4 Oct: Super League Semi-Final: St Helens v Warrington Wolves KO 7.45pm (TV)

[Irish Saint]

Congratulations to Warrington the better team on the night. Saints devoid of any creativity tonight and as another member posted earlier on the thread  to our backs and halves  tackling does seem to be optional.

[Angelic Cynic]

9 minutes ago, Lowdesert said:

Wire deserved winners and 3 tries to 1, so no complaints can come from Saints.  A couple of times they tried to blow it but Chuffed a Hull lad eventually did the business.

Should never have let him go.

    That Hull lad was signed from York City Knights by the head coach the knowledgeable Hull fans didn't like.Richard Agar.

     The same coach who took Lynne from Hull to Wakefield and who has now gained international recognition.

     Pleased for Warrington and Hendo.

[Chrispmartha]

Fabulous game, well done wire, this type of game is where SL shines glad rhere will be more of them going forward rather than focusing on the relegation battle, the quality between this gane and the qualifiers is night and day.

[Ullman]

7 minutes ago, Angelic Cynic said:

    That Hull lad was signed from York City Knights by the head coach the knowledgeable Hull fans didn't like.Richard Agar.

   

It wasn't just the knowledgeable ones.

[Davc1h]

Congratulations Wire.

Top notch defensive effort.

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

I cannot claim to have read all the pages of this thread, so this may have already been said.

I was delighted to realise that we are at that point in the season when that most tired, meaningless and lazy of TV sports commentators' clichés gets dusted down for use once again.

Step forward Eddie H, just before kick off.  It will probably come down to who wants it the most.

Ah, yes.  Here are two teams who have sweated blood (and sweat, obviously) for 30 gruelling, body-aching games, who - being made up of professional sportsmen - exist to win competitions, and yet, miraculously, the players of one of them are about to say to their opponents, "Actually, to be honest, lads, we're not that bothered about playing at Old Trafford next week.  You carry on, have a good time, and we'll watch it on the telly, that is if we're not out for a quiet meal with the missus."

Do us a favour, Eddie...

[Lowdesert]

10 minutes ago, Angelic Cynic said:

    That Hull lad was signed from York City Knights by the head coach the knowledgeable Hull fans didn't like.Richard Agar.

     The same coach who took Lynne from Hull to Wakefield and who has now gained international recognition.

     Pleased for Warrington and Hendo.

And your point is?

[glossop saint]

Wow. There's some sore winners and neutrals(!) on here tonight.

Well done Warrington, as gutted as I am that was an entertaining game. I did feel that we would take it until the last 5 mins.

I'm off to drown my sorrows.

[moorside roughyed]

Get in there the wire! I'll see you next week.

[Lowdesert]

1 minute ago, glossop saint said:

Wow. There's some sore winners and neutrals(!) on here tonight.

Well done Warrington, as gutted as I am that was an entertaining game. I did feel that we would take it until the last 5 mins.

I'm off to drown my sorrows.

Takes 2 to make a contest mate.  Saints had their chances and despite Holbrook comments on ‘bad reads which we haven’t made all year’ it took some brilliance to crack their line.  Still a big achievement to stroll the league the way they did.

 

[headtackle]

As a Saints fan well played Wire and good luck next week

I now wholeheartedly support the poster above who wishes to break the Saints/Wigan/Leeds monopoly although in saying that would prefer to be shouting for Cas next week

 

 

[Desert Skipper]

11 minutes ago, glossop saint said:

Wow. There's some sore winners and neutrals(!) on here tonight.

Well done Warrington, as gutted as I am that was an entertaining game. I did feel that we would take it until the last 5 mins.

I'm off to drown my sorrows.

I don’t think I’ve seen any sore winners.   I’m certainly not one,  but I do feel that Warrington deserved it based on 3 tries to 1.   And also maybe because of those two dubious decisions which weren’t evened up (although refs do make mistakes so it’s nothing against Saints in that regard).

Hopefully Saints have set the benchmark for entertaining play next year.

[chuffer]

17 minutes ago, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

I cannot claim to have read all the pages of this thread, so this may have already been said.

I was delighted to realise that we are at that point in the season when that most tired, meaningless and lazy of TV sports commentators' clichés gets dusted down for use once again.

Step forward Eddie H, just before kick off.  It will probably come down to who wants it the most.

Ah, yes.  Here are two teams who have sweated blood (and sweat, obviously) for 30 gruelling, body-aching games, who - being made up of professional sportsmen - exist to win competitions, and yet, miraculously, the players of one of them are about to say to their opponents, "Actually, to be honest, lads, we're not that bothered about playing at Old Trafford next week.  You carry on, have a good time, and we'll watch it on the telly, that is if we're not out for a quiet meal with the missus."

Do us a favour, Eddie...

In defence of eddie....when he says "wants it the most" it doesn't necessarily mean "who desires it the most a few days before KO"....it's one thing "wanting" something, it's another thing showing that desire and translating it to displayed effort on the day.....how many times have we seen a team choke at the key moment? Speaking from personal experience, its heartbreaking to put your all into something in the build up, only to find that, on the day, something's missing...it all seems like a dream, like your feet are in treacle and nerves have got the better of you...then you just want it to be over and you're gutted because it seems like the other team just wanted it more...they didn't, they were just better at controlling their emotions and keeping composure on the day 

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

Your support for Eddie is commendable, chuffer.

I fully understand the scenario you describe.  The trouble is, it's nothing to do with 'wanting it the most.'  If you mean 'Who will best cope with the pressure of the moment?', that's fine.  Just say that!

[muckymunksy]

On 10/2/2018 at 11:13 AM, muckymunksy said:

Wire to snatch it late on 

As I advised sports fans. 

[Just Browny]

If we are talking Eddie, can we do a compare-and-contrast of his voice when Richardson kicked his third drop-goal, and when Lineham scored his second try? Joy to despair.

[Jim Prendle]

52 minutes ago, Davo5 said:

Richardson desperately needs a decent halfback partner.

He also needs to learn how to tackle. He didn't even slow Lineham down on his way to the tryline. He's not the biggest I will admit, but that was a really poor effort.

[Padge]

5 minutes ago, Just Browny said:

If we are talking Eddie, can we do a compare-and-contrast of his voice when Richardson kicked his third drop-goal, and when Lineham scored his second try? Joy to despair.

He was hoping for another wide to West moment that he could have on an endless loop at home.

[Jim Prendle]

1 minute ago, Padge said:

He was hoping for another wide to West moment that he could have on an endless loop at home.

The Kleenex factory would have exploded.

[dkw]

That was bloody marvelous, well done wire. 

[saintspete83]

59 minutes ago, Davo5 said:

Richardson desperately needs a decent halfback partner.

I suggest it's the other way around. Take away his fancy goal kicking and drop goals and there is not an awful lot there. Rarely takes the line on, creates no gaps, and many a time this season his 5th tackle options are shocking and is nothing but a speed hump in defence. Many saints fans know this as its mentioned on the forums but other clubs fans seem to think he is gods gift. 

On the other hand well done wire. Stuck at it and took their chances. They have every chance next week to win it. Hopefully it will be a Cas wire final. 

[Davo5]

1 minute ago, Jim Prendle said:

He also needs to learn how to tackle. He didn't even slow Lineham down on his way to the tryline. He's not the biggest I will admit, but that was a really poor effort.

Agree his defence needs work but for a young lad he has all the responsibility for taking Saints around the park,Lomax offers little apart from the occasional scoot and he's a habit of going AWOL in big games.

[Jim Prendle]

1 minute ago, Davo5 said:

Agree his defence needs work but for a young lad he has all the responsibility for taking Saints around the park,Lomax offers little apart from the occasional scoot and he's a habit of going AWOL in big games.

The whole of this Saints team have gone missing in their two biggest games of the year.

[Saintslass]

4 minutes ago, Jim Prendle said:

The whole of this Saints team have gone missing in their two biggest games of the year.

We needed Theo Fages.  The coach has made the same mistakes in our big games: gone with four forwards on the bench, the game plan has been a mystery, no offloads, nobody on anybody's shoulder, barging up the middle.  Theo Fages has had this dynamic effect on the team when he has come on and we desperately needed that in the second half.  On top of that he tackles like a demon and has this habit of squirming under the big men, making life difficult.  Few out there for Saints made life difficult for Wire; some made it difficult for their team mates though.  I don't think our coach knows how to coach for knock out games.  Hopefully he will learn in the off season but I think knock out games could be his weakness.  Mind you it would have helped if our fullback hadn't gone missing yet again.

[chuffer]

30 minutes ago, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

Your support for Eddie is commendable, chuffer.

I fully understand the scenario you describe.  The trouble is, it's nothing to do with 'wanting it the most.'  If you mean 'Who will best cope with the pressure of the moment?', that's fine.  Just say that!

Ok but put another way, looking at the two teams tonight, who appeared more 'hungry'?...while wire kept blowing opportunities and were forever in danger of giving the game to stains, their efforts were always greater than their opponents, they appeared to "want it more" even if that was not true