Superleague 2017

[joxby]

Well, its that time of year, the "friendly's" are over and done with, half your team got injured in em but the new season is about to start.
Its pretty open at the top, I expect the usual 4 or 5 suspects to be in the mix come the split.....except Leeds.....*snigger*
Anyway, here's Johnny Vegas naming the good ship SuperLeague and smashing a bottle of shampers over its head..

 

[Marc]

Saw this earlier, Saints fans are asking if he can do the team talk.

I think Leeds will certainly be a lot stronger this year, not sure if they'll challenge though. Injuries from "friendlies"? Matty Smith out for 10 weeks with a broken leg! :banghead:

Looking forward to seeing how well Leigh do and I have a feeling Salford will do well.

You a Wakey man John?

 

[joxby]

Saw this earlier, Saints fans are asking if he can do the team talk.

I know....I lol'd
I think it was the dirty Gilbert ball that did it, that'll never fly at the BBC.

I think Leeds will certainly be a lot stronger this year, not sure if they'll challenge though. Injuries from "friendlies"? Matty Smith out for 10 weeks with a broken leg! :banghead:

Looking forward to seeing how well Leigh do and I have a feeling Salford will do well.

You a Wakey man John?

Yeah Leeds will be better this season, they couldn't do much worse.
I dunno how that's gonna go down in your derby, Matty Smith, ex Wigan but he must still be pretty matey with half the squad.
On one hand he's matey, on the other he left them so there'll be a loyalty issue, and he knows Wigans game inside out, still its gonna be half way through the season before he starts hitting the straps again, be useful in the dressing room though.
I still think Luke Walsh was better, maybe the best since Long, I suppose the natural swap from the starting 13 is Fages.

I dunno how Wakey are gonna do till they've had a couple of games, friendlies have been inconclusive, its gonna be Wigan, Saints, Warrington, Hull, then maybe Cas, then its all a bit of an unknown who floats to the top after that.
I've got a lot of time for Leigh, I worked in Golburn for 6 months a few years ago and went to a few games with Tim Street and a few locals, but that was before they were competition...
Anyway, looking forward to being in the 8, hope rather than expectation.

 

[Marc]

I dunno how that's gonna go down in your derby, Matty Smith, ex Wigan but he must still be pretty matey with half the squad.
On one hand he's matey, on the other he left them so there'll be a loyalty issue, and he knows Wigans game inside out, still its gonna be half way through the season before he starts hitting the straps again, be useful in the dressing room though.
I still think Luke Walsh was better, maybe the best since Long, I suppose the natural swap from the starting 13 is Fages.

A lot of players have moved between Wigan & Saints, I'm not sure it will be an issue for Saints and I'm sure Wane will account for Smith's Wigan Knowledge when he sorts his tactics for he Derby.

I agree about Luke Walsh. Fages can play at 6 or 7 so that's handy in the circumstances.

I dunno how Wakey are gonna do till they've had a couple of games, friendlies have been inconclusive, its gonna be Wigan, Saints, Warrington, Hull, then maybe Cas, then its all a bit of an unknown who floats to the top after that.

I have a feeling that Catalans may be there or thereabouts again. Cas gave saints a bit of a hiding in their friendly today so it'll be interesting to see how they start the season proper.

But yes, the top 4 is looking like the usual suspects, not too different to football in that respect.

 

[joxby]

Ish..well, that was kinda hard to watch Saints and Leeds, as a neutral, if there was a game demanding some direction from quality HB's, that was it.
It is reflected in the scoreline, plenty of defense from both sides but 6 - 4 after 80 in an English league tells its own story.
Although I support neither, It was frustrating entertainment in that the defining plays of the game were all defensive, I thought Saints of the two made the most effort to be creative in attack.
It was like an NRL game, I was hoping we'd be moving away from that brick wall meets cliff face and whoever cracks first loses approach.

 

[Marc]

Ish..well, that was kinda hard to watch Saints and Leeds, as a neutral, if there was a game demanding some direction from quality HB's, that was it.
It is reflected in the scoreline, plenty of defense from both sides but 6 - 4 after 80 in an English league tells its own story.
Although I support neither, It was frustrating entertainment in that the defining plays of the game were all defensive, I thought Saints of the two made the most effort to be creative in attack.
It was like an NRL game, I was hoping we'd be moving away from that brick wall meets cliff face and whoever cracks first loses approach.

Yes, defence was what was on show this evening and both teams did it well. From a Saints perspective, Danny Richardson did very well on his very much unplanned debt and Theo Fages was incredible. For Leeds, Golding saved at Least 4 tries.

Not a classic by any means but hopefully, things will get better as we move on through the season.

Castleford v Leigh looks promising tomorrow.

 

[canonrebel]

Its always our year

 

[Marc]

Its always our year

 

[joxby]

Yes, defence was what was on show this evening and both teams did it well. From a Saints perspective, Danny Richardson did very well on his very much unplanned debt and Theo Fages was incredible. For Leeds, Golding saved at Least 4 tries

Just on Golding, and this just kinda amplifies the differing perspectives people have when watching a game, yeah he saved a few tries but his performance positives were pretty much cancelled out by diabolical kick returns, from fullback he hardly made a yard and never looked like making one.
You could say that was down to saints kick chase but, I dunno, I don't think he made any kind of useful contribution in that aspect of attacking play.
I don't wanna see Golding saving tries, and them being the memorable events of his game, or Fages or Makinson for that matter.
I hope this isn't the start of a season full of NRL dull, defense wins games but I wouldn't want it at the expense of expansive free flowing RL
It won't be like that at Wakey, there'll be lots of scoring.......mostly for the opposition..

 

[Marc]

Just on Golding, and this just kinda amplifies the differing perspectives people have when watching a game, yeah he saved a few tries but his performance positives were pretty much cancelled out by diabolical kick returns, from fullback he hardly made a yard and never looked like making one.
You could say that was down to saints kick chase but, I dunno, I don't think he made any kind of useful contribution in that aspect of attacking play.
I don't wanna see Golding saving tries, and them being the memorable events of his game, or Fages or Makinson for that matter.

Fair point re Golding. Saints' kick and chase was very good (a big improvement on last season) but yes, those try saves were the highlight of his game. Makinwon's try saver was phenomenal but I'd much rather see him diving in at the corer.

I hope this isn't the start of a season full of NRL dull, defense wins games but I wouldn't want it at the expense of expansive free flowing RL
It won't be like that at Wakey, there'll be lots of scoring.......mostly for the opposition..

Do you think they can kick on from last season? They seemed to be the whipping boys of Superleague for a number of years so making top 8 must have been heartening.

 

[joxby]

Nope, we're so disadvantaged financially the very best we can hope for is standing still, we wouldn't have made the top 8 were it not for Salford cheating.

Quick prediction for Cas Leigh, the games just started, Cas to pull Leigh's pants down....unfortunately


edit....and Hock to get sent off !

 

[Marc]

Nope, we're so disadvantaged financially the very best we can hope for is standing still, we wouldn't have made the top 8 were it not for Salford cheating.

Quick prediction for Cas Leigh, the games just started, Cas to pull Leigh's pants down....unfortunately


edit....and Hock to get sent off !

Going downstairs to watch, keep getting distracted!

 

[joxby]

Well, haven't seen the games today but Leigh definitely got schooled last night, 44-16 was closer than it should have been but to coin a Stevo phrase, at 44-4 Cas put the cue back on the rack.
That's not the kind of game I wanna see either.
There were a lot of positives for Leigh though but overall I think SL is really gonna hurt them this season if they don't cut out the crap.
They're just too cutesy with their short kickoffs, gamesmanship at the pob and low percentage trick plays.
What worked more often than not in the Champs, turns in to long odds chancy crap in SL.
I mean, its good to be innovative but you can't put a load of effort in to get on your opponents line and then kick the ball at the post not knowing wthell its gonna go, that's a poor percentage game of chance, and to kick the ball dead through poor execution on the line, when that same play well executed has much better percentage potential than a give us a clue post bounce, is what you wanna be doing if you wanna come away with points
Maybe if they hadn't been already too far behind they wouldn't have been trying that stuff, I dunno, I don't actually think so, I think they play that way because they could, a carry over from the Champs.
I think they have the potential to not finish bottom, but they're gonna have to change their perception of the percentages quick.
Cas, apart from the low intensity for most of the 2nd half, were thoroughly professional, Gale and McShane, (key positions missing in the Saints Leeds game), ran the show, if they can keep them on the park all season, they're gonna go well, that's their difficulty, no squad depth in the pivotal positions.

Wakey v Hull tomorrow completes the first round of 2017, no predictions apart from Hock to not get sent off..