Win Points Percentage is back for the year. 18 out of 25 games (70%) must be fulfilled to qualify for the play offs (but that can be changed by the board further down the line).
I still think the system can be gamed so I'd prefer to see where we are later in the year rather than have a skewed league table throughout because Catalans have played 1 won 1 whilst others drop points here and there for example.
Rounds 1 and 2 of the CC are forfeited rather than rescheduled if a team can't play too.
https://www.saintsrlfc.com/2021/03/0...ts-percentage/
Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk
There’s some periods throughout the season that I can’t see having a full fixture list over those weekends. There’s a period of three games in about eleven days at the end of June/start of July that is going to separate the “have’s” with the “have nots” in regards to squad depth and infrastructure, much like periods last year.
I think the points percentage may be partially to do with Catalans and the uncertainty of travel there and for them travelling here.
St Helens Rugby League Football Club
Powell getting his whingeing in early this season:
"Daryl Powell: Castleford boss says club are prepared despite a 'hellish' August"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/56322293
He'd find something wrong with finding a tenner in the street.
At least it's the same for everyone, and maybe the likes of Darull do need to plan ahead and get some of the fringe squad members ready for what's coming instead of the inevitable happening and then whinging about it.
Weird that he's complaining about it so early as if Cas are the only team that will have to put up with it. Yes, August looks tough, but any coach worth his salt will prioritise other parts of the year if he thinks his side cannot handle that month. In a 25 game campaign with a Top 6 play-off nobody should be thinking that 7 games in 4 weeks is make or break.
From a Saints point of view, go all out for the first 15 rounds and try to all but wrap up a Top 2 finish then take that month as it comes, and if that means resting players and making sure we are ready for the away games with Wigan and Wire that month (which could decide the top 2 spots) so be it. Cas are the same. Their ambition is probably to pinch 6th spot, so pick out the games you think you can win in that month and focus on them. Whinging about a part of the fixture list 5 months away seems like a coach who doesn't think his team will do much making excuses for them (and himself) in advance and using it as a reason they will fail.
The period Powell speaks of is going to be a crucial point of the season. From the 22nd July to the end of August, 39 days, teams are going to have a game every 4.875 days and that after two sides have played in the cup final on 17th. It’s going to be the period that really highlights those with solid foundations and those without.
For the likes of Hull KR, Leigh, Salford and Wakefield, it’s going to be the period that really cuts teams adrift and at the top, it’s where I expect the likes of us, wigan, Warrington and probably Leeds to be at our strongest, given we’ve got the better infrastructures.
St Helens Rugby League Football Club
You are undoubtedly right that a gap may open up over that period, but none of those teams you mention are going to be in contention for the Top 6 on 22 July in the first place I'm afraid. I imagine they'll all use this period of the season as an excuse as to why they failed to compete once again, but I'm just not sure it'll have a massive impact on their seasons as a whole. The exception are Leigh, who I feel sorry for having to compete at a higher level with hardly any preparation, but the others that you've mentioned are long-time SL clubs who compete in a salary capped sport where half the teams make the play-offs. If they don't compete it is not because we blow them out of the water financially, it's because they are badly run and lack any long term ambition. They've been allowed to get away with it because the structure allows them to float under the radar, but maybe this season will expose them for what they are.
I meant gaps developing at both ends of the table - that’s why I mentioned those specific clubs as I expect them to be at the bottom to middle of the table and I expect gaps to be developed/enhanced by this period due to the sizes and infrastructures of those clubs in relation to your next crop of clubs like your Huddersfield’s, Cas’ etc, who have better resources on and off the pitch. It’s perhaps a little harsh to include Leigh amongst the list given the situation there but they’ll be amongst that bottom crop of clubs.
St Helens Rugby League Football Club
It will be interesting to see how Huddersfield do this year and whether Watson can work his magic on players like Greenwood and Ashworth. If Ashworth, Greenwood and Kenny Edwards play too aggressive they could easily be one of the most penalised teams in the league.
screaming in the family corner, scaring the kiddies
See the dissention over playing the Exiles game on the same weekend as a full round of fixtures has already started. Pearson at Hull has said he probably wouldn't release his players for the Exiles team (presume they have no choice if picked for England) and Lam has had a whinge about it (no surprise there though).
All this could have been avoided if the clubs hadn't voted to shoehorn 25 games in to the season, but this is Rugby League, never missing an opportunity to shoot itself in the foot.
Pearson though came up with an alternative which I thought was very good. His suggestion is to play the Exiles game on Cup Final day as a double header at Wembley. Obviously the 2 teams in the final wouldn't be able to supply any players but the other 10 teams would as they've no game that weekend. Might give a few fringe players an opportunity plus it might make the Cup Final a bigger occasion, especially given it's recent struggles.
Seems to make a lot of sense to me but wondered what others think?
"Never write off the Saints!!"
On paper it looks interesting to play an England game ahead of the Cup Final, but there are two main issues.
1. Wouldn't it dilute the image of both the England team and the Cup Final to stick them together on the same event?
2. What happens if (for example) Saints play Wigan in the Cup Final. An England team without any NRL players plus no Percival, Makinson, Lomax, Walmsley, Roby, Bateman, Gildart, Hastings etc, etc would be in effect an England B team. If it was officially designated that way no problem, but it would be largely pointless as a warm-up game for Wane to pick his preferred 17.
The Exiles debate ultimately shows horses pulling in different directions and the general governance of the sport. Both The RFL and Super League have backloaded their respective fixtures in the hope that fans will be allowed to attend in some form.
The first twelve rounds are played over 98 days, with a game every 8.16 days, and then the remaining thirteen rounds are played over 77 days, a game every 5.92 days. That’s before you throw in the added Challenge Cup games and the Final being about two and a half weeks after the Exiles game. It just seems like a lack of communication between the two.
I can totally understand why clubs won’t be pleased at this, especially seeing as in Hull’s case, that weekend is likely to be their first game with fans for the best part of 15/16 months, so they’ll want a full side out and I can see more clubs, namely those who get to Wembley, not being keen on releasing players.
St Helens Rugby League Football Club