York beat Saints !

[RBKnight]

Magnificent performance by York City Knights Ladies to beat St Helens today (remember that this Saints side haven't lost since 2019!)

York strangled the life out of Saints, battering and tackling them out of the match, so much so that a few Saints forwards spat their dummies out around the 50 minute mark. Feted Saints players like Cunningham and Hardcastle failed to make a mark, whilst the York pack, lead by Grace Field, Sinead Peach and Hollie Dodd, were really dominant. Tara Stanley pulled all the strings behind the pack.

This result really opens up the comp - go Knights Ladies ! 

 

[BroncoFan]

The best womens super league played with high intensity.

[meast]

I watched York beat Huddersfield last week by 50-6 and they were a joy at times, we all know how they acquired some of the better players from another club but some of their play was outstanding, they have pace, power, and talent all over the field.

Despite feeling a bit deflated for the Giants girls, the likes of Tara Jane Stanley, Sinead Peach, Hollie Dodd, Katie Langan, Emma Kershaw were a joy to watch at times. 

I was also sat with Savannah Andrade's parents and they were pretty coy about her talents, but she's flipping good too!

Edited May 23, 2022 by meast

[haskey]

It is a joy for a top team to come unstuck.  it is a good thing that sometimes teams get beat and should make them feel that they are only human like the rest of us.

[RBKnight]

For those not lucky enough to watch it live, or on the Sportsman Channel, below is a link to the sort of shuddering tackles that York put in all game to keep Saints pinned in their own half for vast spells of the game ...... 

 

[Richard de la Riviere]

I couldn’t watch this live but watched it today on YouTube. Wow! What a fabulous game. Probably the best women’s game I’ve seen, although I’ve only been watching for a year. 
TJS is phenomenal. Her kicking is incredible. Her left foot step is reminiscent of Freddy Fittler’s! So many other York players played well but I was impressed with Savannah Andrade moving into the forwards and Sinead Peach who may have had a point to prove re the England squad. 
Saints still played well. Another 80 mins from Channy Crowl, who is a machine. And Zoe Harris is just getting better and better. I love watching her play.  

[unapologetic pedant]

The knights conceded some set restarts with niggly pointless second efforts late in the tackle count. Ref was right on each occasion. Could have cost them. Something for Lindsay Anfield to sort out.

This is RL, so the focus will be on the big hits. For me though, York`s scrambled defence was more significant. Saints made a number of breaks and half breaks that were covered and extinguished without penalties or sin-bins.

After one such clean break from Emily Rudge, TJS wrapped her up then made another good tackle on the next play, both times showing excellent technique to quickly spin round into marker. Summed up the game she had.

Another key moment similarly encompassing good play from both teams was Liv Whitehead taking Leah Burke over the side-line after the latter`s terrific arcing run.

From an England perspective, the difficulty our top club side had in finding a plan B is a little disconcerting. The same happened in the defeat to PNG in Port Moresby when that game turned against us. In the 2017 WC, we created next to nothing with ball in hand against Australia and New Zealand. Likewise the World 9s in 2019. 

BTW, a fact overlooked by those speculating on how well or otherwise we might go against the Jillaroos is that England are highly unlikely to play them in the tournament. Assuming we win our group, unless the Kiwi Ferns turn the Jillaroos over in their group game the semi will be England v NZ.

And it`s hard to envisage us getting past the Kiwi Ferns. There`s maybe a chance if their squad consists of all NZ-based players. But a lot have crossed the ditch and are products of Australian systems. Some may commit to Oz to further their SOO ambitions, but most should be available for NZ.

Edited May 25, 2022 by unapologetic pedant

[BroncoFan]

Looking forward to York v Leeds next week, who are you tipping ?

[RBKnight]

16 hours ago, BroncoFan said:

Looking forward to York v Leeds next week, who are you tipping ?

I expect another very close game - bit of a sense of grievance at York over the last two losses to Leeds (blatant hair-pull on Savanna Andrade in last year's Super League semi in front of touch judge which went unpunished, then Leeds go up the other end and score.... then the disallowed try to win the game at Elland Rd this year ) so I expect them to be even more fired up than they were against Saints.

Leeds present a slightly different challenge to Saints (who are not used to being bested in the forwards, and looked a bit nonplussed at York when they were shut down). In Winfield-Hill and Roche, they have two outstanding half-backs who can win the game for them, even behind a beaten pack.

Knights will be hoping for the return of Rhiannon Marshall and Katie Langan for the fixture - not sure about Kelsey Gentles, whose arm was in a sling at the Saints game after a freak hand injury in training.

[unapologetic pedant]

On 28/05/2022 at 22:13, RBKnight said:

 then the disallowed try to win the game this year

Not much to say about York/Leeds from Sunday, so might as well have a belated chunter about the above-mentioned incident.

It was classic Rugby League - great moment, instantly ruined. Would never happen in RU for the reasons repeatedly adduced on numerous other threads that phantom forward passes are called in League where in Union it wouldn`t enter anyone`s head that there was a problem.

We seem to suffer more from this in women`s RL. Probable explanation is that refs and touch judges all appear to be less experienced. They haven`t yet had their brain cleared of RL crowd culture.

Young officials appointed to women`s games should be told - "Don`t look for things to call. Just read the rulebook, think about what it says, and play on, play on, play on, play on."

[unapologetic pedant]

On 25/05/2022 at 16:33, unapologetic pedant said:

BTW, a fact overlooked by those speculating on how well or otherwise we might go against the Jillaroos is that England are highly unlikely to play them in the tournament. Assuming we win our group, unless the Kiwi Ferns turn the Jillaroos over in their group game the semi will be England v NZ.

Watching the Women`s Soccer Euros has got me again questioning the group compositions in the women`s RLWC. Home success is important for a tournament. But will England beating Brazil, PNG, and Canada generate much interest before the semis? Would it not have been better to place England and Australia in the same group and launch with a game between those two teams? On one side of the ledger, we could have been smashed off the park. On the other, it could have been a special occasion, pulling the size of crowd the media and public would notice.

England have played Australia once at 13-a-side since 2013. Can only hope things don`t pan out the way I`m expecting. To have the Jillaroos in the UK without playing England will be a huge missed opportunity. In any event, the RFL/NRL must prioritize bringing them back next year for a 3-match series.

[RigbyLuger]

3 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

Watching the Women`s Soccer Euros has got me again questioning the group compositions in the women`s RLWC. Home success is important for a tournament. But will England beating Brazil, PNG, and Canada generate much interest before the semis? Would it not have been better to place England and Australia in the same group and launch with a game between those two teams? On one side of the ledger, we could have been smashed off the park. On the other, it could have been a special occasion, pulling the size of crowd the media and public would notice.

England have played Australia once at 13-a-side since 2013. Can only hope things don`t pan out the way I`m expecting. To have the Jillaroos in the UK without playing England will be a huge missed opportunity. In any event, the RFL/NRL must prioritize bringing them back next year for a 3-match series.

We'd get smashed. The Brazil game is selling well, regardless of the fact that England will win easily.

[gingerjon]

4 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

Watching the Women`s Soccer Euros has got me again questioning the group compositions in the women`s RLWC. Home success is important for a tournament. But will England beating Brazil, PNG, and Canada generate much interest before the semis? Would it not have been better to place England and Australia in the same group and launch with a game between those two teams? On one side of the ledger, we could have been smashed off the park. On the other, it could have been a special occasion, pulling the size of crowd the media and public would notice.

England have played Australia once at 13-a-side since 2013. Can only hope things don`t pan out the way I`m expecting. To have the Jillaroos in the UK without playing England will be a huge missed opportunity. In any event, the RFL/NRL must prioritize bringing them back next year for a 3-match series.

It's vital for any interest in the women's competition (which will be overshadowed by the men's at all stages) that England stay in for as long as possible. They absolutely do have to have some games that they should win and win easily in preference to a tournament-destroying early loss to Australia.

[unapologetic pedant]

3 hours ago, RigbyLuger said:

We'd get smashed. The Brazil game is selling well, regardless of the fact that England will win easily.

 

2 hours ago, gingerjon said:

 They absolutely do have to have some games that they should win and win easily in preference to a tournament-destroying early loss to Australia.

Even if we had copped a heavy defeat from the Jillaroos in the opener, we should still have comfortably won our other two games, finished second in the group, then met the Kiwi Ferns in the semi since they would almost certainly have topped the other group. 

The only downside difference would have been a realization of the gap between us and the Aussies. That`s surely better than risking not playing them at all.