Fri 20 Nov: SL: St Helens v Catalans Dragons KO 7.45pm (Sky)

[Niels]

4 hours ago, yipyee said:

Youve missed off the worlds best winger and winner of the golden boot.

Lomax is always under rated as well.

Only weak position is centre once percivil got injured, i wouldnt class him as worldclass though

The other winger is very good, but I think Grace is potentially going to be the best winger. He can finish superbly as well as being fast. 

Kristian Inu is very good also but of course is older.

 

[Loiner]

2 minutes ago, Niels said:

I thought the one on Oledski was reckless. 

They had no concern for the welfare of the Leeds players. The one where the Leeds player was pulled up when injured was appalling. All players ought to know doing this can cause spinal damage. 

Friday I am dreading what their gameplan is for the smaller St Helens players, especially Farges. 

Hopefully the referee and video ref will protect the players better. 

 

I totally agree with all you have said there Niels. The officials will have to do a better job than last Friday. I have to add the ref was not the reason we lost last week, Leeds were very poor in the first half.

[BrisbaneRhino]

Did someone just suggest with a straight face that Coote is 'world class'? 

[Oxford]

It was uphill for the Dragons before the bans, now it'll be miraculous!

[Saint Toppy]

9 hours ago, BrisbaneRhino said:

Did someone just suggest with a straight face that Coote is 'world class'? 

'World Class' no probably not, he's not in the same class as the like of Tedesco, Ponga & RTS, but he is undoubtedly the best in SL. There aren't really any weaknesses in his game, he's a bit like James Roby in that he performs consistently well with an 8/10 or 9/10 performance every week.

For all the flair & class Barba brought to the team, I'd rather have Coote playing at FB every time.

[Oxford]

I would've preferred a close game though.

[Hela Wigmen]

Feel a bit better about our prospects now Tomkins and McIlorum are banned. We have struggled against big, aggressive packs in the past and losing two key components will undoubtedly weaken Catalans. That said, they still have Moa, Kasiano, Casty, Bousquet and Simon in their twenty-one. 

The big debate for us is who plays centre and opposes Israel Folau? We’ve played Welsby there of late, however, both Simm and Bentley can and have played there this year. Welsby v Folau seems an absolute mismatch, so plenty want to see Simm take that berth, myself included. 

 

[FearTheVee]

37 minutes ago, Hela Wigmen said:

Welsby v Folau seems an absolute mismatch, so plenty want to see Simm take that berth, myself included. 

 

Interested in why Welsby v Folau would be a mismatch but Simm v Folau wouldn't?

Might have it completely wrong but I'd say Welsby is bigger than Simm, before considering the extra experience he's picked up along the way.

[Hela Wigmen]

1 minute ago, FearTheVee said:

Interested in why Welsby v Folau would be a mismatch but Simm v Folau wouldn't?

Might have it completely wrong but I'd say Welsby is bigger than Simm, before considering the extra experience he's picked up along the way.

For a start Simm is a centre. 

[yipyee]

2 hours ago, Saint Toppy said:

'World Class' no probably not, he's not in the same class as the like of Tedesco, Ponga & RTS, but he is undoubtedly the best in SL. There aren't really any weaknesses in his game, he's a bit like James Roby in that he performs consistently well with an 8/10 or 9/10 performance every week.

For all the flair & class Barba brought to the team, I'd rather have Coote playing at FB every time.

Consistantly perform well = world class??

[yipyee]

57 minutes ago, Hela Wigmen said:

Feel a bit better about our prospects now Tomkins and McIlorum are banned. We have struggled against big, aggressive packs in the past and losing two key components will undoubtedly weaken Catalans. That said, they still have Moa, Kasiano, Casty, Bousquet and Simon in their twenty-one. 

The big debate for us is who plays centre and opposes Israel Folau? We’ve played Welsby there of late, however, both Simm and Bentley can and have played there this year. Welsby v Folau seems an absolute mismatch, so plenty want to see Simm take that berth, myself included. 

 

Dont compete for high kicks and swarm defence, simples.

 

[FearTheVee]

22 minutes ago, Hela Wigmen said:

For a start Simm is a centre. 

A right centre, yes.  Assume your concern of a mismatch is in defensive terms?

I'm not sayiong you are wrong BTW, just interested.

[Hela Wigmen]

3 minutes ago, FearTheVee said:

A right centre, yes.  Assume your concern of a mismatch is in defensive terms?

I'm not sayiong you are wrong BTW, just interested.

Yeah, defensively I think we’d be better with Simm. Especially against Folau. 

[Neutralfan7]

Did someone say saints have the worlds best winger? Watch the nrl and you'll see all their wingers are better than any in SL

[Chronicler of Chiswick]

Saints by 12 - disciplinary committee's done for Cats (and rightly given the charges, before this thread's derailed).

[Saint Toppy]

19 hours ago, FearTheVee said:

Interested in why Welsby v Folau would be a mismatch but Simm v Folau wouldn't?

Might have it completely wrong but I'd say Welsby is bigger than Simm, before considering the extra experience he's picked up along the way.

As Hela said Simm is a natural centre and played most of his junior rugby there. The other main point for me is his defence. Simm seems far more aggressive in the tackle, and while he's not as big as Welsby he tackles well above his weight and rarely gets dominated. For me Welsby is a bit passive in this area and more likely to lose out in a 1-2-1 with Folau.

[FearTheVee]

9 minutes ago, Saint Toppy said:

As Hela said Simm is a natural centre and played most of his junior rugby there. The other main point for me is his defence. Simm seems far more aggressive in the tackle, and while he's not as big as Welsby he tackles well above his weight and rarely gets dominated. For me Welsby is a bit passive in this area and more likely to lose out in a 1-2-1 with Folau.

I can certainly see the argument for Simm.  I just don't think it is the slam dunk decision some suggest it is and I wouldn't criticise JW for going with Welsby, particularly given ability to cover elsewhere in the backs if we have issues in-game.

[Oxford]

Look if you want refs to be braver and more decisive stop putting everything they do under a spotlight and finding everything they get wrong as dubious, biased and 98% incompetent.

[Charlie RL]

Saints as Johnny Vegas just showed his Lego Saints player off on Taskmaster.  That's swung my support! 

[yipyee]

On 18/11/2020 at 18:52, Neutralfan7 said:

Did someone say saints have the worlds best winger? Watch the nrl and you'll see all their wingers are better than any in SL

Yeah whatever

How many of these supposedly better wingers have won the golden boot??

Err I can answer that..  none

 So stop smokin that magic stuff and give your head a wobble...

Its actually annoying this inferiority complex english fans have.

Just because the aussies are big headed doesnt make them better, they wont even come over to play as they are running scared.... bunch of cowards

[yipyee]

10 hours ago, Oxford said:

Look if you want refs to be braver and more decisive stop putting everything they do under a spotlight and finding everything they get wrong as dubious, biased and 98% incompetent.

They shouldnt get anything wrong..

A mistake for a player can lead to lengthy ban.

A mistake for a referee can be rectified by the video ref. The issue for most is that even with this safety net they still fail miserably.

Its like a player being able to take back a high tackle , swinging arm or a squeeze or finger in the wrong place but then doing the exact same thing again. You would then be saying how stupid the player was and he deserves everything he gets.

[THE RED ROOSTER]

Trap game for St Helens, the most consistent side in Super League, against a team of galacticos, Catalans being a sort of Warrington with a proper coach in Steve McNamara who, despite what many of you think, did a good job as England Coach.

Difficult to call, for if Catalans expensively assembled outfit clicks, Kristian Woolf might end up with a repeat  ofJustin Holbrook's first seaso,n dominating the league but nothing to show for it (I don't count the hubcap).

The romantics on here will want a final showdown between Jammer and Lockers but as Steve Waugh put it, there are few fairytale ending in sport.

I am tipping Catalans and with my record that must causing many sighs of relef in WA10....

 

[Davo5]

15 minutes ago, THE RED ROOSTER said:

Trap game for St Helens, the most consistent side in Super League, against a team of galacticos, Catalans being a sort of Warrington with a proper coach in Steve McNamara who, despite what many of you think, did a good job as England Coach.

Difficult to call, for if Catalans expensively assembled outfit clicks, Kristian Woolf might end up with a repeat  ofJustin Holbrook's first seaso,n dominating the league but nothing to show for it (I don't count the hubcap).

The romantics on here will want a final showdown between Jammer and Lockers but as Steve Waugh put it, there are few fairytale ending in sport.

I am tipping Catalans and with my record that must causing many sighs of relef in WA10....

 

If Saints were the most consistent,dominant side in Superleague,how comes they finished second ?

[Oxford]

8 hours ago, yipyee said:

They shouldnt get anything wrong..

A mistake for a player can lead to lengthy ban.

A mistake for a referee can be rectified by the video ref. The issue for most is that even with this safety net they still fail miserably.

Its like a player being able to take back a high tackle , swinging arm or a squeeze or finger in the wrong place but then doing the exact same thing again. You would then be saying how stupid the player was and he deserves everything he gets.

yipyee the analogy between ref and player is a poor one at best. The players and coaches angle is always to win. This puts them on the two year olds way of working by testing every rule they can. In other words they bend the rules every single way. Fans find in impossible to see this in their own team and see every wrong doing of the opposition. In other words they live in an imaginary world where evrything's unfair. Just like 4 year olds.

The refs are being bombarded with decision making moments right from kick off at a pace that few of us comprehend and have almost never experienced. The speed at which these decisions have to be made beggars belief, ( And you couldn't keep refering to the video ref as we'd have a game slower than rugby union if we did).

It's also quite possible for the ref to see it one way which is quite correct and for the video ref to be wrong. There have been a few examples recently.

Now, I admit that when I notice who the ref is for games for my side there are some where I utter phrases with No and lots of Anglo-Saxon expletives and the wife just says "Well they'll have to play better then, won't they?" 

 

 

[Old Frightful]

38 minutes ago, Davo5 said:

If Saints were the most consistent,dominant side in Superleague,how comes they finished second ?

Because the RFL sorted it, you ask Saint Toppy, he knows all about their shenanigans.

Unlike Toppy, I'm not a bitter person so really don't mind who wins tonight. I'd just like the best team to win so we hopefully get a really good, competitive Grand Final a week today.

Wait a minute...a week today?!?!...how come Wigan get the extra day off?

Disgraceful.