback combination with Burns is the least effective I can remember Saints ever employing.

[FullFat]

Thought this was a fabulous game played in a good atmosphere that really came across on the tv,  The beebs coverage was good too and I have to give a big shout out to Ben Thaler who I thought refereed the game impeccably.  Just hope today's game is as entertaining.  

[Saintslass]

What cost you the game lass was Luke Walsh, without doubt the worst defender I have ever witnessed playing for a top class team in 50 years of watching RL, full credit to Brian Mac for targeting this weakness, please watch the game again and take note of Walsh he is a liability to the rest of the team in this department, when games are tight as this one he will lose you more games than he wins.

I would also go as far to say that this halfback combination with Burns is the least effective I can remember Saints ever employing.

It wasn't just Walsh.  Our whole left edge defence is fragile and has been all season.  Yet Cunningham is unable or unwilling to address this.  But even that wasn't the reason we lost.  I'm speaking from a Saints POV here, not discussing Leeds' performance in this paragraph, but we lost the game on two fronts: our defensive frailties on the left edge played their part but it was errors at key moments and the dumbest game plan ever that undid us.  The most serious error was Mosoe's knock on when we had scored two great tries and had all the momentum, initiated by the drive and super play of Savelio, and were once again attacking the line.  That knock on took away that hard earned momentum, gave it back to Leeds, and we didn't regain it.  We couldn't afford to make those lazy errors.  The gameplan was dumb because we consistently bombed the best backline in the league for catching ball.  Why not find touch?  Gives us a chance to regroup and control the game more.  Nope.  We either have a coach that is dumb or halfbacks that are.  I can't decide which!  But those were the two key factors to our loss from a Saints POV.  I found that really frustrating because we held in there in the first half this time unlike on the last two occasions and so really gave ourselves a chance.  Grrr!!!

 

But aside from all of that Leeds played very well.  McDermott had the game plan to beat us and his team executed it to a high standard.  Both those factors are needed for a trophy winning side and while I don't want Leeds to win anything this year (just like i don't want Wigan to win anything this year!) they will have a good stab at it. 

[Gerri Monside]

A fantastic game! Very well covered by the beeb & great commentary from Dave Woods & co.  How refreshing was it to not have constant questioning and debate over every decision? Mark Chapman is an excellent, enthusiastic anchor and the panel of experts came across well too. 

Also thought Ben Thaler had an excellent game. 

All in all a great advert for the game. 

[Dave T]

Great game. Great commentary. Just wish the beeb would stop saying that there is a big crowd or a packed house when it so clearly is neither

Another example of an RL fan complaining about people being positive about the game. Very strange.

 

It looked and sounded good on TV.

[Dave T]

A fantastic game! Very well covered by the beeb & great commentary from Dave Woods & co.  How refreshing was it to not have constant questioning and debate over every decision? Mark Chapman is an excellent, enthusiastic anchor and the panel of experts came across well too. 

Also thought Ben Thaler had an excellent game. 

All in all a great advert for the game. 

The casual, relaxed style of the BBC, right down to the dress code is a breath of fresh air compared to Sky. 

 

Paul Wellens just doesn't work as a studio guest though.

[GaryO]

It wasn't just Walsh.  Our whole left edge defence is fragile and has been all season.  Yet Cunningham is unable or unwilling to address this.  But even that wasn't the reason we lost.  I'm speaking from a Saints POV here, not discussing Leeds' performance in this paragraph, but we lost the game on two fronts: our defensive frailties on the left edge played their part but it was errors at key moments and the dumbest game plan ever that undid us.  The most serious error was Mosoe's knock on when we had scored two great tries and had all the momentum, initiated by the drive and super play of Savelio, and were once again attacking the line.  That knock on took away that hard earned momentum, gave it back to Leeds, and we didn't regain it.  We couldn't afford to make those lazy errors.  The gameplan was dumb because we consistently bombed the best backline in the league for catching ball.  Why not find touch?  Gives us a chance to regroup and control the game more.  Nope.  We either have a coach that is dumb or halfbacks that are.  I can't decide which!  But those were the two key factors to our loss from a Saints POV.  I found that really frustrating because we held in there in the first half this time unlike on the last two occasions and so really gave ourselves a chance.  Grrr!!!

 

But aside from all of that Leeds played very well.  McDermott had the game plan to beat us and his team executed it to a high standard.  Both those factors are needed for a trophy winning side and while I don't want Leeds to win anything this year (just like i don't want Wigan to win anything this year!) they will have a good stab at it.

True that while a knock on can be a momentum changer as in Mose's case it is not as definitive as bad coaching and selections, must say if I was a Saints fan I would be on the wrong side of frustration with what I have witnessed this season.

As an aside, I can't help but chuckle to myself when the TV camera pans onto Cunningham and Long, give them a couple of bowler hats and they could be Laurel and Hardy.

[getdownmonkeyman]

Good game for the viewing public.

As good as Saints resilience was, the game management by Leeds was outstanding. I am struggling to recall a better performance by any side than that of Leeds' in the first half. The fact Saints went in so close is incredible testimony to them.

[Wollo Wollo Wayoo]

Fantastic game.  Leeds backs were outstanding.

Only Wigan, at their aggressive best, can compete when Leeds are in the mood.

 

Final could be a blow out again though.

[CiderWire]

So if Warrington get to the final you reckon Leeds will blow them away, bearing in mind Wire dismantled Leeds twice already this season and made Wigan look ordinary last time they met.