Sat 19th Aug: SL: Leigh Leopards v Catalans Dragons KO 15:00 (Sky)

[graveyard johnny]

Gildart looks like one reject too far 

[Zilla Budgie]

9 minutes ago, graveyard johnny said:

Gildart looks like one reject too far 

Will be interesting to see if he keeps his place for next week. I'd rather have seen Keenan Brand or young Hanley given a game, if Chamberlain was definitely being 18th man.

Edited August 19, 2023 by Zilla Budgie

[georgeb1]

36 minutes ago, JonNgog said:

Reynolds is a weak link in this Leigh team.

The guys exceeded all expectations this season , give him a break.

[Barry Badrinath]

Can sky stop being cheap and get a proper little box/studio like they used to have that sheltered them a bit from some of the bloody pa/stadium noise while they're presenting

[Snowys Backside]

Catalans a good solid side, but defensively very frail. They will win SL but not the GF in my opinion which is a shame because they probably deserve it. 
 

Leigh still celebrating last week which epitomises why I bet against my home town club giving 6 but why not. Just need to finish 4th which may not be a bad position to finish in. 
 

After all, we have been known to stuff the dragons away. 
 

Hope Charnley is ok, but he looks goosed. Nesbitt or Hanley may get a run for a few weeks. Looks good on TV here in Spain and well done Cats. 

[Dunbar]

4 minutes ago, Snowys Backside said:

Catalans a good solid side, but defensively very frail.

Really? I think they are one of the best defensive units in the league and significantly improved on recent years.

[DavidM]

Enjoyable game . Catalans look strong to me , I expect them to make the Grand  Final . Pearce guides them round expertly and May compliments him well

[Snowys Backside]

14 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

Really? I think they are one of the best defensive units in the league and significantly improved on recent years.

Maybe but just my opinion and I’m not ruling Leigh out who scored 30 in Catalans. Warrington, Salford,Wigan, Saints and even Leeds will all cause them issues. 

[Harry Stottle]

In my opinion Catalans are the best team to have come to Leigh for a long time and most definatley this season, and in Mitchell Pierce the best organiser if not player, and like some posters suggest Cats are weak defensively I can't agree with that, Leigh threw a lot at them including a couple of moves I had not seen before which would have resulted in tries  against most other teams in the division, needless to say I was very impressed with Catalan.

[Dunbar]

6 minutes ago, Snowys Backside said:

Maybe but just my opinion and I’m not ruling Leigh out who scored 30 in Catalans. Warrington, Salford,Wigan, Saints and even Leeds will all cause them issues. 

Fair enough.  But I think you may have overdone the rhetoric with 'very frail' defensively.

[Tommygilf]

42 minutes ago, Barry Badrinath said:

Can sky stop being cheap and get a proper little box/studio like they used to have that sheltered them a bit from some of the bloody pa/stadium noise while they're presenting

Its in vogue to present pitchside now (and cheaper I'd imagine) loads of sports including a fair bit of football do it.

[Snowys Backside]

1 minute ago, Dunbar said:

Fair enough.  But I think you may have overdone the rhetoric with 'very frail' defensively.

We will see. 
 

I say ‘very frail’ because I think they will get pasted and that’s because of their discipline. 
 

Again. My opinion, but the League, they deserve it

[Barry Badrinath]

31 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

Its in vogue to present pitchside now (and cheaper I'd imagine) loads of sports including a fair bit of football do it.

They were up in the back of the stand in the presenting area, but still open air, it's been awful and inaudible, Eddie and Stevo used to have a little box built.

 

The stadiums have to take some blame as well, very often its so loud the players have trouble hearing during the post match interviews 

[phiggins]

2 hours ago, Zilla Budgie said:

Will be interesting to see if he keeps his place for next week. I'd rather have seen Keenan Brand or young Hanley given a game, if Chamberlain was definitely being 18th man.

I think both Hanley and Brand are injured. 
 

We rarely play through the centres in attack, so gildart won’t be effective, Chamberlain probably deserved to keep his place to be honest 

[phiggins]

2 hours ago, georgeb1 said:

The guys exceeded all expectations this season , give him a break.

The team has, but if we had a goal kicker elsewhere in the team, he wouldn’t be in the side. His general play isn’t great.

[redjonn]

1 hour ago, Tommygilf said:

Its in vogue to present pitchside now (and cheaper I'd imagine) loads of sports including a fair bit of football do it.

yep its certainly in vogue... but in some cases its dreadful...  maybe start a vogue to be back in the studio for some parts when doing the anaiysis. Although to be fair you dont tend to get much analysis except from the Wells section and Wilkins.

Incidentally the Wells bit with Tomkins was excellent, a pity it couldn't continue as it was getting to be really interesting and had great explanations by Tomkins - hopefully he keeps in the game upon his retirement.

[phiggins]

10 hours ago, LeytherRob said:

Capacity is around 9700, I asked DB directly yesterday. We were at around 9k sold yesterday afternoon so with walk ups should be looking to break the record set earlier this year against Wigan

Crowd was less than 9k in the end.  But disappointing to be honest, the club should’ve done more to capitalise on the big crowds celebrating last Sunday, but waited till Monday night to promote the game. Shame really. 

[Snowys Backside]

9 minutes ago, phiggins said:

Crowd was less than 9k in the end.  But disappointing to be honest, the club should’ve done more to capitalise on the big crowds celebrating last Sunday, but waited till Monday night to promote the game. Shame really. 

Spot on. Already been elaborated on but should have sold out with the parade. Missed opportunity. Leigh need to target 4th because it’s the highest we will finish. Still outstanding, but the CC is now History. 

[LeeF]

2 hours ago, Dunbar said:

Really? I think they are one of the best defensive units in the league and significantly improved on recent years.

They are very good defensively and actually don’t mind giving penalties away as they back their defence something which hasn’t been the case in past years. 

[phiggins]

53 minutes ago, Snowys Backside said:

Spot on. Already been elaborated on but should have sold out with the parade. Missed opportunity. Leigh need to target 4th because it’s the highest we will finish. Still outstanding, but the CC is now History. 

Irritated me more than the game. The poster, with QR code had already been produced before the final. Needed a few thousand printed off and some old fashioned flyering last Sunday.

On the game, we were never going to win. Worrying seeing Asiata limping at full time. If he’s injured, then Mellor has to move to stand off. Can’t have Davis at 13 and Reynolds at 6 and expect to score too many points. 

[ATLANTISMAN]

3 hours ago, Harry Stottle said:

In my opinion Catalans are the best team to have come to Leigh for a long time and most definatley this season, and in Mitchell Pierce the best organiser if not player, and like some posters suggest Cats are weak defensively I can't agree with that, Leigh threw a lot at them including a couple of moves I had not seen before which would have resulted in tries  against most other teams in the division, needless to say I was very impressed with Catalan.

Fair comment Harry just back at our hotel in Warrington fantastic day.

Derek on good form Jill fantastic Mike as always a pleasure to visit Leigh.

Off to the Broncos tomorrow then back to France/Spain next Thursday for Dragons v Borough of Wigan Reserves:)

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

2 hours ago, redjonn said:

Incidentally the Wells bit with Tomkins was excellent, a pity it couldn't continue as it was getting to be really interesting and had great explanations by Tomkins - hopefully he keeps in the game upon his retirement.

I agree.  Wells said he was ending his conversation with Tomkins because their time was up, after which we got some not very lucid chat from the three in the open air, studio box.  Why the producer didn't make an instant decision to keep with Wells and Tomkins, at the expense of the Brian/Barry/Phil chat, I don't know.

Yes, Tomkins will remain in the game when he hangs up his boots.  he is staying at Catalans in a non-playing capacity: for one thing, I think he enjoys the lifestyle in the south of France; for another, he has said how much he values his children growing up to be comfortably bilingual.  I would be surprised if that new role at Les Dracs, however it turns out, didn't give him even more leeway than this season to do TV work.

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

18 hours ago, Barry Badrinath said:

Can sky stop being cheap and get a proper little box/studio like they used to have that sheltered them a bit from some of the bloody pa/stadium noise while they're presenting

Totally disagree 

I had been saying for years that they should move to pitch side presentation and I'm so pleased they have done so this season 

It gives such a better feel to the coverage 

[Barry Badrinath]

5 hours ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

Totally disagree 

I had been saying for years that they should move to pitch side presentation and I'm so pleased they have done so this season 

It gives such a better feel to the coverage 

This wasn't pitchside, and you couldn't hear them? What's so good about that? 

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

1 hour ago, Barry Badrinath said:

This wasn't pitchside, and you couldn't hear them? What's so good about that? 

Just watched the build up and see what you mean now.......you can still hear them ok 

I think on the past they have put a not of what looks like scratched perspex up in those boxes?...always thought it looked rubbish 

Prefer them pitch side standing up amongst it.....adds to the atmosphere