Fri 8th Mar: SL: St Helens v Salford Red Devils KO 20:00 (Sky/SuperLeague+)

[GeordieSaint]

11 hours ago, bobbruce said:

Well done Salford they certainly play the game the right way and just wore Saints down in the end. 

So exciting and enjoyable to watch. Extremely good value and thoroughly deserved their win last night. I think we would have won if Percival hadn’t been sent off - but that was his own fault for a rash challenge you simply can’t make nowadays. Well done Salford and I hope their fans enjoy it - well deserved. 

[bobbruce]

8 hours ago, WN83 said:

Great win by Salford. The job Rowley is doing and the way guys like Brierley and Sneyd are stepping up is something to behold. 
 

As for Saints, I’ve only seen snippets of them before tonight. They’re a handful in the middle but they still don’t look hugely threatening when they move the ball wide. There’s a definite lack of pace in the side. On the plus side, it’s good to see Lewis Dodd finding some confidence/form. 

Makes you wonder what Rowley would do with the Saints or Leeds squads. 

[JonNgog]

12 minutes ago, bobbruce said:

Makes you wonder what Rowley would do with the Saints or Leeds squads. 

Saints’ forward pack and intensity with the attacking style of Rowley would be quite something.But it’s good for the league that he keeps Salford competitive.

[dkw]

I thought the red was harsh at first, but the slow mo showed it was fully justified, was reckless and contacted the head.  It would have been a red before the new protocols.

Great stuff by Salford to go at them after the saints try, some lovely trys and plays, they're fun to watch.

[Just Browny]

12 hours ago, Just Browny said:

Salford's game seems to be based on miracle passes, which seems a bit odd even when they land one because their wingers are both slow.

It seemed to take Salford 10-15 minutes to work out how to damage Saints when they were down to 12.

Instead of the low percentage crash balls in traffic they started the second half with, the whole attacking line stepped back 5-10m (almost in an old fashioned way) and they were able to stretch the defence every which way. By the last 10 minutes the Saints forwards legs had completely gone to jelly.

[Barry Badrinath]

59 minutes ago, bobbruce said:

Makes you wonder what Rowley would do with the Saints or Leeds squads. 

Its not exactly the same but you've got the examples of Watson at Huddersfield and how thata going and Powell at warrington.

 

Perceived good coaches at smaller clubs with good reps. There's a difference working on a smaller budget with smaller expectations 

[dkw]

27 minutes ago, Just Browny said:

It seemed to take Salford 10-15 minutes to work out how to damage Saints when they were down to 12.

Instead of the low percentage crash balls in traffic they started the second half with, the whole attacking line stepped back 5-10m (almost in an old fashioned way) and they were able to stretch the defence every which way. By the last 10 minutes the Saints forwards legs had completely gone to jelly.

Always amazes me when teams don't adjust the way they're playing when the opposition go down a man. Just go wing to wing as much as possible, run their legs off, top teams can handle defending up the middle when down a player.

[Phil]

12 hours ago, redsi42 said:

 

Wilkins should not commentate on saints games such a sycophant. 

Absolutely, as my daughter says when he’s doing his wife he makes her wear a Welsby mask

[Chronicler of Chiswick]

11 hours ago, Hammerless Nail said:

Your Salford predictions are more performance art than prediction aren't they?

Indeed.

[Lowdesert]

18 minutes ago, Barry Badrinath said:

Its not exactly the same but you've got the examples of Watson at Huddersfield and how thata going and Powell at warrington.

 

Perceived good coaches at smaller clubs with good reps. There's a difference working on a smaller budget with smaller expectations 

Three different things.  Managing a budget,  coaching players and fanbase expectations.  Which one is it?  

Other than skill, speed and compatibility a key factor is player/ego management.  He might find it different at Saints but I think Rowley has always been an excellent attacking coach and an ever improving all-round coach.
 

 

[Harry Stottle]

8 hours ago, DG70 said:

clearly the coach is one of the best in the SL given what he has to work with, you just have to admire the club, given all the adversity that goes with it.

Not one of the best, I think proven to be the best, Can't think of any other coach who can make silk purses out of sows ears the way Paul Rowley does, just imagine if he had the backing enjoyed by Peet, Wellens and Rohan Smith.

[Harry Stottle]

1 hour ago, dkw said:

thought the red was harsh at first, but the slow mo showed it was fully justified, was reckless and contacted the head. 

You have the better of me I haven't seen the incident with Percival, but please explain how it differs from the incidents you condone in the other thread you have posted in numerous times.

[Harry Stottle]

47 minutes ago, Barry Badrinath said:

Its not exactly the same but you've got the examples of Watson at Huddersfield .

Barry do you not recall that Watson had been in charge of a very low performing Salford team for 3 to 4 years, then they suddenly miraculously change into a very astute well organised offensive unit, coincidentally that happened with the arrival of Paul Rowley to Salford as assistant coach, Watson got all the accolades and got head hunted by Huddersfield, given loads of money to spend on his squad but could not reproduce what his charges at Salford did, Rowley stays at Salford and they play the same way even with changes in personal usually ones surplus to requirements at other clubs. Who in your opinion is the better coach?

 

[Chrispmartha]

17 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

You have the better of me I haven't seen the incident with Percival, but please explain how it differs from the incidents you condone in the other thread you have posted in numerous times.

Percival hits him with a shoulder to the head whilst not really making an attempt at a tackle, they are not comparable.

[dkw]

39 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

You have the better of me I haven't seen the incident with Percival, but please explain how it differs from the incidents you condone in the other thread you have posted in numerous times.

Oh I don't know, maybe by being completely different.....

[Chris22]

Thought we were in control until Percival's red card. I don't see that as an excuse though, I would expect us to be good enough to win even with 12 men when we had a 14 point lead. We made some mistakes and Salford were good enough to execute and finish those chances.

Sneyd was excellent and I thought Salford's expansive tactics worked very well against us and I expect Leeds will use a similar approach next week. From our perspective, Dodd has had a really strong start to the season which has been great to see. 

[Chrispmartha]

5 minutes ago, Chris22 said:

Thought we were in control until Percival's red card. I don't see that as an excuse though, I would expect us to be good enough to win even with 12 men when we had a 14 point lead. We made some mistakes and Salford were good enough to execute and finish those chances.

Sneyd was excellent and I thought Salford's expansive tactics worked very well against us and I expect Leeds will use a similar approach next week. From our perspective, Dodd has had a really strong start to the season which has been great to see. 

Yes Dodd has looked a lot better from what I’ve seen, Lomax doesn’t seem as effective though?

Clarke was just the type of hooker Saints needed.

One thing that’s stood out is I think Saints are lacking some pace, Im not convinced Bennison is a winger either.

not seen a lot but from what i have seen Mby and Blake look disinterested and sluggish 

[DG70]

1 hour ago, Harry Stottle said:

Not one of the best, I think proven to be the best, Can't think of any other coach who can make silk purses out of sows ears the way Paul Rowley does, just imagine if he had the backing enjoyed by Peet, Wellens and Rohan Smith.

Agreed, perhaps some kind of backing is what he is eventually hoping to get at Salford and the reason he is still there.

[GeordieSaint]

28 minutes ago, Chrispmartha said:

Yes Dodd has looked a lot better from what I’ve seen, Lomax doesn’t seem as effective though?

Clarke was just the type of hooker Saints needed.

One thing that’s stood out is I think Saints are lacking some pace, Im not convinced Bennison is a winger either.

not seen a lot but from what i have seen Mby and Blake look disinterested and sluggish 

Bennison was poor last night. He has done well in recent times. But he also lacks pace. I’d be picking Ritson or blooding one of the other kids like Sambou if I was Wellens. 

Pleased with Dodd and delighted with Clarke and Whitley. But yep, jury is out on Mbye and I’ll wait to pass judgment on Blake until we see him on a dry track. He does bring much needed pace to the backline but Lafai stood him up badly for the winning try… awful defence.

[johnh1]

3 hours ago, bobbruce said:

Makes you wonder what Rowley would do with the Saints or Leeds squads. 

Don't go there.

[Chrispmartha]

8 minutes ago, GeordieSaint said:

Bennison was poor last night. He has done well in recent times. But he also lacks pace. I’d be picking Ritson or blooding one of the other kids like Sambou if I was Wellens. 

Pleased with Dodd and delighted with Clarke and Whitley. But yep, jury is out on Mbye and I’ll wait to pass judgment on Blake until we see him on a dry track. He does bring much needed pace to the backline but Lafai stood him up badly for the winning try… awful defence.

To be fair to Blake (and we’re seeing it a bit with Momirosvki) it does often take imports a month or so to settle in, it’s a big change for them.

[Chrispmartha]

1 minute ago, johnh1 said:

Don't go there.

Doesn’t always translate, some coaches are excellent at getting the best out of ‘lesser teams’ so to speak.

When they go to bigger clubs with different expectations it can go badly - see Daryl Powell

[Dave T]

15 hours ago, redsi42 said:

Coverage was rubbish constantly getting Salford players mixed up.

Wilkins should not commentate on saints games such a sycophant. 

Players mixed up has been a common theme of this year, it's weird, these are professional commentators. 

In a couple of games I've wondered whether they've been commentating remotely, away from the stadium, but I don't think that's the case. 

[Stanley30]

Thought Welsby was on full grub mode last night. He really is an obnoxious human being. 

Compared to Lomax who seems to just ooze class and professionalism. 

 

[Barry Badrinath]

1 hour ago, Dave T said:

Players mixed up has been a common theme of this year, it's weird, these are professional commentators. 

In a couple of games I've wondered whether they've been commentating remotely, away from the stadium, but I don't think that's the case. 

I thought that about the warrington game on Thurs, a lot of the audio seems more reminiscent of the catalans home games when sky talk over their footage.

 

Wouldn't surprise me for the Friday nights when there's a lot of games on.

 

One other thing, has baz left sky now? Despite them needing more on air voices, I cant recall hearing him, he has however been on the BBC last week