The Saints backs were exposed badly, and frankly looked mediocre to poor. Have Saints ever had a worse pair of centres? I know Percival is young but he should've scored both those chances, and had they been at the other end I'm sure Souths would've finished them. The back 3 looked slow and were out of position on numerous occasions.

There is between Barca and Real Madrid compared to the English teams. It's as big as the top NRL clubs verses any of ours.

Only difference is the likes of City, United, Arsenal etc have no excuses unlike the superleague clubs.

2-1 Id hardly 39-0.

Hopefully the new SL format will encourage more teams to compete in more games. Salford apart (showing classic signs of a hastily assembled side) there does seem to be grounds for hope on that score.

I do understand that its human nature for many people to "get by" rather than keep trying to improve, but there are plenty of examples of individual players who clearly put in more work on parts of their game than others. I'd say Graham and Peacock in the forwards, and going back the likes of Edwards (IMO a fairly ordinary player who made himself good through hard work) and Hanley are exactly the sort of attitude we need more of.

As an aside, I think people sometimes underestimate the physicality of the NRL compared to SL. Souths for a couple of years, the Roosters with SBW (particularly 2013) and Manly for a number of years are brutal sides to watch, as well as having speed and skill. Its not just sheer size either. St George have got what many consider to be the weakest pack in ther NRL, but Warrington didn't walk all over them as many sides did last year.

It's impossible to have a great set of forwards AND a great set of backs under the salary cap these days.

And no team has ever won SL without a very good or excellent pack.

This. As I said to a few friends after the game, Super League is the NFL Europe to the NRL's NFL. The NRL is so far advanced that it sets the standard to aim for throughout the game. I think it's safe to say that will probably remain the case for the rest of my life. It's also why I agree with Russell Crowe's opinion that club footy is the way to grow the game. RL has intense rivalries and coupled with a tremendous product on the field, it can sell. The NRL is the flagship of our game and if that grows it will have a knock on effect for us because, entertainment wise, Super League is a five star product comparable with the best of any other sports. As long as it remains entertaining i.e. professional, that will always be the case.