The Shield : Sat Sep 13, 2014 12:12 am  

Whoever wins it will be the worst team in SL ever to have achieved it. The quality of our game is so far behind the Aussies that you would need a telescope to get close to them!

Re: The Shield : Sat Sep 13, 2014 12:29 am  

Sweaty Betty's wrote:

Whoever wins it will be the worst team in SL ever to have achieved it. The quality of our game is so far behind the Aussies that you would need a telescope to get close to them!

Feel a bit sorry for Saints. Probably the weakest top 6 team they suddenly found themselves in pole position to claim the hub cap consolation prize on account of Wigan not giving a feck about it. Worst Saints team I've seen in 15 years and yet somehow still top tonight. Wigan will tear them a new one next week.

Re: The Shield : Sat Sep 13, 2014 1:03 am  

I find this a little offensive to my club to be honest. I never expected us to be anywhere near top of the league, however, you look at some of our tries and they are class, fluent and dynamic in attack.

We kick up a fuss about the same teams winning things and then when we have some other teams challenging, Super League is suddenly weak. I disagree: we've craved for an equitable league where teams can beat each other and this is precisely what has happened.

It's not that this is a "weak" team to win it; it's that teams such as Leeds and Wigan are going through a stage of change and it takes time to build a side again. In addition to that, there has been a spreading of talent across the league that has brought teams closer together. It seems to be a "big side" mentality that if the top sides get beat then it must be because they played poorly or Super League is getting weaker and no credit given to other sides, and that other sides are getting stronger and getting used to their tactics.

I don't accept for one minute that the team that wins it will be the weakest. It's disrespectful to my club who have achieved a lot this season regardless of whether we finish 1st or 2nd. After so many years of hurt, mediocrity and underachievement, it has been a pleasure seeing a side playing with passion, bringing the community together and wanting to play for the badge.

Re: The Shield : Sat Sep 13, 2014 8:25 am  

Sweaty Betty's wrote:

Whoever wins it will be the worst team in SL ever to have achieved it. The quality of our game is so far behind the Aussies that you would need a telescope to get close to them!

And it will get worse, we might have a top 8 within 2 points of each other in the future, lots of experienced quality players retiring shortly and not being replaced like for like.

If Saints win it it will be quite an achievement with all the creative players missing for a large part of the season, they have won more games than anyone else and I don't believe this thing of certain clubs not bothered about the LLS.

If Cas win it then it will be great for the club, they appear to be the most improved and consistent club this season, and as they have not won anything this century they will be the neutrals choice.

Re: The Shield : Sat Sep 13, 2014 9:14 am  

If "Whoever wins it will be the worst team in SL ever to have achieved it", what does it say about the rest? Rubbish? Idle? Unprofessional?

Re: The Shield : Sat Sep 13, 2014 9:25 am  

Sweaty Betty's wrote:

Whoever wins it will be the worst team in SL ever to have achieved it. The quality of our game is so far behind the Aussies that you would need a telescope to get close to them!

You are a Widnes fan and i claim my £5

Re: The Shield : Sat Sep 13, 2014 9:40 am  

JingoDjango wrote:

If "Whoever wins it will be the worst team in SL ever to have achieved it", what does it say about the rest? Rubbish? Idle? Unprofessional?

It says they understand what counts and where their efforts need to be most concentrated.

Re: The Shield : Sat Sep 13, 2014 9:53 am  

Sweaty Betty's wrote:

Whoever wins it will be the worst team in SL ever to have achieved it. The quality of our game is so far behind the Aussies that you would need a telescope to get close to them!

This is not a new thing.
Just look at how we get owned by Australia everytime we play internationals. Add to that the second rate Imports that we bring over. It's a fact that 90% of the players that come over are the ones with a career to resurrect/ ageing payday players or the ones that fancy a bit of tourism for a couple of years. SL will always play second fiddle to NRL while ever this is happening, personally I think it stinks that we can't coach English players to the same standard as NRL on a consistent basis.
SL has always and will always be second rate compared to NRL, it's in their DNA; it isn't in ours.

Re: The Shield : Sat Sep 13, 2014 10:07 am  

FlexWheeler wrote:

It says they understand what counts and where their efforts need to be most concentrated.

Thats only applicable to the few teams who have won the grand final in the last couple of seasons for the rest its an achievement of consistency over 27 games.

In retrospect this casual approach to the league is what's killing the game, ever regular round of superleague should be of good quality and intensity but the games are dumbed down to slow, wrestling, inconsistent refereeing affairs with jockeying for postion in the last month of the season.
Hopefully next season might improve it a bit because this scenario will happen only for 22 games so we might get some intensity back.

If we say teams only concentrate with 100% in the play offs then Superleague is undercooked for most of the season and the game suffers. The NRL don't adopt this strategy and we wonder why we can't catch up at international level.

Re: The Shield : Sat Sep 13, 2014 12:09 pm  

Judder Man wrote:

Thats only applicable to the few teams who have won the grand final in the last couple of seasons for the rest its an achievement of consistency over 27 games.

In retrospect this casual approach to the league is what's killing the game, ever regular round of superleague should be of good quality and intensity but the games are dumbed down to slow, wrestling, inconsistent refereeing affairs with jockeying for postion in the last month of the season.
Hopefully next season might improve it a bit because this scenario will happen only for 22 games so we might get some intensity back.

If we say teams only concentrate with 100% in the play offs then Superleague is undercooked for most of the season and the game suffers. The NRL don't adopt this strategy and we wonder why we can't catch up at international level.

The NRL teams can't adpot that strategy because teams have to fight with every ounce of blood and sweat just to have a chance of the playoffs. The super league competition just isn't that strong. NZ warriors didn't even make the playoffs yet they have some awesome players like shaun johnson, conrad hurrell, sam tomkins and many more, they've played some awesome rugby and would easily put 50 on the best teams in super league yet haven't even made the finals.

The strength of the competition down there is mindblowing. Every game is played at super league grand final intensity.

.........And then it steps up a few gears in the finals when things get serious.