Re: Reality check : Sun Feb 22, 2015 10:55 pm  

The reason why it'd be different is because the likes of Bateman, Tomkins, Clubb and Farrell would of made sure the Rabbitohs knew they was in for a tough game.

I love our club but i feel embarrassed after tonight and feel we have let Super League down massively. Wigan and Wire fans have the right to laugh at us after tonight.

Re: Reality check : Sun Feb 22, 2015 10:57 pm  

I wouldn't get too downbeat. Many sides if not in superleague all would have shipped more points tonight against a truely world class side.

We're lagging behind as a comp in truth. In days gone by it was still tough to be winning the WCC but when you look at Saints sides with guys like Lyon, Long, Sculthorpe, Cunningham etc in it and compare it to today it's chalk and cheese. If those guys were playing now and in their pomp, Lyon wouldn't be here (and isn't) and at least one or two of those others would have been snapped up by the NRL as well.

The superleague clubs are fighting a losing battle at the moment! Put James Graham, Luke Walsh, a Lyon type centre and a Sculthorpe type back rower in that Saints side tonight and you know what...they'd still be up against it but at least they'd stand a chance.

Teams have one hand tied behind their backs at the moment.

Re: Reality check : Sun Feb 22, 2015 10:59 pm  

LFC Saint wrote:

The reason why it'd be different is because the likes of Bateman, Tomkins, Clubb and Farrell would of made sure the Rabbitohs knew they was in for a tough game.

I love our club but i feel embarrassed after tonight and feel we have let Super League down massively. Wigan and Wire fans have the right to laugh at us after tonight.

They'd of gotten run over the top of, they are (by Wigan fans own admission) too small and would keep the intensity in the middle.

Calm down, don't throw the baby out of the pram. Learnt he lessons and use it to drive us to the GF this season.

Re: Reality check : Sun Feb 22, 2015 11:00 pm  

LFC Saint wrote:

The reason why it'd be different is because the likes of Bateman, Tomkins, Clubb and Farrell would of made sure the Rabbitohs knew they was in for a tough game.

I love our club but i feel embarrassed after tonight and feel we have let Super League down massively. Wigan and Wire fans have the right to laugh at us after tonight.

It wouldn't.

Brisbane are nearly as far behind Souths as we are. Saints forwards got man handled and ours are smaller.

Over reactions aren't needed by Saints fans tonight. It's tough to take but the issue doesn't sit at Saints door, it sits at the door of the RFL. Our league had been allowed to fall further behind then it's ever been.

Re: Reality check : Sun Feb 22, 2015 11:02 pm  

LFC Saint wrote:

I'm not buying into the fact the Rabbitohs are un touchable. Im telling you now had that been Wigan tonight playing instead of Saints the scoreline would be extremely different.

Yeah it would have finished Wigan 0 v 60 Souths

Re: Reality check : Sun Feb 22, 2015 11:03 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

It wouldn't.

Brisbane are nearly as far behind Souths as we are. Saints forwards got man handled and ours are smaller.

Over reactions aren't needed by Saints fans tonight. It's tough to take but the issue doesn't sit at Saints door, it sits at the door of the RFL. Our league had been allowed to fall further behind then it's ever been.

Hopefully this will be a wake up call for some at the rfl to bring in some new rules/ up the cap more generally as well.

Re: Reality check : Sun Feb 22, 2015 11:06 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

It wouldn't.

Brisbane are nearly as far behind Souths as we are. Saints forwards got man handled and ours are smaller.

Over reactions aren't needed by Saints fans tonight. It's tough to take but the issue doesn't sit at Saints door, it sits at the door of the RFL. Our league had been allowed to fall further behind then it's ever been.

Fair point mate. Good post.

Re: Reality check : Sun Feb 22, 2015 11:07 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

It wouldn't.

Brisbane are nearly as far behind Souths as we are. Saints forwards got man handled and ours are smaller.

Over reactions aren't needed by Saints fans tonight. It's tough to take but the issue doesn't sit at Saints door, it sits at the door of the RFL. Our league had been allowed to fall further behind then it's ever been.

Very decent posts from you tonight Nicky. Out of interest, what would you do to close the gap and improve Super League? Is it just a simple case of increasing the salary cap? If so, is there not a risk we'd lose several clubs as the crowds and sponsorship just isn't sufficient to make them sustainable.

Re: Reality check : Sun Feb 22, 2015 11:15 pm  

Magic Superbeetle wrote:

:CLAP:

Hopefully this will be a wake up call for some at the rfl to bring in some new rules/ up the cap more generally as well.

I don't think the RFL can win in this situation. The only way to stop promising British players from leaving SL and heading to the NRL is by raising the cap to similar levels to which the NRL operates at. Even then, players will still leave because of the attraction of the climate and surroundings.
Clubs like Saints will always have a decent production line of academy prospects, but other clubs are not in the same position and they would undoubtedly use the extra cap space to bring ageing australian players over to SL and consequently prevent British players from getting a spot in the side.
This is before we even consider the clubs who simply cannot afford to spend to a higher cap. Combining a higher cap with the threat of relegation is simply a disaster waiting to happen.

The Aussies are just fitter athletes, it's their national sport over there (in some states), they have a much bigger player pool to produce talent from, and the sport is booming over there.

Re: Reality check : Sun Feb 22, 2015 11:24 pm  

Nothus wrote:

I don't think the RFL can win in this situation. The only way to stop promising British players from leaving SL and heading to the NRL is by raising the cap to similar levels to which the NRL operates at. Even then, players will still leave because of the attraction of the climate and surroundings.
Clubs like Saints will always have a decent production line of academy prospects, but other clubs are not in the same position and they would undoubtedly use the extra cap space to bring ageing australian players over to SL and consequently prevent British players from getting a spot in the side.
This is before we even consider the clubs who simply cannot afford to spend to a higher cap. Combining a higher cap with the threat of relegation is simply a disaster waiting to happen.

this rule is currently in place in the championship:

The intention behind this allowance is to reward Clubs for developing (and investing in the development of) Players.
Any Club Trained Player shall be deemed to have a maximum Salary Cap Value of £40,000. Any amount paid to the Player in excess of £40,000 shall be disregarded in calculating his Salary Cap Value.

A ‘Club Trained Player’ is a player who was on the Club’s register for any 3 full Seasons before the end of the Season in which he ceases to be eligible by age to play at Under 21 level.

This is the rule that can (and should of been by now) brought in that can at least start e tide. Tomkins and Graham are lost to us imo, what we need is to start the process to protect the next in the production line. That combined with slow, regular and planned cap increases will start to turn the tide, limits the risk to smaller clubs, and rewards clubs for producing talent as opposed to buying in.