Wigan have an easy run in up to the split and are capable of going on a run with all their returnees getting match fit, don't like them but have to respect them

Wigan are 7 points back and there are only 22 to play for. They need to gain at least 2 points on the top 4 before the 8's imo. I can't see them gaining more than 5 points on anyone in 7 games. Its just too much.

Saints are the dark horses imo. They have an interesting month coming up with Leeds, Hull, Les Catalans and Wakefield. They have just beaten Salford. 3 or 4 wins from that run and the will only be a couple of points off the top 4 coming in to the 8's with perhaps Barba coming in.

If either Wigan or Saints can sneak in to the 4, i wouldnt bet against either of them come knock-out rugby.

Nonsense, Its not even close. Outside of maybe 4 sides NZ sides, the standard of club RU is embarrassingly bad. RU in Australia is absolutely on its ar5e, SA are going backwards at a rate of knots and I would fancy most SL sides against the Argentinian or Japanese Super Rugby sides in a game of RU and the Northern Hemisphere is a distant second and in terms of actual Rugby skills even further behind. Outside of Munster, Leinster and Scarlets the pro12 is barely championship standard and the top14 and AP are SL level at best and there is a huge gap between us and the NRL.

There is a reason that 3 of the top 4 nations in RU all pick RL players for their national sides, the only reason the other doesnt, is because there are no RL players who qualify for them.

really did you watch the lions vs ABs top game, the last two league international i watched live were england vs nz and england vs kangaroos both at the olympic stadium and both dire, don't watch nrl or origin but super league is regressing, could not believe how bad we were friday and other teams forums tend to tell the same tale, Cas are a breath of fresh air and good to watch

SL is regressing, i don't disagree, but you arent comparing like to like. You can't compare an All-Blacks v Lions game to a run of the mill leeds v cas game as a fair measure of quality.

The lions (a squad which contains a kiwi, a tongan, and 2 aussies one an RL player, hardly a ringing endorsement of northern hemisphere rugby) playing against the kiwis (containing another RL product) is probably comparable to SoO or a meaningful kiwi v kangaroos game.

Try watching the Rebels, Reds, Kings, Bulls, Bristol, Newport, Zebre, Edinburgh, Worcester, even the Force or Waratahs, they make Leigh and Widnes look like NSW and Queensland.

i compared the test to the last two RL internationals i saw at the olympic stadium, england vs NZ was particularly dire,

perhaps you are particularly unfortunate then because the Eng V NZ game after that at the DW was a great game, the one after that at Huddersfield was an absolute cracker aswell. The 2014 Four Nations was an utterly fantastic competition all the way through and the World Cup semi v NZ was also a brilliant game.

At international level RL teams have to be very close in ability - at least on the day - for the game to be a contest. In international RU a side with dire backs can stay in touch if its good at set pieces and keeps the game tight. England RL can often put an OK pack out but you simply can't play a game in the forwards if the other side wants to move the ball around.

As for RU, Australia are in really poor shape ATM. The skill levels in the backs are alarmingly poor, and Folau aside they have nobody with individual brilliance either. Scotland looked like a team wth backs straight out of the 1980s in terms of fitness, strength and skill but managed to beat them.

I would agree with that.

For every quality RU international i have watched there have been half a dozen instantly forgetable/ dire games in the mean time. If we are using this Lions series as a comparison to RL, lets also highlight that this should be the very highest calibre anyway as you have the best players from 4 nations playing against the double world champions who also play the best brand of Rugby that code has to offer.

That is what time Fridays game between Leeds and Castleford finished. The second half started at 9.13pm which meant that 51 minutes where played in the second half! As sky can finish at 10.30pm it gives them lots of time to intruduce the program have loads of stoppages to see if there whose foot was in touch for a tap or drop out, time outs for fastly made scrums and stoppages to see who where the culprits in minor brawls also a huge 18 minutes for half time! When its a cup game with a live sport at the end of it they seem to cut the half time to about 12 minutes and start ON TIME e.g. 8.00pm and not 8.04pm!

Time to revisit the idea of kicking off evening games at 7.45. Especially if they are on telly with video ref decisions likely to make it a longer game than normal.

I agree that SL is going backwards, or at least the top leagues are

But, comparing the all blacks to SL is not really fair, I would say the skills in SL match those in the RFU Premiership and Id bet the Kagaroos have more skillfull back than the all blacks

I'd agree with that, although I think Bernard Foley would make a great RL HB.

I wasn't, i was comparing the quality of the last two league internationals i saw vs the AB lions test, the comment about super league is self evident, not only on this board but other forums,
Agree that the kangaroos are the equivalent of the Ab s in terms of dominance and ability, i love RL and always big it up union mates who don't really pay it much attention but by the same token they don't tend to look down their noses at it like a fair few league fans do, you know the ones who call it yawnion or kick n clap,
both games can be a joy to watch played by committed skilful teams, hope the lions can square the series, not good for any team to be too dominant in any sport (unless its us )