Chapel House Motor Company Limited Advertising Banner
Results 1 to 9 of 9

Thread: "SUPER" League?

  1. #1
    Got A Season Ticket Big Kev Iro's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Posts
    107
    Rep Power
    0

    Default "SUPER" League?

    Just how "super" is our SL when a team that struggles to complete a set of six and has no idea how to attack and even less how to defend still manages to be fifth in the league??

    An Aussie B team would probably be top and far more watchable than what KC is sending out with his plan.

  2. #2
    In The South Stand
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    near leigh
    Posts
    3,057
    Rep Power
    18

    Default

    What plan?.

  3. #3
    Got A Season Ticket
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    410
    Rep Power
    0

    Default

    Our gameplan is entirely based around grinding out results with low-percentage plays, which we have managed to do on a number of occasions earlier in the season when playing in terrible conditions. We have also beaten two teams who had no coach at the time. The fixtures have been extremely kind to us. Now that the grounds are firmer and conditions are better I expect us to be run off the park a la Salford/Hull/Huddersfield more times than not.

  4. #4
    In The South Stand
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Posts
    3,358
    Rep Power
    21

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Big Kev Iro View Post
    Just how "super" is our SL when a team that struggles to complete a set of six and has no idea how to attack and even less how to defend still manages to be fifth in the league??

    An Aussie B team would probably be top and far more watchable than what KC is sending out with his plan.
    The overall standard of Super League has been on the slide for several years. Any of the top four sides from the period of 1999-2005 would completely destroy any of todays teams.

  5. #5
    In The North Stand With All The Old Folk
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Macclesfield
    Age
    46
    Posts
    8,428
    Rep Power
    33

    Default

    It depends on how you look at it. If you're looking from a distance and see a league table with not much dividing the team in 1st from the teams in 6th and 7th you will think it's pretty exciting. The unpredictability factor is an advantage for the broadcasters and the league, and does give the comp a certain excitement that it's maybe lacked in previous years.

    However, standards have slipped. The teams competing at the top right now are not great teams, they are merely above average ones who have enough about them to win more than they lose. Even in a really tight competition there should be one or two teams who are a cut above the rest, and any of the 'great' teams from any time in the past 20 years (whether Saints, Leeds, Wigan or Bradford) would have breezed through the comp so far maybe losing one or two games. The fact that Warrington are genuine contenders despite losing a third of their games says it all really. Good teams don't lose 5 from 15 in a comp this weak. They lose 2 or 3 maximum, and everyone else is scrambling around behind them.

    You could argue that ten years ago the teams in 4th or 5th were on a par with the teams in 1st and 2nd now. But the teams in 4th or 5th then were a ways off the teams in 1st or 2nd, because those teams at the top were really, really good teams, and you needed to be better than 'above average' to keep up with them. Now, being above average puts you in 1st or 2nd, and so the likes of Wakefield and Cas can beat those teams and compete. It makes the games unpredictable, it gives us a competitive league table, and it maybe encourages fans of the smaller clubs to dream a little, but overall the standard is lower than it used to be.

    It depends whether that really matters to people or not.

  6. #6
    Noooobie
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    28
    Rep Power
    0

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Gray77 View Post
    However, standards have slipped. The teams competing at the top right now are not great teams, they are merely above average ones who have enough about them to win more than they lose. Even in a really tight competition there should be one or two teams who are a cut above the rest, and any of the 'great' teams from any time in the past 20 years (whether Saints, Leeds, Wigan or Bradford) would have breezed through the comp so far maybe losing one or two games.
    Isn't part of that the effect of the salary cap? In years gone by one team would have all the best players. These days, the best players are all around the league. So yes, the great teams from 20 years ago would breeze through this competition, but only because you're comparing apples and oranges. With all the teams spending up to the cap, it's impossible to assemble a squad that will breeze through the season either unbeaten or losing only a handful.

    The irony is then that all this tinkering with the league to make 'every game count' is completely irrelevant. The salary cap does that for you and you'd have an exciting, close season regardless of the format you choose.

  7. #7
    In The West Stand Dux's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Liverpool
    Posts
    5,572
    Rep Power
    28

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by is84 View Post
    Isn't part of that the effect of the salary cap? In years gone by one team would have all the best players. These days, the best players are all around the league. So yes, the great teams from 20 years ago would breeze through this competition, but only because you're comparing apples and oranges. With all the teams spending up to the cap, it's impossible to assemble a squad that will breeze through the season either unbeaten or losing only a handful.

    The irony is then that all this tinkering with the league to make 'every game count' is completely irrelevant. The salary cap does that for you and you'd have an exciting, close season regardless of the format you choose.
    I think it's a combination of the salary cap and the relative strength of RU and the NRL. The special players who can help to turn good sides into great sides (e.g. James Graham; Sam Burgess; George Burgess) are plying their trade in the NRL, and the better NRL players who used to come over here towards the end of their career and make huge contributions to top SL sides (e.g. David Fairlegh; Matt Gidley; Darren Britt; Trent Barrett; Adrian Lam; Steve Renouf etc. etc.) are now staying in the NRL up to retirement.

  8. #8
    Learning All The Songs
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Overseas/Peterborough
    Posts
    1,623
    Rep Power
    15

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Gray77 View Post
    However, standards have slipped.
    They have to a certain extent and I think the lack of real star quality in teams is the main reason. The very good Saints, Wigan and Leeds sides of the past had some exceptional talent such as Long, Sculthorpe, Lyon, Farrell, Barrett, Buderus et al but those players have long gone with the top draw British talent such as Graham and Burgess now playing in the NRL. This is compounded by top quality Aussies/Kiwis now not playing over here due to being paid more in the NRL; realistically only Todd Carney would draw star status in the NRL nowadays from an import perspective.

    It was those star/world class players that set Saints, Wigan and Leeds apart in recent years from the rest (Bradford were an anomaly - just big and strong!). With those now long gone, the rest have (or are) catching up with more money in their back pocket from the Sky deal. It's why Saints really need to buck their ideas up as it isn't the early 00s any longer.

  9. #9
    Starting A Programme Collection Oldham_Saint's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Oldham
    Posts
    969
    Rep Power
    0

    Default

    The thing is a REALLY good team would be at least 4 points clear of the rest in this season. The fact that the 'best' aren't says a lot about either the quality or mentality of each squad.
    RHINO balls are like Bon Jovi albums - Slippery When Wet

    ST HELENS RFC - Back in business, Thank you Justin Holbrook.

    "I turn the TV volume down because these comedians on SKY are speaking a load of rubbish. They're making a simple game complicated with their long-winded, pointless jargon". Kevin Ashcroft

    ...I think it's a fair slogan for the World Cup. If you come to England and you don't like the weather, TOUGH TITTIES!!! Andrew Voss, PNG vs Samoa, 4:Nov:13

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •