What was the match attendance, seemed to be the best we,ve had this season.
I fully expect to be without 1 of them next week, Ma’atautia’s sin binning is a joke, not sure what he is meant to do when their player is on his way down before the tackle is made. I may have been a little too drunk to remember Knowles sin binning so will need to watch it again. But the bigger issue for me is how did Kendall not send Briscoe off for his high shot, i dont think there is anything more a player can do to get sent off, it had all the hallmarks of a red.
4 points
Most importantly, a magnificent team performance and well worth the 4.45am Saturday wake up. Woolf does get them up for big games. Ran harder, tackled harder and executed better. 1-17 brilliant.
Sin bins - game has gone soft and is interpreting things incorrectly. The NRL realised after its crackdown (after a boo boo where a player got sent off) that players who slip or stumble at the line and Accidentally get hit in the head do not warrant any action. Sometimes not even a penalty. Matautias was the perfect example. Knowles was a little silly put not a bin. The Leeds bins were sin bins. Coote taken high In a normal position by Briscoe then Donaldson had loads of time to take Coote lower. Coote was low for a good few seconds as he was trying to stay in field.
Refereeing - have some fans on here just got a complex? Kendall had a decent game and does not favour anyone. It’s not his fault on the sin bins (and it was consistent for both teams) and a lot of his 50-50 calls were on the money. He like Saints is trying to get a final appearance too. I think he’s the best ref In The U.K. game. Some of his talking to the players to let the game flow was excellent.
Finally - where are you Despondent Dave and saddened? Can you not appreciate both the defensive and offensive side of the game tonight? Some of the defence was relentless. Rolling down the field was a joy to watch - the first set we had set the tone. Grace’s 2 tries and Naqaima’s were beautifully worked. Don’t just come on for a moan when we lose or don’t “win with style?”. That was stand up and applaud performance tonight
COYS
>11k
It is nothing personal , I reckon the boy will be very special .
I just think he is very young & very light-weight to be playing every game . The thing is with Theo
leaving Dodd is the only candidate for the SH position . When you see some of these South Sea
Island boys running at him it is scary . Btw I am posting after the game . Not watched the game.
Dodd probably made my comments look stupid . Stiil believe he should not be playing every game .
He was awful (for both teams) we got away with a lot to ! What I coming away thinking was - was that really a semi final? We did play well , but at times struggled to execute . It really should have been 50+ I suppose you could say our tactics workEd perfect ( first 30 dominate and pressure , last 15 reap the rewards ) but I thought we should have crossed the line more , early on . Lots of possession and field position and only 14 points to show for it , in my eyes , against that crap , it should have been more ! Our forwards were on top form however as soon as Al went off we got a sin bin and that clearly shifted our go forward . Discipline was something of a negative last night and needs to be rectified for the final
Knowles , I think he could mis next week . I immediately said that at the game as it looked like a clear shoulder charge with no attempt to tackle correctly ( not looked at the replay ) other than that we look unscathed. A big positive is that was more of a pre session friendly than a semi so we should all be niggle free.
PS
If only wire beat Hull KR , they might have had a chance last night just a thought
Got to say, that was an extremely impressive performance. There's not a side at the moment who'll get anywhere near that and part of me is relieved that we were knocked out as I fear we'd have been on the end of a battering.
That line speed alone is enough to put anyone off, but now your attacking plays are crisp and fluent on the back of powerful forward runs - especially Walmsley who's head and shoulders the best Prop and best player in the league at the moment for me.
I'm slightly concerned for next year as a Wire fan with our pack weakened by the loss off Hill. Hurrell will give your pack yet another powerful line of attack with an already potent array of attackers down the middle.
The benefits of having a strong academy are showing again where your youthful second team players just seem to fit in and match and more the players already in the side. Welsby and Dodd yet more players approaching such a high level already.
I wasn't convinced with Wolf at first, perhaps that was down to Holbrook who's arguably been the most talented manager in the past 10 years. But the final bit of the jigsaw seems to be taking shape in the form of your attack - extremely dangerous.
You know I'm going to be cheering on Catalans, but fair play. Saints are a top, top side and could dominate for some time to come. Enjoy the final, I know I won't!
I don’t know where this faith comes from given that they’re probably the most incompetent organisation I’ve ever known…..BUT I think the RFL will for once use common sense and judge both incidents as “sin bin sufficient.”
The Matautia one was completely unavoidable. There’s literally nothing he could have done.
Knowles marginally late, no contact to the head and he didn’t jump into it or anything like that.
Last edited by The Yellow Giraffe; 2nd October 2021 at 07:43.
NEVER WRITE OFF THE SAINTS
If we can produce a similar performance next Sat, we give ourselves a chance
St Helens Rugby League Football Club
I see where you are coming from. I think Leeds did well to slow us down at times, which was annoying. That probably disrupted our flow somewhat.
Plus when Walmsley and Lees go off, it's a problem as I think our intensity dips. Nothing against Paasi or Amor by the way, they just don't have that raw go forward. I think Paasi was outstanding when he came on at Wembley though so not sure what the secret was there?