Sat 22 May: SL: Catalans Dragons v St Helens KO 18:00

[John Drake]

Discuss Catalans Dragons v St Helens here.

[Manfred Mann]

If James Maloney and Scott Drinkwater’s older brother play well then Catalans win.

If they don’t play well then Saints win.

Simple really.

[Hela Wigmen]

Tough test, as we don’t tend to do that well in Perpignan. 

[Davo5]

1 hour ago, Manfred Mann said:

If James Maloney and Scott Drinkwater’s older brother play well then Catalans win.

If they don’t play well then Saints win.

Simple really.

They haven’t shown anything since they came together last year,Tomkins is Catalans best playmaker,shut him down and you shut the Cats down.

Edited May 20, 2021 by Davo5

[John Drake]

First two posts in this thread (now removed) were making derogatory comments aimed at another forum member.

Don't do it. It's against our T&Cs and everyone posting in here has been on here long enough to know that.

https://www.totalrl.com/forums/index.php?/guidelines/

If it continues, suspensions will be dished out.

Thank you for your co-operation.

[Ramon Rojo]

Pay back time

Significant Catalans victory

[Manfred Mann]

4 hours ago, Hela Wigmen said:

Tough test, as we don’t tend to do that well in Perpignan. 

But you do have the French halfback Theo Fages playing for St Helens. He knows local conditions and he also will have the admiration of many locals in the crowd for his courageous decision as a teenager to travel alone to England to try to establish a professional rugby league career. The fact that Theo Fages has been able to nail down the half back slot in the top Super League team — despite the hostility of a small minority of St Helens fans who suffer from anti-French prejudice — is truly impressive. Therefore I believe that St Helens will have the sympathy of many French fans for their decision to embrace a son of France. And that fact will make Perpignan less unfriendly to the visiting team than it normally is.

Edited May 20, 2021 by Manfred Mann

[Hela Wigmen]

1 hour ago, Manfred Mann said:

But you do have the French halfback Theo Fages playing for St Helens. He knows local conditions and he also will have the admiration of many locals in the crowd for his courageous decision as a teenager to travel alone to England to try to establish a professional rugby league career. The fact that Theo Fages has been able to nail down the half back slot in the top Super League team — despite the hostility of a small minority of St Helens fans who suffer from anti-French prejudice — is truly impressive. Therefore I believe that St Helens will have the sympathy of many French fans for their decision to embrace a son of France. And that fact will make Perpignan less unfriendly to the visiting team than it normally is.

My word, this is a hot take. 

[yipyee]

Saints to grind them down then win in the second half.

Catalans diciplinary worse than last year so a good bet for a sending off or a few yellows at the least

[Waynebennettswinger]

15 minutes ago, yipyee said:

Saints to grind them down then win in the second half.

Catalans diciplinary worse than last year so a good bet for a sending off or a few yellows at the least

Good shout. Expect the usual depressingly petulant cries of bias and corruption from some if that does happen rather than the acceptance that good discipline is massively important. 

[DavidM]

Catalans by 2

[Saint Toppy]

Most Saints games this year have followed a similar pattern. A tight, low scoring first half with the game opening up more in the 2nd once they've ground teams down. Its not pretty to watch but its effective.

Saints only seem to open up their attack in short bursts, very much playing the percentages and most of what they do comes off the back of really strong defence.

I'd say we're probably looking at something like a 6-6 HT scoreline with something like an 18-10 win to Saints in the end.

[bobbruce]

3 hours ago, Saint Toppy said:

Most Saints games this year have followed a similar pattern. A tight, low scoring first half with the game opening up more in the 2nd once they've ground teams down. Its not pretty to watch but its effective.

Saints only seem to open up their attack in short bursts, very much playing the percentages and most of what they do comes off the back of really strong defence.

I'd say we're probably looking at something like a 6-6 HT scoreline with something like an 18-10 win to Saints in the end.

My worry with playing like that is if we are two scores behind with 10 to go I don’t have any confidence that we can just switch the attack on at that point. In big knockout games the lack of fluency in attack could cost us. I know he’s trying to get us battle hardened for the tough games at the end of the season I’d just like to see a few games where he takes the shackles off even if it’s just to give the players some belief that they can score 12-18 points quickly. 

Edited May 21, 2021 by bobbruce

[Chronicler of Chiswick]

Cats by 12.

[Barley Mow]

Saints by 8

[Just Browny]

Pretty sure this is 17:00 UK time / 18:00 local time, might be worth clarifying in the subject title.

[Manfred Mann]

The fact that this match is being televised and broadcast live in two major European nations, in north America, and in Australia and New Zealand, is worth noting.

[Liverpool Rover]

I don't think that there is going to be a lot of points in this game and Saints will grind out a close win.

[FearTheVee]

Saints by 14 in a bad tempered game.

[meast]

Boring, Boring Saints to win this after a close contest early on.

[Ullman]

Looking forward to this. I think it's a very interesting match-up. At Hull on Monday Catalans played a very similar style to Saints. They completed high, kicked to the corner then raised the tempo when Hull had punched themselves out. Could be a question of who blinks first.

[Manfred Mann]

80 minutes until kick off. I can't wait.

 

[Northern Eel]

On 21/05/2021 at 13:09, Just Browny said:

Pretty sure this is 17:00 UK time / 18:00 local time, might be worth clarifying in the subject title.

Yep, 5pm UK time.

[Man of Kent]

Good test to see whether Catalans are serious contenders or ill-disciplined flatterers. 

Edited May 22, 2021 by Man of Kent

[Futtocks]

Samkins and Langi are late withdrawals. Not good for Catalans.