Rugby League - 2024 edition

[jojojo]

Last season of the current Super League structure. London Broncos have just been promoted, but due to the rules kicking in for next season we know what hey won't be staying up next year - they're not rich enough and they don't have the crowds. They'll probably come bottom anyway - the news on restructuring won't have helped their recruitment over the summer. Points and position do matter more to the other clubs though. But that's a discussion for another day...

All matches are televised this season - some of them on BBC, the rest on Sky.

Sky has three live matches tonight. At HT:
Leeds 8-14 Salford
Leigh 4-12 Huddersfield
St Helens 20-0 London

 

[T00lsh3d]

Last season of the current Super League structure. London Broncos have just been promoted, but due to the rules kicking in for next season we know what hey won't be staying up next year - they're not rich enough and they don't have the crowds. They'll probably come bottom anyway - the news on restructuring won't have helped their recruitment over the summer. Points and position do matter more to the other clubs though. But that's a discussion for another day...

All matches are televised this season - some of them on BBC, the rest on Sky.

Sky has three live matches tonight. At HT:
Leeds 8-14 Salford
Leigh 4-12 Huddersfield
St Helens 20-0 London

Watched Leigh Huddersfield. Match didn’t really catch fire.

my lad went to watch FC lose 0-22 at home to KR yesterday

 

[jojojo]

Watched Leigh Huddersfield. Match didn’t really catch fire.

my lad went to watch FC lose 0-22 at home to KR yesterday

Leeds 22-16 Salford
was a decent contest by early season standards. Not great rugby for the most part, but a match. Leeds trailed for most of the game but finally went into the the lead with a Lisone try ten minutes before the end.

Given that Salford have no players (slight exaggeration but only a slight one) they didn't do badly.

I saw some of the Hull match - they were awful and the red card was just a symptom.

 

[T00lsh3d]

Leeds 22-16 Salford
was a decent contest by early season standards. Not great rugby for the most part, but a match. Leeds trailed for most of the game but finally went into the the lead with a Lisone try ten minutes before the end.

Given that Salford have no players (slight exaggeration but only a slight one) they didn't do badly.

I saw some of the Hull match - they were awful and the red card was just a symptom.

They were shite and that red card was mental….feck knows how you make it to pro standard if that’s your level of discipline and intelligence

 

[Northstand]

Anyone see the Hull FC red card at Warrington last night? A laughably poor decision, and one that might well have affected the outcome of the game.

On another note, it’s the World Club Challenge match between Wigan and Penrith shortly. Should be a great game.

 

[T00lsh3d]

Anyone see the Hull FC red card at Warrington last night? A laughably poor decision, and one that might well have affected the outcome of the game.

On another note, it’s the World Club Challenge match between Wigan and Penrith shortly. Should be a great game.

Unbelievably shit red - reffing the outcome rather than the intent. League is years behind union on the head contact laws.

By contrast….loved the game we’ve just had. Astonishing defensive effort from Wigan and what an ending. Shame there’s not a big league community on the caf

 

[TheReligion]

What a finish! The roar when No Try came up was intense

 

[Ollie Derbyshire]

What a result! My home town best in the world!

Got a couple of 50/50’s go their way but what a defensive effort, talk about leaving it all on the pitch.

 

[Northstand]

Unbelievably shit red - reffing the outcome rather than the intent. League is years behind union on the head contact laws.

By contrast….loved the game we’ve just had. Astonishing defensive effort from Wigan and what an ending. Shame there’s not a big league community on the caf

Brilliant game mate. I thought Wigan were a tad fortunate that the on-field ref denied Penrith two tries which the video ref had insufficient evidence to overturn. On the other hand it looked very harsh for the video ref to disallow French’s try for offside.

Agree it’s a shame there’s little interest in RL on the cafe…it’s such a great game at its best.

 

[Big Andy]

I’m a Warrington fan, even I thought that red card was a fecking disgrace

 

[T00lsh3d]

Brilliant game mate. I thought Wigan were a tad fortunate that the on-field ref denied Penrith two tries which the video ref had insufficient evidence to overturn. On the other hand it looked very harsh for the video ref to disallow French’s try for offside.

Agree it’s a shame there’s little interest in RL on the cafe…it’s such a great game at its best.

yeah they were a bit lucky with the strip as well, mind you, I think Wigan deserved it overall.

I’m a Warrington fan, even I thought that red card was a fecking disgrace

Thank you. Honestly, if there was no blood he wouldn’t have even given a pen

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

What a night. So good to see the stadium full, and to come out on top after being under the pump pretty much the whole game was amazing. Rode our luck with decisions I admit, but still what a great effort.

I'm excited for the season but I'm worried about the state of policing head damage. It's clear the RFL have been spooked by RL potentially being killed by legal challenges but they're in the process of killing the game by shite decisions, top of the bill being that insane Nu Brown shout. Something needs to be done before people start switching off in droves.

 

[Northstand]

What a night. So good to see the stadium full, and to come out on top after being under the pump pretty much the whole game was amazing. Rode our luck with decisions I admit, but still what a great effort.

I'm excited for the season but I'm worried about the state of policing head damage. It's clear the RFL have been spooked by RL potentially being killed by legal challenges but they're in the process of killing the game by shite decisions, top of the bill being that insane Nu Brown shout. Something needs to be done before people start switching off in droves.

Seems something was indeed done, given that the players have apparently threatened strike action. Further evidence came after a high challenge from a Castleford player against Warrington, that last week would have probably resulted in an eight week ban, was this week not deemed worthy of even a yellow card!

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

Seems something was indeed done, given that the players have apparently threatened strike action. Further evidence came after a high challenge from a Castleford player against Warrington, that last week would have probably resulted in an eight week ban, was this week not deemed worthy of even a yellow card!

Yes. A bit of a swinging arm from a Hudds player, which probably would have copped an eight game ban and a criminal record in Rd 1, got a yellow this evening. I was sat in the stand as a Wigan fan hoping he wouldn't show a red, as we can't have players scared to make contact with their opponents.

 

[T00lsh3d]

Saints are some team. Absolutely battered for the first half hour, then put a few decent sets together and manage to get over

 

[Ollie Derbyshire]

Just seen the best try ‘finish’ I ever seen in the Melbourne Storm v Warriors game, outstanding !

 

[Ayush_reddevil]

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[12OunceEpilogue]

Oh my God, what a try

 

[T00lsh3d]

Just seen the best try ‘finish’ I ever seen in the Melbourne Storm v Warriors game, outstanding !

Yeah was watching that this morning….great game and just an insane try to finish it

Somewhat better than FC’s performance just now

 

[Northstand]

Warrington looking good at the moment, with a few very promising youngsters. Stefan Ratchford had equalled the record for consecutive successful goal kicks, and shanked a pretty easy one to miss out on beating it.

 

[Wibble]

Cowboys won again and went top.

Nathan Cleary is the best player in the world but it would be amazing if he could lead Penrith to a 4th consecutive premiership.

 

[T00lsh3d]

Well, this is a bit of a tough watch

 

[jojojo]

Catalans (deservedly) leading 0-18 after 13 minutes at Warrington.

 

[T00lsh3d]

Catalans (deservedly) leading 0-18 after 13 minutes at Warrington.

Back to 6. Been some cracking games this weekend. Saints Wigan was the epitome of why I enjoy this game. It can be low-scoring but still gripping as feck.

 

[jojojo]

Hell of a match this

 

[jojojo]

Catalans Dragons win 24-32 in the end but it was in doubt literally until the final minute - which is when Jordan Abdull scored the try to finish it off.

How come Hull KR let him go on loan?

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

Saints deserved it the other day, we didn't do enough with the ball and the errors/penalties were off the scale. I'm proud of the way we defended for 70+ minutes, but were beaten by the better team on the day.

I haven't seen Warrington-Cats but it sounds like a stormer.

 

[T00lsh3d]

Saints deserved it the other day, we didn't do enough with the ball and the errors/penalties were off the scale. I'm proud of the way we defended for 70+ minutes, but were beaten by the better team on the day.

I haven't seen Warrington-Cats but it sounds like a stormer.

Yeah both cracking games. The saints Wigan game just shows the razor fine margins. That French try was utterly ridiculous with so little margin for error. Then the Saints try at the other end, if the kick is half a foot either side it doesn’t get scored.

I missed the first 10 mins of War-Cats but the rest was a great watch.

When the teams are even (and both matches had the teams dead even at the bookies) it’s all down to who makes less errors. I’d love to see the stats for individual errors/penalties conceded but I’d be almost sure that the team that makes less wins 90% of the time in these matches

 

[jojojo]

Hilarious that the pre-match firework smoke is taking an age to clear at Catalans. There have been gales most evenings in the region this week, but looks like there's not a breath of wind tonight.

 

[Northstand]

Hilarious that the pre-match firework smoke is taking an age to clear at Catalans. There have been gales most evenings in the region this week, but looks like there's not a breath of wind tonight.

Ha ha, I missed all that but watched most of the game. Cracking win for Catalans in the end, and a good win for Warrington at Leeds the night before.

 

[jojojo]

Ha ha, I missed all that but watched most of the game. Cracking win for Catalans in the end, and a good win for Warrington at Leeds the night before.

Very tight and hard fought match at Perpignan, despite the missing players - great turnout of Saint Helen fans as well. I hope they've enjoyed their trip, despite the result.

Warrington v Leeds felt very one-sided to me after the first few minutes - though admittedly I was only half watching. It was as if Warrington stopping Leeds getting a second early try drained all their energy.

 

[Northstand]

Warrington v Leeds felt very one-sided to me after the first few minutes - though admittedly I was only half watching. It was as if Warrington stopping Leeds getting a second early try drained all their energy.

Yeah, though to be fair to Leeds, they picked up two injuries which must have massively impacted their fitness levels as the game wore on.

 

[Northstand]

Brilliant win for Warrington at Saints, and Huddersfield at Catalans in the Challenge Cup. Semi finals are Warrington vs Hudds and Wigan vs Hull KR.

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

I don't want a resurgent Wire but more than happy to see Saints drubbed. If we both get to the final (no forgone conclusion by any means) it'll be Wigan-Warrington the week before the final too. Tasty!

 

[T00lsh3d]

I don't want a resurgent Wire but more than happy to see Saints drubbed. If we both get to the final (no forgone conclusion by any means) it'll be Wigan-Warrington the week before the final too. Tasty!

Saints looked fecked today. Didn’t look like they’d recovered from the Catalan trip.

Son and I are off to watch Leeds Huddersfield next week. Purely for the fun of it, it’ll be nice to go to a game where we couldn’t care less who wins

 

[T00lsh3d]

Son and I are off to watch Leeds Huddersfield next week. Purely for the fun of it, it’ll be nice to go to a game where we couldn’t care less who wins

Hell of a game tonight. Back and forth, great atmosphere at Headingly. Fair play to Hudds, at 12-0 and 24-12 they looked beaten twice but fought back to take it. They brutally exposed Leeds right flank over and over…Swift had a field day

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

Absolute garbage from us at Robin Park, 26-10 flatters us. We couldn't live with their offloads and energy and they blew us off the park in the first half. Work to do for sure.

 

[Northstand]

Absolute garbage from us at Robin Park, 26-10 flatters us. We couldn't live with their offloads and energy and they blew us off the park in the first half. Work to do for sure.

Quite a surprise, that result, as was the heavy defeat suffered by Catalans at Leigh. It's looking quite competitive this year with every side in the Super League having lost at least two games already.

 

[T00lsh3d]

Absolute garbage from us at Robin Park, 26-10 flatters us. We couldn't live with their offloads and energy and they blew us off the park in the first half. Work to do for sure.

Yeah Wigan were poor…do you think the league is more open this year? Feels like the top 5/6 teams can beat each other at random

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

Quite a surprise, that result, as was the heavy defeat suffered by Catalans at Leigh. It's looking quite competitive this year with every side in the Super League having lost at least two games already.

Yeah Wigan were poor…do you think the league is more open this year? Feels like the top 5/6 teams can beat each other at random

The league is indeed very open, and has been a lot of fun to watch so far because of that. My concerns for Wigan are mainly about discipline and errors; the Saints game was lost because of poor composure and we certainly didn't help ourselves with the scruffiness of our performance tonight.

That said, tonight we were second best from start to finish for the first time this season, so it's the first time I've been worried with what I've seen from the team. It was painful watching us struggle to contain HKR, missing tons of tackles and allowing offloads time and again. The backs looked very ordinary and the forwards had a go but were ultimately beaten by the more aggressive unit on the night. The saving grace is, as you say, Hull KR put in a poor performance the other week, and their conquerers were smashed tonight at Leigh, so it looks like most of the teams can give each other a run for their money.