Saints domination - boring?

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

It's looking like they will walk both competitions again 

I enjoy watching them to an extent but they are just too dominant over all other teams.

For me it's bad for the game....I have no answers how to fix it by the way

 

[JM2010]

What are Saints doing as a club that others aren't?

The salary cap prevents one team signing all the best players so how come they're so dominant?

 

[FearTheVee]

I would rephrase the point.

Saints dominating is not the issue, it's other big clubs being horribly poorly run that is the issue.

Hull, Leeds, Wigan, Wire - all performing way below potential as a result of years of poor decisions.

Plus - we've won nothing yet.  And people keep telling me Saints have just been lucky with injuries so the current run of knocks will surely mean we disappear . . . .

Edited April 20, 2022 by FearTheVee

[gingerjon]

13 minutes ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

It's looking like they will walk both competitions again 

I enjoy watching them to an extent but they are just too dominant over all other teams.

For me it's bad for the game....I have no answers how to fix it by the way

 

It's April.

[Damien]

I don't think its boring, its up to other teams to step up and get their houses in order. There' s been different teams getting to the finals which I have liked and none have been walkovers, with different Challenge Cup winners and a try or less difference in the last two Grand Finals. I personally found the St Helens v Leeds consecutive Grand Finals (4 in 5 years) far more boring.

There's still a long way to go too this season too.

[corvusxiii]

3 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

What are Saints doing as a club that others aren't?

The salary cap prevents one team signing all the best players so how come they're so dominant?

 

Not sure if this is the question being asked.

Quite often the suggestion is that if the dominant team/teams are better than the also ran fodder then there is no argument because they are the best. And the best should be winning. Deflecting the question.

I was brutalised by Wigan in the 80's-90's and it didn't work for me. As a competition it didn't seem to be functioning at all well.

What doesn't help is the 'God Given Right' attitude that creeps in but this is a common enough human trait.

As for St Helens, don't mind them at all as a team/club but yeah, the big SL stories rarely involve the finals.

[RigbyLuger]

It would be boring if they were a dull team to watch.

[Jughead]

I don’t think it’s a bad thing, providing Saints do actually go on to win more trophies this year, which is by no means a guarantee with Catalans Dragons, Wigan and even Hull KR and Huddersfield in their way.

The Wigan side of the eighties and early nineties and Leeds Rhinos’ “Golden Generation” are two examples of great sides and great eras where their achievements transcended the sport. Another side having a similar spell would not be a bad thing, IMO. 

 

[DavidM]

In SL and a lesser extent the NRL the same teams tend to be at the top , so what’s the point of the salary cap ?

[Damien]

1 minute ago, DavidM said:

In SL and a lesser extent the NRL the same teams tend to be at the top , so what’s the point of the salary cap ?

So that the same teams stay at the top but spend less money doing so.

[Gillmeister80]

I think its great that we have a team thats finally raised the bar for the competition and its on the other clubs who now have to rasie there standards or be left behind.

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

1 hour ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

It's looking like they will walk both competitions again 

I enjoy watching them to an extent but they are just too dominant over all other teams.

For me it's bad for the game....I have no answers how to fix it by the way

 

Both Leeds and Saints have won the Grand Final 8 times. They achieved this by developing lots of young players and keeping the best of these long term while signing good quality overseas players. Leeds got it right and now Saints are, it’s up to the other clubs to step up and do the same, the salary cap means all Super League clubs are spending the same on wages, Saints golden period will come to an end.

[Davo5]

The only thing that’s boring is the continuing ineptitude both on & off the pitch of the other leading clubs.

[Jughead]

For anyone who thinks it is boring, Saints will probably lose to Cas this weekend, as Saints have named a very inexperienced squad. 

[FearTheVee]

1 minute ago, Jughead said:

For anyone who thinks it is boring, Saints will probably lose to Cas this weekend, as Saints have named a very inexperienced squad. 

Smart move by Saints, and a direct consequence of the daft Easter schedule (on the back of a knock out game in the South of France and the shortest overall turnaround of all clubs as far as Saints are concerned).

[DavidM]

To me it’s a mix of Saints being really good and the rest being not great and largely inconsistent . If I’m honest I watch SL and outside Saints I feel often the standard really isn’t all that hot 

[Exiled Wiganer]

Saints naming a weakened squad is actually a reflection on the extent of their dominance. 

What intrigues me is that, looking over the last 25 years, Saints have been far far away better than Wigan every year, aside from Maguire’s and KC’s reigns. And yet the perception is still Bad Wigan’s Success Must be Stopped! Their success - often under Woolf being efficient rather than as spectacular as they could be (and thank God, because if they went full on they would put 50 past most teams most weeks). And yet 1) they have pulled off the trick of fooling Wiganers into thinking the derby is still a contest and 2) if here is representative, they have a universally fawning set of neutral fans - though I exempt some Wire fans in this. You’d never need a SDL, because the likes of DKW instinctively snuff out opposition at birth. That is some trick to pull off. 

Whereas, it looks pretty much certain that Saints will win the big prizes and the LLS if they can be bothered, for 4 in a row. With no end in sight - from Wigan’s perspective, we could possibly be competitive in 24, Leeds may need even longer (I don’t follow them closely enough). To pull off crushing dominance year after year, decade after decade, and still give the pretence of being one of the gang is some achievement. 

Edited April 20, 2022 by Exiled Wiganer

[dkw]

9 minutes ago, Exiled Wiganer said:

Saints naming a weakened squad is actually a reflection on the extent of their dominance. 

What intrigues me is that, looking over the last 25 years, Saints have been far far away better than Wigan every year, aside from Maguire’s and KC’s reigns. And yet the perception is still Bad Wigan’s Success Must be Stopped! Their success - often under Woolf being efficient rather than as spectacular as they could be (and thank God, because if they went full on they would put 50 past most teams most weeks). And yet 1) they have pulled off the trick of fooling Wiganers into thinking the derby is still a contest and 2) if here is representative, they have a universally fawning set of neutral fans - though I exempt some Wire fans in this. You’d never need a SDL, because the likes of DKW instinctively snuff out opposition at birth. That is some trick to pull off. 

Whereas, it looks pretty much certain that Saints will win the big prizes and the LLS if they can be bothered, for 4 in a row. With no end in sight - from Wigan’s perspective, we could possibly be competitive in 24, Leeds may need even longer (I don’t follow them closely enough). To pull off crushing dominance year after year, decade after decade, and still give the pretence of being one of the gang is some achievement. 

[ATLANTISMAN]

Personally when Wigan dominated i found it much better to watch as they were packed full of superstars and just seemed to keep signing new ones to keep the interest going.

 

Paul.

[FearTheVee]

5 minutes ago, ATLANTISMAN said:

Personally when Wigan dominated i found it much better to watch as they were packed full of superstars and just seemed to keep signing new ones to keep the interest going.

 

Paul.

I suppose we could do that, but we quite like our stadium

[EastLondonMike]

Probably not at all boring if you are a Saints fan. People said the same back in the late 80's/early 90's when Wigan dominated. As a Wigan fan I found it great, and those teams were largely responsible for my interest and subsequent passion for the game of RL. 

Saints fans may disagree, but IMO they are just a good side. Not great, but a decent side who look comfortable against the current standard of other SL teams. The standards in SL currently (again only my opinion) are pretty low, so the onus is most definitely on the rest of the teams to improve themselves on the pitch, and improve the quality of their junior development and production of talent, not just to the current levels of Saints, but beyond and to a much higher standard.

Edited April 20, 2022 by EastLondonMike

[Hughsehhh]

Saints have been really good for a consistent period now (the Cunningham years, remember them?). They just seem to get better and better each year, the small percentage increases across the board, whereas other teams have stood still or shuffled along.

I think saints are that good, they'd probably be the third best team in the NRL right now

 

[Tony Angelino]

3 hours ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

It's looking like they will walk both competitions again 

I enjoy watching them to an extent but they are just too dominant over all other teams.

For me it's bad for the game....I have no answers how to fix it by the way

 

I totally agree and I’m a saints fan all be it not a very dedicated one.

I felt the same way when wigan was winning everything in the early to mid 90’s.

[FearTheVee]

Strong words from Woolf re: the squad for Friday:

"The French trip takes a lot out of you and we put a lot in that game to make sure we got a win there. We were on a short turn around with that travel going into the biggest game of the year on Good Friday, the derby. A big game, a bruising game and emotionally takes it out of you.

Then a two-day turn around which is the shortest in the competition to come out and beat a strong and committed Huddersfield side.

That’s three games in nine days against the teams sitting second, third and fourth. That takes a lot out of you. I wasn’t prepared to turn around and ask our players to play another game on another short turnaround which would mean playing four games in 13 days.

I think what it is, is we have a competition that doesn’t really protect the players. And when we’ve got that I need to make decisions to make sure I’m protecting my players.”

[Tony Angelino]

3 hours ago, ATLANTISMAN said:

Personally when Wigan dominated i found it much better to watch as they were packed full of superstars and just seemed to keep signing new ones to keep the interest going.

 

Paul.

Wigan raiding RU was a big benefit too.