I think we are solid upper mid table in the NRL. 5th to 8th in the playoffs would be my guess. Catalans are probably lower mid, the rest of the league would struggle in the Queensland Cup.
I could agree with you but then we would both be wrong.
Yet Catalan finished above us by 6 points and that includes when they took their foot off the pedal and bombed their last two regular league games post confirming top spot after magic weekend.
We finished a point above Warrington.
We have now finally learned how to win the big games, consistency is what we need next season if we want the LLS or hypothetically compete in the NRL.
I am hoping for a real push for the LLS next year, it seems a travesty we haven’t won it for the last two years.
Even 2 years ago we proved we weren’t a million miles away competing with the Roosters in the WCC. We made a few bad calls which could have gone either way in that game (if I recall Makinson had 3 tries disallowed??) Where we would finish in the NRL would be a balance on whether we would improve playing better opposition week in week out, that would turn us to nearly runs to competitive, or the fatigue of rarely having to play to that level in the Super League to playing it week in week out catches up with us.
There are two sides to the argument. I've watched at least a couple of NRL games every week this year and if we were simply parachuted in now we would be finishing right near the bottom. The speed and intensity is too much for SL teams to live with and I think a lot of it is down to the correct enforcement of the set restart rule and our lack of consistency with it over here. The gulf is large and the WCC always favour us, with the Aussies never being fully prepared after their long journey. However, we have plenty of players good enough to do well in the NRL (mentioned earlier in the thread) and so after a sustained period over there we could be very competitive with all but the top few teams.
And no chance we would finish anywhere above 10th. Teams like the Bulldogs, Wests, Brisbane (this year), Warriors have not been great this year but they are realistically the only teams we could expect to beat (and we might not even do that!). No chance we are beating the likes of Penrith, Roosters, Souths, Storm, Manly, who you would have to play every other week.
I ate a tuna sandwich on my first day!
I am not sure how much you can read into the league table for the last two years. The cancellation of the Warrington Vs Catalan game really helped both these teams out for example. On the other side we were awarded 2 points for Castleford not fielding a team while other games were just postponed then cancelled. The only thing you can really take from the regular season with any certainty was Saints and Catalans were very good, Leigh were awful, everyone else was average.
In terms of completing in the NRL you need to be physical and be able to defend. My main though when watching Wigan Vs Leeds in the playoffs was how neither team would be competitive in the NRL.
I could agree with you but then we would both be wrong.
[QUOTE=JBT;836234]They get cold weather and rain in Australia too you know
not as much and not as often! anyhow it's never going to be fair comparison with their salary cap etc
Don't you think the likes of grace and makinson would do well out there? I could see Grace being a real menace ball in hand on the hard fast tracks there
By doing well, I mean holding their own in the NRL not necessarily a top club. Makinson, Percy and the developing Dodd and Welsby would definitely go well. The Aussie players are not superhuman, players rise to the level of where they are playing. Look at the number of RU players that have become greats in RL.
We know plenty of Saint's players are capable of a 8 or 9 out of 10 in super league but not sure how many could do it week in & week out in the NRL with there intensity.
Yeah, I agree with MK and would say Walmsley, Roby(for the majority of his career) & Percival with a couple more that an argument can be made for. Luke Thompson has improved his game over in Oz and I am sure we have more coming off the conveyor belt that are going to follow in his footsteps namely Welsby & Dodd especially with the NRL expansion.
Think Regan would be absolutely dominated by opposing players over there, their centres and wingers are all of the same ilk. Quick, big as back rowers and defensively sound. The speedy and nippy winger in the NRL days are pretty much gone. The centre argument i give above is exactly why Oliver Gildart will be back playing super league in 2023, maybe even mid 2022.
Whilst there are some powerful wingers in the NRL, I can't agree it's a yarsdtick for performance. The wingers below are no better in contact areas than Grace and make a pretty good trade out there. (Based on contact competence rather than physical size).
Josh Addo-Carr, Alex Johnston, Jason Saab, Reuben Garrick, Corey Thompson, Valentine Holmes, David Nofoaluma
There is a definite lean towards powerful wingers like Sivo, Ferguson, Tupou etc... but there's still a place for agile speedsters.
I think we as Super League fans can have a bit of a Utopian view of the NRL, it's definitely a stronger competition but its not the all-conquering juggernaut it's sometimes made out to be.
Fair point well made. Though you've not given a mention to Brian To'o, who's been regarded as the best winger in the sport this season. I think he was the top metre maker in the NRL this year.
Having said this, a balance of the power to make metres and then the raw speed to go with it, is the ideal. For Me Addo-Carr and Saab are a joy to watch.
*Not to be confused with Mike Stephenson, MBE
i would say our pack would do ok against the weaker sides, we have 3 or 4 players there who could do a job in NRL. however we do not have the strength in depth. Regarding backs who can control a game tactically we are not quite there. Malone who is past his sell by date nearly got Catalan past the post with a master class in kicking.