Sat 22 July : Betfred RL Challenge Cup Semi Final : St Helens v Leigh Leopards KO 14:30 BBC1

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

5 minutes ago, meast said:

Leigh winning SL would be a story but also a massive irony as a lot of Leigh fans have been particularly vocal and critical of "sooper dooper league" on this forum over the years.

I imagine most of them think it's great now it isn't the closed shop, chosen few clubs they believed it was.

Yep agreed but on balance it would be a great story like Leicester winning the Prem 

One of kids is completely sold on the leopards initiative .....we are going to Wembley and likely cheering them on!

[shrewsbury roughyed]

1 hour ago, Old Frightful said:

I thought she was applying for the video Ref position at the final.

[Guest]

be interesting to see how many leigh fail to bring to wembley and how much the sport loses as a result.

[GUBRATS]

2 minutes ago, Leonard said:

be interesting to see how many leigh fail to bring to wembley and how much the sport loses as a result.

Compared to Saints you mean ? , Who had the most fans yesterday ? 

 

[gingerjon]

Any Leythers looking for a hangover cure ... the match will be starting again on the BBC Red Button in a moment.

[Snowys Backside]

3 hours ago, dkw said:

Your replying with that to Harry , he makes a cyclops look less one eyed when it comes to Leigh..

I thought the passi one could be classed as reckless at worst, there's no way on earth he's meant to "do" him, it's just a player desperately doing anything to stop a try. Whether that leads to a ban is anyones guess with the roll 2 dice disciplinary board we have.

Really fair point about the Passi tackle. 
 

In no way would Asiata pinpoint a tackle in a way to injure the player and he was the first man in the collision. He does tackle, very, very low and they go down like a sack of spuds. 
 

Maybe he needs to change his technique a little ?  He got injured first half and he needs to get his head out of the way. Hard to believe he hasn’t knocked himself out yet !

I wish Passi well but no way should there be any action to an illegal attempt. What next? Can’t tackle the legs ?

[Padge]

1 hour ago, GUBRATS said:

She's a regular 

Do they sell those viewers in the Leigh club shop for all their one-eyed fans.

[Snowys Backside]

14 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

If Leigh finish bottom next year we should get relegated , if the Giants finish bottom next year ( or this) they should be relegated , you ' ok ' with this ? 

Just a point , it's not me who brought this up , I won't comment further on P and R discussion on here 

Spot on. 
 

DO NOT get rid of P and R. 
 

it’s what sport is all about !  

[Dave T]

1 hour ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

The key stat is that only 3 current SL sides have won the main prize 

Forget finals ...we need a bigger spread of champions 

Leigh winning SL would be a great start 

This is a Challenge Cuo discussion. 

[GUBRATS]

10 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Any Leythers looking for a hangover cure ... the match will be starting again on the BBC Red Button in a moment.

It's been on I player since this morning 

[GUBRATS]

12 minutes ago, Snowys Backside said:

Really fair point about the Passi tackle. 
 

In no way would Asiata pinpoint a tackle in a way to injure the player and he was the first man in the collision. He does tackle, very, very low and they go down like a sack of spuds. 
 

Maybe he needs to change his technique a little ?  He got injured first half and he needs to get his head out of the way. Hard to believe he hasn’t knocked himself out yet !

I wish Passi well but no way should there be any action to an illegal attempt. What next? Can’t tackle the legs ?

As I put earlier , James Roby injured himself tackling a dragons player last week , resulting in a HIA , his head contacted the Dragons players knee , so essentially an illegal and dangerous tackle , so he should have got a ban , or are we only banning players if the opposite player gets Injured ? 

Percival injured himself essentially head butting a Dragons player , he should have been sent off and banned 

John did 20 odd ' leg ' tackles during the game , several Saints players did more borderline head tackles during the game , so which is more dangerous to a player ? , A damaged knee , or a damaged head , maybe ask Lachlan Coote ? 

He contacted the thigh , Passi being a big heavy player had dug his foot in the pitch , accidental damage to the knee 

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

29 minutes ago, Dave T said:

This is a Challenge Cuo discussion. 

I deal with RL's issues holistically 

[GeordieSaint]

Game highlights:

Well done Leigh again. Well deserved for an outstanding effort, particularly in defence.

[Tommygilf]

On rewatching that Paasi injury, it was bad. It was reckless and not malicious, but that is also no defence. 

[meast]

55 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

If Leigh finish bottom next year we should get relegated , if the Giants finish bottom next year ( or this) they should be relegated , you ' ok ' with this ? 

Just a point , it's not me who brought this up , I won't comment further on P and R discussion on here 

Yes I totally agree that sport should be decided on the pitch, but IMG gradings have determined otherwise for next year.

I was under the impression that most Leigh fans would have been happy staying in the championship rather than the "closed shop sooper dooper greedy league"

Perceptions, purposes and knowing your place can easily change.

[daz39]

Huge well done to Leigh,they're having a fantastic season and truly deserve all the accolades they're getting.

Enjoy Wembley guys it's an unbelievable feeling to be a supporter of one of the 'smaller clubs' reaching the cup final.

Yesterday reminded me of a semi-final i attended at that ground in 2009, that was also against Saints, who were also expected to win easily and we're beaten on the day by a much more determined side

Still think those kits and that merchandise is absolutely horrible, the crowd shots looked like a 75 year olds hen do in Blackpool!!

 

 

[Dunbar]

19 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

On rewatching that Paasi injury, it was bad. It was reckless and not malicious, but that is also no defence. 

So, it was foul play in your view?

[Lowdesert]

14 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

On rewatching that Paasi injury, it was bad. It was reckless and not malicious, but that is also no defence. 

IMO he’ll get done for both. For the 1st, on Walmsley, Asiata drops his arms to lead with the shoulder.  No intention to ‘wrap’ or use his arms - straightforward shoulder charge on the leg.

For the second, I though he was just getting his body in the way and had his head in the wrong place but after watching it again, he dives in and has his head facing down to the ground before contact.  From the video, that gives strong doubt Asiata is even looking at the target.  It’s extremely careless and he has no control.

He could glean some support from the 2nd saying that he just got his head in the wrong place and his positioning was wrong but the ‘head/eyes’ down action will, again imo, condemn him.

 

[Tommygilf]

3 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

So, it was foul play in your view?

If it isn't already I expect it will be in the near future. It was reckless and had the same effect of a cannonball tackle.

[The Masked Poster]

2 hours ago, Dave T said:

I mean this is wrong. We've had Wigan, Leeds, Saints, Wire, Hull, Catalans all win in the last decade. 

That’s not really a bad turnover of winners but the perception is still that the “same old faces” win the cup. That said, Warrington weren’t in this club until relatively recently!

I think people looking for negatives like the size of the crowd, should KR win today are not seeing the wider picture. Something like ‘Rovers win cup for first time since Jurassic era’ can generate their own stories and publicity which can outweigh any smaller crowd on a given day. 

[Dunbar]

4 minutes ago, Lowdesert said:

IMO he’ll get done for both. For the 1st, on Walmsley, Asiata drops his arms to lead with the shoulder.  No intention to ‘wrap’ or use his arms - straightforward shoulder charge on the leg.

For the second, I though he was just getting his body in the way and had his head in the wrong place but after watching it again, he dives in and has his head facing down to the ground before contact.  From the video, that gives strong doubt Asiata is even looking at the target.  It’s extremely careless and he has no control.

He could glean some support from the 2nd saying that he just got his head in the wrong place and his positioning was wrong but the ‘head/eyes’ down action will, again imo, condemn him.

 

Didn't think we would ever get to the point where a tackler leading with the shoulder to the legs of a ball carrier would be a foul.

[Harry Stottle]

2 hours ago, meast said:

Quick question for the Leythers regarding the Asiata tackles- had they been by, say Knowles, Lees, Matau'tia and injured Ipape, Lam or Asiata himself, would there still be nothing wrong and the game's soft etc or would you think that 2 of your best players could be out injured due to reckless tackling techniques?

Had they been by Knowles, Lee's or Matau'tia, then they would have been performed within the rules of the game, no qualms from me.

[Harry Stottle]

13 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

If it isn't already I expect it will be in the near future. It was reckless and had the same effect of a cannonball tackle.

A cannonball tackle is performed on a man stood still being held by teammates, on both occasions Asiata is the first man in the tackle and on both occasions the tackled player is in motion.

[Futtocks]

13 minutes ago, The Masked Poster said:

That’s not really a bad turnover of winners but the perception is still that the “same old faces” win the cup.

Add in the variety of losing finalists, and it is a lot healthier than many other sports.

[The Masked Poster]

Just now, Futtocks said:

Add in the variety of losing finalists, and it is a lot healthier than many other sports.

Yeah definitely. I really think we need a new SLGF winner, quite badly actually. But the cup is pretty good for different winners.