Sat 16th Jul: SL: Toulouse Olympique v Leeds Rhinos KO 19:00 (UK Time)

[ShropshireBull]

Lose your two foundation pieces at start of year and pull off a miracle.  Coach of the year stuff. 

[Harry Stottle]

19 minutes ago, The Blues Ox said:

Hard to say but they always seem to be a club living from one week to another and take away that funding which has seen no improvement in them in pretty much all their time in SL and I imagine they become just another Fax, Widnes, Bradford.

In 2023 every Championship club should be preparing in the off season and in the market place striving to finish top of the pile, as should every SL club in avoiding 12th place such is the uncertainty of what is going to happen for 2024.

[barnyia]

Salford only have 19 fit players for today with a winger on the bench?, Salford could end up with a very weakened team next week in Toulouse. And if the weather stays like this , they'll struggle. 

[M j M]

When this loss was clearly foreseen from the moment Leeds announced their squad - just read this thread from the start - why are people still surprised by it?

The Leeds performance was ok and the team did a few nice things but were always going to be up against it and so it proved.

[Chris22]

Toulouse have one home match from their last 6, so suspect they may need both wins against Salford and Hull FC in back to back home matches.

Saints play Wigan, Wakefield and Toulouse in 9 days to finish the season. Woolf has openly said he doesn't care about topping the league. I expect he'll field a reserve side against Toulouse in the final round and a full side against Wakefield, which could be hugely consequential.

[yipyee]

14 hours ago, UBranger said:

Wow , just seen the result. Go on TO. Hope they stay up. Sport entertainment indeed. Love Wakey too tho so 14 team S.L. for me.

Was you saying that when London went down, or Toronto??

[redjonn]

4 hours ago, M j M said:

When this loss was clearly foreseen from the moment Leeds announced their squad - just read this thread from the start - why are people still surprised by it?

The Leeds performance was ok and the team did a few nice things but were always going to be up against it and so it proved.

yep,  their were a lot of youngsters whom seemed to do OK but still a hit to any top 6 hopes.

Although I think Leeds wiped out a focus on top 6 with letting Walker go on loan. They will always be injuries and suspensions to cope with and not having Walker as a option could have made a difference.  Not because Walker is some sort of super player but it left Leeds more exposed as this result showed.  The decision to let him go on loan said to me lack of real believe they would make top 6 - otherwise why deplete options.

 

Edited July 17, 2022 by redjonn

[GUBRATS]

It will be a shame if Wakey end up getting relegated because too many other teams send deliberately understrength teams to Toulouse ?

[Davo5]

1 minute ago, GUBRATS said:

It will be a shame if Wakey end up getting relegated because too many other teams send deliberately understrength teams to Toulouse ?

Yeah because Toulouse are the only team in Superleague to play against an under strength opponent,apparently.

[GUBRATS]

1 minute ago, Davo5 said:

Yeah because Toulouse are the only team in Superleague to play against an under strength opponent,apparently.

I said ' deliberately ' 

I have no dog in the fight , for the good of the game I'd like Toulouse to prove that P and R can work , but also logically if Leigh did manage to get promoted , I'd rather us go up against Wakey than Toulouse ( especially if some coaches see them as a ' loss leader ) in a fight to stay in SL 

Its the integrity of the competition I'm suggesting here , if you cannot see that , fair enough 

[The Daddy]

11 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

It will be a shame if Wakey end up getting relegated because too many other teams send deliberately understrength teams to Toulouse ?

Absolute nonsense 

[Davo5]

1 hour ago, GUBRATS said:

I said ' deliberately ' 

I have no dog in the fight , for the good of the game I'd like Toulouse to prove that P and R can work , but also logically if Leigh did manage to get promoted , I'd rather us go up against Wakey than Toulouse ( especially if some coaches see them as a ' loss leader ) in a fight to stay in SL 

Its the integrity of the competition I'm suggesting here , if you cannot see that , fair enough 

So you know for definite that clubs only “deliberately”field under strength teams against Toulouse then.

Edited July 17, 2022 by Davo5

[GUBRATS]

2 minutes ago, Davo5 said:

So you know for definite that clubs only “deliberately”field underneath teams against Toulouse then.

Did you read the posts just above mine , where 2 separate poster intimated exactly that ? 

[GeordieSaint]

44 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

Did you read the posts just above mine , where 2 separate poster intimated exactly that ? 

Credible sources then. 

[M j M]

1 hour ago, redjonn said:

yep,  their were a lot of youngsters whom seemed to do OK but still a hit to any top 6 hopes.

Although I think Leeds wiped out a focus on top 6 with letting Walker go on loan. They will always be injuries and suspensions to cope with and not having Walker as a option could have made a difference.  Not because Walker is some sort of super player but it left Leeds more exposed as this result showed.  The decision to let him go on loan said to me lack of real believe they would make top 6 - otherwise why deplete options.

 

But the intent of letting Walker go was to free up salary cap to strengthen in other areas this year. Things have gone quiet on that front but they clearly want to make the 6 this year.

[GUBRATS]

15 minutes ago, GeordieSaint said:

Credible sources then. 

Its an internet message board , where people express opinions 

[PECETTO]

12 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

Its an internet message board , where people express opinions 

Disrespectful is not an opinion 

[GUBRATS]

1 minute ago, PECETTO said:

Disrespectful is not an opinion 

In you opinion 

[Dunbar]

1 hour ago, GUBRATS said:

It will be a shame if Wakey end up getting relegated because too many other teams send deliberately understrength teams to Toulouse ?

Were Wakey one of the teams that deliberately sent an understrength team to Toulouse because that would be one hell of an own goal?

[GUBRATS]

3 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

Were Wakey one of the teams that deliberately sent an understrength team to Toulouse because that would be one hell of an own goal?

No idea , I was referencing Leeds and potentially Saints in their last game , as that is what was being intimated 

[Dunbar]

1 minute ago, GUBRATS said:

No idea , I was referencing Leeds and potentially Saints in their last game , as that is what was being intimated 

Sorry, didn't realise you were commenting on something that hasn't happened yet.

Let's catch up then shall we.

[GUBRATS]

4 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

Sorry, didn't realise you were commenting on something that hasn't happened yet.

Let's catch up then shall we.

One has , Leeds , one hasn't Saints , that's why I didn't state it as a fact 

[Dunbar]

4 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

One has , Leeds , one hasn't Saints , that's why I didn't state it as a fact 

So your "too many other teams send deliberately understrength teams to Toulouse" currently stands at....

One.

[bobbruce]

9 hours ago, Harry Stottle said:

Yes but Leeds had won 4 of their last 6 games, losing out to both inform Giants and Saints away and putting 96 points on the scoreboard in their last two games, now considering you are the 'stats man' of this site I would say that is a bIt of form before going to the bottom placed club, I thought you could well have picked up on that.

Probably shows how difficult it is to play after that sort of travel. Makes what Toulouse and Catalan are doing even more impressive. 

[GeordieSaint]

44 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

Its an internet message board , where people express opinions 

Not fact then.