Sat 9 Oct: SLGF: Catalans Dragons v St Helens KO 18:00 (Sky)

[snoopdog]

Said this many times, we need to follow the RU model !

Every club that receives central funding sells a number of tickets for the GF and the CC, this is on a sliding scale ie Super League sells the most and working down. 

Example each SL club sells 1000 tickets , if the don't it comes out of there central fund.

Simple way to make every club accountable for our big events, in return the events become sell outs , and there value increases. 

This is the reason Twickenham is always full for meaningless fixtures.

[JohnM]

After several years of ill health, I'm finally well enough to have considered going, especially given Les Cats were there. However,  at my age, despite double vaccination, I am not prepared to risk my health nor that of my wife or in fact anyone else by going to such an event during the current COVID epidemic.  I suggest I am not alone in this.

[sweaty craiq]

38 minutes ago, ATLANTISMAN said:

100% very few fans from other clubs and if 45000 were they then I am Boris Johnson.

Great game though reminded me of a good old GB v Aus test match at times.

Problem we have is that many fans don't support the game just their clubs in what is becoming a diminishing market.

Had a long 3/4 hour chat with an Ex SL CEO and Ex SL coach and one of the greatest ever players over the last decade after the game and there is without doubt a serious worry that the game is in decline and needs a major overhaul off the pitch.

Everyone agreed on several points and one of them was franchising.

 

Paul

So disenfranchising a large number of clubs will encourage their fans to spend a fortune supporting franchised big events with a one sport ethos they are excluded from

The game spends too much time listening to fools like Wilkin etc and not bonafide entrepreneurs who understand what building a business requires

 

[bobbruce]

1 hour ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

Seems even Saints fans on here aren't making much of a case against it

Well at least Tolouse can make it a French success today 

No need to make a case against it as unfortunately if it wasn’t that it would something else. These things happen in big games good teams just get over them. What is disappointing is we aren’t talking about how well both teams played or the unbelievable covering run and tackle by Knowles on Yaha. 

[bobbruce]

29 minutes ago, Robin Evans said:

Well.... they will have the opportunity..... I don't think they will succeed like.

Or care

[Bearman]

As I posted earlier Saints are my favourite SL team but I wanted Catalan to win.

I don't think it was a penalty try but there were some tough decisions against Catalan. It seems to me that there always are. As a neutral watching Catalan playing other teams I often think they seem to lose out on 50/50 decisions.

I can see why they may be a bit paranoid.

 

[Dave T]

58 minutes ago, Saint 1 said:

Some of the players could barely walk post-match, really showed how much they had given.

While I agree that we probably had the share of luck (the Coote one was a howler), there were also questionable/wrong decisions that went against us, just nobody is talking about them because 1) we won anyway 2) everyone wanted Catalan to win.

As one example, there was an offload from Walmsley that was ruled a knock on on half way and ended up with us defending our line, instead of Catalan defending theirs. There was also an obstruction during one of the sets Catalan were attacking our line, lead line at an outside shoulder and Tomkins stepping back into that space. 

It was the same in 2019, where everyone wanted Salford to win and therefore insisted the refs gave all the decisions to Saints. Unsurprisingly the same discourse wasn't present in 2020 when all the neutrals wanted neither team to win! 

I agree on the offload, it's a bugbear of mine, but these are standard nowadays. Similarly I could have listed a lot more incidents, its why I don't think Moore had a good game overall. And I think he is a good ref. 

I highlighted those three only as they were real key incidents, but if I was critiquing the ref overall I could have discussed 8 or 9 tbh. 

[Dave T]

46 minutes ago, Derwent said:

On the 2 incidents involving Yaha :-

The referee was correct not to award a penalty try as the initial contact by Makinson was on Yaha’s bicep so his momentum was stopped by a legitimate hit. His arm then bounced up into Yaha’s head and was correctly deemed to be accidental contact with the head hence a yellow card. I can understand the call for a penalty try but if the initial contact that halts the player is legal (and it was) then a penalty try can’t be given.

At the other end, Yaha slid into Naquama knees first without any attempt to make a legitimate tackle. In fact his arms were down by his sides. The contact with the head may have been accidental but, as per Makinson’s tackle and as we have seen all year, accidental contact with the head is a yellow card. Moore chickened out by putting it on report.

I accept the point around the initial hit, and made a similar point myself, but I dont think in reality you can split it into two tackles. 

We are going out of our way to not give penalty tries. 

[RLX111]

Why do we have a play off series? every year my wife asks when the league has been won!

Would man city/utd v chelsea/x  plays off matter?

I know the  answer because we always have done! but perhaps she is right! times change-extra cost of play offs to spectators moan,low attendances  same teams winning-getting a second chance to beat the league leaders!-would things be different or better?

[paulwalker71]

2 minutes ago, RLX111 said:

I know the  answer because we always have done! 

Well, since 1998

[GUBRATS]

The yellow was the correct decision , called it straight away 

The only dodgy one for me was the not regaining your feet PTB near the end against the Cats , to me it was a penalty the opposite way for the Saints player leaning on at the tackle , which was potentially in a kick able distance 

[Mark S]

18 minutes ago, sweaty craiq said:

So disenfranchising a large number of clubs will encourage their fans to spend a fortune supporting franchised big events with a one sport ethos they are excluded from

The game spends too much time listening to fools like Wilkin etc and not bonafide entrepreneurs who understand what building a business requires

 

I am 99% certain that any successful business person would look at the state of the game and it’s finances and advise that we focus on SL. The NRL is proof that we don’t need promotion and relegation.

[Chris22]

Must say I do enjoy the fact that we have now won as many titles since 2019 as Warrington have in their history.

[RLX111]

2 minutes ago, paulwalker71 said:

Well, since 1998

cHAMPionship play offs since 1902 ! etc until 1995 i guess

[RLX111]

8 minutes ago, RLX111 said:

Why do we have a play off series? every year my wife asks when the league has been won!

Would man city/utd v chelsea/x  plays off matter?

I know the  answer because we always have done! but perhaps she is right! times change-extra cost of play offs to spectators moan,low attendances  same teams winning-getting a second chance to beat the league leaders!-would things be different or better?

aro

 

5 minutes ago, paulwalker71 said:

Well, since 1998

1902 championship play offs to 1995 i guess

[paulwalker71]

Just now, RLX111 said:

aro

 

1902 championship play offs to 1995 i guess

Nope

League winners were crowned champions all through the years I was growing up - from the 70s onwards. Then there were the end-of-season Premiership play-offs. But the league winners were champions.

[Bod]

1 hour ago, Derwent said:

On the 2 incidents involving Yaha :-

The referee was correct not to award a penalty try as the initial contact by Makinson was on Yaha’s bicep so his momentum was stopped by a legitimate hit. His arm then bounced up into Yaha’s head and was correctly deemed to be accidental contact with the head hence a yellow card. I can understand the call for a penalty try but if the initial contact that halts the player is legal (and it was) then a penalty try can’t be given.

At the other end, Yaha slid into Naquama knees first without any attempt to make a legitimate tackle. In fact his arms were down by his sides. The contact with the head may have been accidental but, as per Makinson’s tackle and as we have seen all year, accidental contact with the head is a yellow card. Moore chickened out by putting it on report.

Stop talking common sense, a lot on here don't like it.

[dkw]

Seeing that tomkins incident again he's definitely playing for the penalty, of that there's no doubt so maybe that's why it wasn't given, for the whole match the ref hadn't given those. The mistake the ref made was giving a penalty to saints in my opinion,  should just have made tomkins go back and play it like he had done previous times in the game.

Incidentally I hope the RFL look at Tomkins reaction towards the ref, absolutely disgraceful in a show piece final.

 

[RLX111]

6 minutes ago, paulwalker71 said:

Nope

League winners were crowned champions all through the years I was growing up - from the 70s onwards. Then there were the end-of-season Premiership play-offs. But the league winners were champions.

splitting hairs ! you are missing the point -if you finish top of the league that is it for the season -as my wife points out-if somebody gets a second chance in football they would laugh at you.

[dkw]

5 minutes ago, RLX111 said:

splitting hairs ! you are missing the point -if you finish top of the league that is it for the season -as my wife points out-if somebody gets a second chance in football they would laugh at you.

How about the fact there's play offs in every single league other than the prem where 4 teams get a second chance to "win" promotion, do football fans laugh at that?

More major sports have play offs to crown a season champion than don't. If anything football is now the outlier.

[Roy Haggerty]

Amazing game. Hated every second in the stadium because of the tension. Loved the outcome. 
 

I know people like to focus on the specific decisions which seem to favour/disfavour the team they wanted to lose/win. But that’ll always be the case and the fact is that this was a brutal, compelling final between the two best sides of the competition, and it showed. The refereeing - despite mistakes or interpretations - played its part in the production of that spectacle. 
 

One point - I haven’t rewatched on tv yet: the in-goal line markings weren’t entirely clear, but I thought that Saints’ second drop out at the end came from a clean arch by Percival who was in his own in-goal when he caught it. 20m restart, but a drop-out was given. I was a fair way from there, though. Did anyone see that incident?

[bobbruce]

7 minutes ago, Roy Haggerty said:

Amazing game. Hated every second in the stadium because of the tension. Loved the outcome. 
 

I know people like to focus on the specific decisions which seem to favour/disfavour the team they wanted to lose/win. But that’ll always be the case and the fact is that this was a brutal, compelling final between the two best sides of the competition, and it showed. The refereeing - despite mistakes or interpretations - played its part in the production of that spectacle. 
 

One point - I haven’t rewatched on tv yet: the in-goal line markings weren’t entirely clear, but I thought that Saints’ second drop out at the end came from a clean arch by Percival who was in his own in-goal when he caught it. 20m restart, but a drop-out was given. I was a fair way from there, though. Did anyone see that incident?

Think Percival knocked it on. 

[bratman]

5 minutes ago, bobbruce said:

Think Percival knocked it on. 

Yeah, into a Saints player in front of him IIRC.

[redjonn]

As per some other comments I thought it was a great atmosphere and the game being so close as we entered the last quarter added to the intensity of "watching" - that is couldn't take eyes off any of the action.

The organises deserve a big pat on the back for how they build up the excitement and atmosphere towards kick off.  Considering fewer people in the stadium than normal it was in my opinion one of the best atmosphere for noise prior to kick off.  Having the music booming out and with the cascade building with the flames and such, which normally I think naff but this time was really good all added to it. Plus even the singer was good and added to the event.  All the provided flags being waved at each end again added to the spectacle. 

Hats off for making it a good event leading up to kick off. Not having a band in my opinion helped as didn't have to naff non exciting sporting moment music. Although I know some like it but given this year I'd give it a permanent miss.

As to the game... 

[Loiner]

1 hour ago, paulwalker71 said:

Nope

League winners were crowned champions all through the years I was growing up - from the 70s onwards. Then there were the end-of-season Premiership play-offs. But the league winners were champions.

Nope, who ever finished top got the league leaders trophy and then there was a play off to determine the champions. Like Dewsbury in 1973 they were champions but didn't finish top of the league.