In the Players' Lounge at Stadium:MK actually attending the new kit launch. Very nice it is too, although it lacks the red band that made this season's kit look like a classic Saints strip, and they're ditching ISC for a local kit manufacturer to further lessen the Saints look, but hey ho you can't have everything. It does however have a picture of the stadium watermarked into it (MK, like Saints, own their own stadium by the way) to celebrate it being completed this summer.

Oh, and Hudds/MK all the way. Being forced to have sit in with the inbred hoi-polloi (as you've apparently been turfed out of half of "your" stadium by a butterfly watcher's convention or summat who have higher priority on use of the Latics' Function Rooms than "The World's Greatest RL Club" do) settled that argument rather tidily. Wembley here I come - twice probably now that Bent-One isn't around to save your sorry asses....

a bit harsh-he must have run the ball at least 3 times!!

He wasnt that good mate,gets pushed off more tackles than Gaskell did as well.

I'm not knocking him for effort but it's just not happening for him. His kicking game is one of the worst I've ever seen.

Maybe it's just not going his way or he's just not a halfback but I hope it's true he wants to go home and we bring finch in.

I have to say last night raised the question about whether Lance helps Lomax's game or not. In the end most of our plays came off the back of dummy half. Lomax and Lance had little to do and did little. Lomax certainly has played better since Lance came into halfback, but then there were other changes in the team at that time.

I thought LMS put in some effort into his running last night. Once again the pack did it's job, but Manu will be a great addition as he will provide some much needed offloads in the tackle. hopefully!

I think it's obvious lomax plays better with hohaia, god knows why as he don't do anything but IMO its clear he does.

Maybe is having someone with experince makes jonny more confident ?

In the games against the lesser teams I think we can get away with lance being at 6 but when we come up against the likes of Wigan we really need that experinced halve with lomax.

The ain't a chance in hell we will get finch here next year but I think it would be a massive coup if we did, him playing alongside jonny will do the team and jonny the world of good.

I like to think that Lances relative invisibility last night was more down to a desire to keep the cards close to the chest so to speak, because of the far more important fixture occurring next saturday at Wigan Athletics ground.

If not then he is looking like a solid but unspectacular signing.

He must be keeping them close to his chest all year then because he's been invisable nearly all year.

I thought Lomax looked average as well last night, hence why I said it raises the question of whether Lomax improves him. The pack were great and with Roby there won the game on their own. The backs had a defensive purpose, but from 1-7. they could have sat out our attacking plays and it would have been the same result. Could have even been a better result if the pack attacked alone as one of them would have had to kick in general play.

SL has been dull and unispiring for about 3 years now, for me.

It's been in rapid decline for a long time now - the simultaneous rise of professionalism/athleticism and decrease in player talent/quality over the last decade in particular have utterly strangled RL as a spectacle. The lunacy of slowing PTBs with the all-in wrestling the last few years has just given it even more of a kicking while it's already been down.

Yeah it's terrible isn't it. A real borefest! I love nothing more than seeing incessant running from dummyhalf, with little to no passing of the ball to the threequarters. That's proper rugby.



Although I do wonder whether it's got anything to do with the fact that Saints haven't won a major honor since 2008 that's perhaps warping your view?

Funnily enough I found the years between 2003 - 2009 very dull and uninspiring myself.