The super 8's : Fri Sep 22, 2017 8:57 pm  

We are the weekend away from the semi finals of our sports biggest prize and what a load of old rubbish......

confirmed Semi finalists Cas field a weakened team against Hull and are trying but offering little and have never really been in the game. its a bit of a damp squib as Hull are putting 48 on Cas
meanwhile the other confirmed semi finalists Leeds are putting 36 past nothing to play for Huddersfield.
Yesterday, nothing to play for Salford offered a bit of resistance but had 30 put on them while just managing 4 of their own.

everyone else bar Catalan and Widnes are involved in dead rubbers.......

like it or not the old knock out system was a great spectacle loads of drama, and I looked forward to it back in the days when we never troubled play off places........
there is no intensity to these games, and that was the main message "NRL-like intensity"....... and "every minute matters"

again the season is heading to an exciting race to the bottom. its a disgrace.

A few weeks ago on the Matty johns show ( i think) a game was advertised by the relevant clubs as "the battle of the wooden spoon" everyone on the panel thought it was a complete joke to celebrate a game of this level in that manner ....thats proper Aussie mentality, and I believe the clubs actually issued an apology later.

yet we celebrate our rubbish games.... thats why they are on a different level

Re: The super 8's : Fri Sep 22, 2017 9:40 pm  

agree..what makes me growl is,if saints win at old trafford is they are crowned champions..for playing like champions for games you can count on one hand yet the best team in the comp by a mile lose one game from now and its tough luck..what a load of ********

Re: The super 8's : Fri Sep 22, 2017 9:58 pm  

Well thems the rules but if saints win it they will beat the record they currently hold of being the worst team ever to win it....theyre woeful. At the touchscreen last night jon wilkin said 'we've had a great season we've got the second best defence'. In the next breath he said 'i think we're the best defensive side in the comp'????? Clearly not you absolute buffoon. You have to admire their 20 consecutive playoffs and ability to be always there or thereabouts but if they win it it will represent a super league nadir.

Re: The super 8's : Fri Sep 22, 2017 11:06 pm  

ratticusfinch wrote:

Well thems the rules but if saints win it they will beat the record they currently hold of being the worst team ever to win it....theyre woeful. At the touchscreen last night jon wilkin said 'we've had a great season we've got the second best defence'. In the next breath he said 'i think we're the best defensive side in the comp'????? Clearly not you absolute buffoon. You have to admire their 20 consecutive playoffs and ability to be always there or thereabouts but if they win it it will represent a super league nadir.

Rules were known at the start of the season.

Saint Helens are a shining example of a club which demands success, sets high targets and consistently ensures delivery. Take this season for example they were heading for the middle eights, made the decisive coaching change and now 1 game from a GF. Not bad for a woeful team. We were woeful and ended up in the middle 8s.

So while they are preparing for the playoff game. we can make do with beatifying a disillusioned whinging coach whilst back slapping the exiting dross of players. I fully expect Sims to be installed as "legend" and Hiku to be chaired off.

[Winslade's Offload]

Re: The super 8's : Sat Sep 23, 2017 4:40 am  

the flying biscuit wrote:

We are the weekend away from the semi finals of our sports biggest prize and what a load of old rubbish......

confirmed Semi finalists Cas field a weakened team against Hull and are trying but offering little and have never really been in the game. its a bit of a damp squib as Hull are putting 48 on Cas
meanwhile the other confirmed semi finalists Leeds are putting 36 past nothing to play for Huddersfield.
Yesterday, nothing to play for Salford offered a bit of resistance but had 30 put on them while just managing 4 of their own.

everyone else bar Catalan and Widnes are involved in dead rubbers.......

like it or not the old knock out system was a great spectacle loads of drama, and I looked forward to it back in the days when we never troubled play off places........
there is no intensity to these games, and that was the main message "NRL-like intensity"....... and "every minute matters"

again the season is heading to an exciting race to the bottom. its a disgrace.

A few weeks ago on the Matty johns show ( i think) a game was advertised by the relevant clubs as "the battle of the wooden spoon" everyone on the panel thought it was a complete joke to celebrate a game of this level in that manner ....thats proper Aussie mentality, and I believe the clubs actually issued an apology later.

yet we celebrate our rubbish games.... thats why they are on a different level

Unfortunately I think you are right. The quality of the squads is a major factor, but the format is hopeless and after being sold as a means of increasing gates, has had no affect at all. This year was a bridge too far for attendances I am afraid.

Perhaps we could award cups for the teams finishing in 1st to 8th position to keep the low esteem fans happy and rolling in to matches ?

When the sky contract comes to an end I think we will be in competition from women's RU, or more realistically, darts.

Re: The super 8's : Sat Sep 23, 2017 5:32 am  

One word sums up RL in the last few years

MEDIOCRE

Last night was an important game, but it had all the intensity of tonight's Strictly Come Dancing, where nobody gets eliminated..DULL I turned off after an hour, bored out of my skull.

We have a "competition" where perennial under achievers such as Salford and Wakefield go on an early season run, hit a wall, and then plummet to their usual form. Huddersfield copying them from mid season. The most bang average Saints side I've seen since the late eighties are now a game away from SL's most important night. Last season's finalists are either dross (us) or robots who can't make up their minds whether they want to play or not. You don't know which Leeds side are going to turn up. Then there's the flotsam and jetsam like Leigh, Widnes and Cats. Which leaves us with Cas. Don't get me wrong. They play good rugby. But everyone is classing them as Harem Globetrotters-esque, simply because their rugby flows. EVERY team should ATTEMPT to play like this, week in, week out. The RL media are crowing over them, simply because the other 11 teams are playing risk free, robotic tedium.

Seeing as British RL copies everything that the Aussies do (since I've started watching the sport), I'm hoping the Aussies have a change of heart, and THEY start to play enterprising rugby again, in the next few seasons, so we might follow suit. But as NRL is about as entertaining as reading the Warrington Guardian's classified section from June 1984 on a Saturday night, I won't hold my breath.

As a sport (domestically, at least) we need a massive overhaul.
Salary cap needs to either be refreshed or scrapped. Since it's inception, have the underachieving clubs won SL? No. Not even close. Yes it's made a few clubs a bit more competitive , but after 20+ years, it's still the same faces winning.

Maybe 5 points for a try. Apparently, RU is almost entertaining, these days. I wouldn't know. I never watch it. Extra points available may entice teams to "throw the ball about" a bit more.

Maybe even bonus points for big wins/tries being scored. Don't forget, we are in the entertainment business. Try telling that to the coaches.
Yes, the last two points are a bit "gimmicky", but we need to start moving on. Our game is stuck in a rut.

At the moment, there's nothing "super" about SL.

Adapt or die.

Re: The super 8's : Sat Sep 23, 2017 6:35 am  

The Qualifiers have been okay this year with something riding on the Play-off top four places right up until the last weekend of the season and the Million Pound places right up until the very last games of the season.

There’s a lot wrong with our game but I’m sick of hearing for constant changes to the league system which I think has been spot on for the amount of good teams we have in this country.

Have a look at any league system in any sport and from about three-quarters of the way through the season there are loads of “dead rubber” games where teams aren’t going to win the league or get in the Play-offs or get relegated. Yet you don’t hear West Brom and Southampton fans complaining that their £50 ticket is a waste of money because neither team have anything to play for in March.

Re: The super 8's : Sat Sep 23, 2017 2:21 pm  

One poop season and you're all moaning, just like your coach!