I thought for much of the game he was at least trying to make things happen in our attack. But most of the time players around him looked clueless. In the 4th quarter of the match, he did start looking shambolic, though.

One thing that did strike me was that our aggression wasn't controlled or channelled positively. We put in a few cheap shots, whilst on many occassions not fronting up in the collision where we need that aggression.

Every piece of silverware is 'the real business'. If it isn't then there is something wrong with the club. We were knocked out of the Challenge Cup so that left us with two potential pots (even if one is a plate). We should have been going all out to secure top spot because then we would have had silverware and our team would know what it was like to win. That in turn might have had a positive effect on any hopes for further silverware at a grand final. As it is we're now probably depending on Cas to lose and that's no way to approach the play offs.

The fans did indeed want the Shield. It's a pity that the coaching staff and the players couldn't give more of a dman what the fans want, especially at home.

It's the money in the NRL. A few of the best British players are now playing in Australia, and quality Aussies who used to finish their careers over here are now staying put. It does at least mean that more young kids are getting a chance, though.

Totally agree. The sad thing is, with some decent rulings, we could do a lot to redress the balance with massively over inflating prices for clubs:

-increase the cap £2m, it's not much, but creates space for another quality signing.
-introduce the home grown cap where all home grown players only count for upto 100k on the cap, with further reductions for England knights and England caps
-reduce the overseas quota from 7 to 5 (and eventually 3) which will force clubs into recruiting quality from abroad as opposed to quantity, and thus bringing more kids through for depth...

I can't see the fact 4 burgess brothers and James Graham are in the NRL can make so much difference to how poor this league has gone.

Maybe we just not producing players like we once was.

Its the second part of Dux's post that carries the real weight. There's no Kevin Iro, there's no Darren Albert, Darren Britt, Darren Smith, Sean Hoppe, Willie Talau, Caylass or David Fairleigh.