Sat 18th Feb: World Club Challenge: Penrith Panthers v St Helens KO 7:00 (UK Time) (Sky/C4)

[Mr Frisky]

Notice a few of our resident SL haters are very quiet this morning. 

History books now show the SL champions are the best team in the world in 2023....and that Penrith just cannot beat a SL team as well.

 

[Copa]

30 minutes ago, The Future is League said:

Goose Gould was quoted as saying that Penrith would declare at half time

Goose by name goose by nature

Gould is a parochial panthers fan.

[cookey]

Comment section now open on the BBC Sport web site.

[EssexRL]

Watched the first half live then had to take the dog out for a walk and watched the second half on C4+1. Wow. What a great game and result.

[bobbruce]

18 minutes ago, tjhrads93 said:

Sorry, to add context I think that was me asking where that performance ranked in the all time greats, as in my 15 years watching it is the best.

JonM then advised there were only 2 NH clubs who went to Australia and won so it is probably the best this millennium, I don’t think it was meant to disparage the Wigan performance.

Should have saved the question for a separate, specialist thread, apologies!!

Wiganers are just like that don’t worry. 

[Mr Frisky]

3 minutes ago, cookey said:

Comment section now open on the BBC Sport web site.

Stay clear mate - the trolls will turn up soon so best to stay on here.

[cookey]

2 minutes ago, Mr Frisky said:

Stay clear mate - the trolls will turn up soon so best to stay on here.

Not if you want the BBC to retain an interest in rl. Use it or lose it,simples.

 

[Exiled Wiganer]

9 minutes ago, bobbruce said:

Wiganers are just like that don’t worry. 

That’s nice of you to put us in our place. To the victor the spoils. 

[DavidM]

Finished watching on catch up . Very pleased to be wrong Saints thoroughly deserved it with an awesome defensive showing . Penrith were fortunate to even get it to golden point 

[Niels]

31 minutes ago, Mr Frisky said:

Stay clear mate - the trolls will turn up soon so best to stay on here.

I had a look. It doesn't give a good impression.

The first comment mentioned convicts and was already liked by 17 people.

[Davo5]

1 hour ago, Old Frightful said:

Still flying the WDL flag EW?

Disappointing, you're better than that.

Or he’s simply highlighting the pointlessness of comparing the 2 outstanding performances in order to rank one above the other.

[Chrispmartha]

46 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

IMG produce Channel 4's coverage and did last season as well.

They do but it’s not the same part of the company that’s taken over SL

[bobbruce]

8 minutes ago, Davo5 said:

Or he’s simply highlighting the pointlessness of comparing the 2 outstanding performances in order to rank one above the other.

That’s why he didn’t. 

[Dunbar]

An outstanding performance and win.

WorldClubChallenge and Saints trending 1st and 3rd on Twitter

[RigbyLuger]

28 minutes ago, cookey said:

Not if you want the BBC to retain an interest in rl. Use it or lose it,simples.

 

Nah, the HYS is the most pointless thing on the BBC Sport website, and that's including the nonsense of Garth Crooks team of the week.

[Exiled Wiganer]

Still buzzing after that. The NH game needed that. Who knows if it will attract the attention of the NRL, but at least for a day they can’t write off NH rugby as a basket case. 

It also, as C4 mentioned, puts down a challenge to the rest of SL. How is it possible to become competitive with Saints?

I look at Wigan - a club with seemingly similar resources and youth set ups, and we are still nowhere in comparison (though capable of against the odds over performing one offs). In the last 25 years there have only been 2 brief periods - the MaGuire and Cunningham periods - where we have been stronger. Leeds had a purple patch, with their core of greats, but that actually glossed over the reality that week in, week out Saints were the better team. Watching them today, and comparing their team and squad with the one Wigan will go with this year, we are not even remotely close.

The rest of SL needs to try to up its game, so that by 2025 we enter a season not knowing which of a number of teams can win. I have no idea how - as Martyn Sadler wrote a couple of seasons ago, Saints are just much better at everything that goes into putting together a top side: much better recruitment, much better training, much better board, much better coaching set up, much better retention. The one time this century we were very strong was when we had the best coach in the comp, so maybe everyone’s investment should be in getting the best coach. I appreciate clubs are trying, but when they have been trying and failing for decades, something needs to change.

Today has given us all a boost. Saints won because they were better, and the result flattered the NRL team. How good would it be if we had a group of clubs as good as them?

[Taffy Tiger]

Fantastic effort Saints . Give em all a week off now(Please )

[Exiled Wiganer]

On 14/02/2023 at 19:32, graveyard johnny said:

mike tyson v buster douglas 

sheff eagles v wigan 

st helens v penrith?

This sums up the NRL = Gods mentality. For a day they can go back in their box.

[JonM]

58 minutes ago, tjhrads93 said:

Sorry, to add context I think that was me asking where that performance ranked in the all time greats, as in my 15 years watching it is the best.

JonM then advised there were only 2 NH clubs who went to Australia and won so it is probably the best this millennium, I don’t think it was meant to disparage the Wigan performance.

Yep. I've watched and supported Wigan in the flesh at a number of world club challenge games. The Wigan team of that era would've been at or near the top of the ARL. The financial disparity between them and Aussie clubs was far less than it is today.  Not even that idiot Phil Gould was talking about a cricket score when an Aussie club played Wigan - he was the coach when Penrith lost at Anfield IIRC. The gulf has widened significantly in the past 30 years. Nothing I've said has been a criticism of Wigan, so I find a couple of the responses pretty bizarre tbh.

[Just Browny]

Had to go and do something else with about 15 minutes left but weirdly pleased to see Saints got over the line. They had been the better side to that point and the forward pass disallowed was a poor decision.

[Jughead]

Absolutely incredible. I think we all knew this group was special but that’s confirmed it, to go over there and to win in their own backyard, especially against a great side like Penrith is special. What a club this is. 

[THE RED ROOSTER]

Got to hand it to St Helens, that was an exceptional performance. I thought Penrith would win but St Helens would not be disgraced by the result. they went one better against a side that the majority of the NRL teams struggle to get a result against,especially down at Blue Bet Stadium. That's the size of the achievement.

There were times in the second half when I thought Penrith would get a roll on, once they got the first try to bring it back to 6-12. Then what could have been a decisive swing when they should have been 6-18 up when Ashley Klein was the only one who thought that was a forward pass denying Saints a third try. Then for Penrith to score in the last minute.. I was gutted for St Helens and I am not one of their fans. I though the Penny Panthers were thieve a win in the Golden Point but no it was Saints who stuck at it and deserved the win.

Well played Saints you were the better side and have restored some credibilty for Northern Hemisphere Rugby League.

[Oxford]

35 minutes ago, DavidM said:

Penrith were fortunate to even get it to golden point 

When that happened I thought they might go on to win.

Great display from Saints Oz tv moved on pretty quickly making a statement of their view of the games importance.

How many times does Gus Gould have to eat his words before he thinks and then speaks?

[bobbruce]

Just now, Oxford said:

When that happened I thought they might go on to win.

Great display from Saints Oz tv moved on pretty quickly making a statement of their view of the games importance.

How many times does Gus Gould have to eat his words before he thinks and then speaks?

To be fair to them they went back to it in the half time of the next match. Which is what I think they normally do when they have games running back to back. 

[Oxford]

2 minutes ago, bobbruce said:

Which is what I think they normally do

That was my point ... it shouldn't have been "normal"