| FORUMS > The Virtual Terrace > Super league is boring |
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Wakefield Wildcats RLFANS Quiz Champion 2023:d7dc4b20b2c2dd7b76ac6eac29d5604e_78702.jpeg |
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The gap between saints and the rest of SL is evident when you consider there isn’t one player from the rest of SL that would get in saints first 13. Wigan fans will shout “jai field” but there is no way he is anywhere near the class of Welsby. He’s just a sprinter playing rugby league who is only decent in broken play.
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Dwarfs, Gnomes, Halflings/GNOME2.JPG
The new young dynasty of super saints is coming to a ground near you.
Welsby-Dodd-Simms-Eaves-Rizzelli, not Eastmond...the future is coming.:Dwarfs, Gnomes, Halflings/GNOME2.JPG |
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| Quote: TheWarringtonWolve69 "The gap between saints and the rest of SL is evident when you consider there isn’t one player from the rest of SL that would get in saints first 13. Wigan fans will shout “jai field” but there is no way he is anywhere near the class of Welsby. He’s just a sprinter playing rugby league who is only decent in broken play.'"
Far too much hype if an attacking full back, for that position you need the attributes to be creative and have a good defence. Jai Field has neither he's just a broken field runner and thats about it. Can't defend either the last try by Percival he allowed Percival to juggle the ball to score can't defence read. |
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Wakefield Wildcats RLFANS Quiz Champion 2023:d7dc4b20b2c2dd7b76ac6eac29d5604e_78702.jpeg |
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| Quote: Judder Man "Far too much hype if an attacking full back, for that position you need the attributes to be creative and have a good defence. Jai Field has neither he's just a broken field runner and thats about it. Can't defend either the last try by Percival he allowed Percival to juggle the ball to score can't defence read.'"
Totally agree. He’s just another Adam Quinlan. The way the Wigan have been crowing about him, I thought he was the next Billy Slater. Wouldn’t get anywhere near Saints 17 |
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实事求是！: |
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| Quote: Mild Rover "While it is tempting and it’d be easy to make jokes about feeling sympathy for Leeds fans who have not seen their team win a trophy since 2020, I think it does illustrate another issue will the same clubs dominating a sport for a prolonged period… the withdrawal symptoms and lack of tolerance for disappointment among some (not all!) of their fans when they have to endure a period of the mediocrity so familiar to the clubs fulfilling the role of opponent, year in and year out, are so used to. We take our happiness were we can and have learned to treasure it.
McManus has invested heavily at Saints to make them what they are today, and yes they also have a good culture. Kind of admirable, but yeah kind of boring too from the outside. But not massively more so than the previous 37 years since (probably not entirely coincidentally) my own club had a ‘good culture’ and won major trophies.'"
It's all to do with the lack of diversity at the top, in terms of final outcomes. This could get to the point where saints win 4 or 5 back to back doubles, at the very least, like it's nothing. It's never been this bad. How hard is it for teams to simply be coached well, have good young players and make smart overseas signings? The competition is just so, so poor. |
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'Thus I am tormented by my curiosity and humbled by my ignorance.' from History of an Old Bramin, The New York Mirror (A Weekly Journal Devoted to Literature and the Fine Arts), February 16th 1833.:d7dc4b20b2c2dd7b76ac6eac29d5604e_33809.png |
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Quote: FlexWheeler "It's all to do with the lack of diversity at the top, in terms of final outcomes. This could get to the point where saints win 4 or 5 back to back doubles, at the very least, like it's nothing. It's never been this bad. How hard is it for teams to simply be coached well, have good young players and make smart overseas signings? The competition is just so, so poor.'"
It could but we’re some way from that. Also, from my perspective this doesn’t feel different. My first post in this thread hasn’t aged well in a couple of ways…
viewtopic.php?f=59&t=637425&p=19274621#p19274621
However, the reason I share it is to show that Leeds, Wigan and Saints have essentially merged into one RL entity in my head, the one with the money that always wins. Which particular facet of that monolith lifts the trophy at the end of each season ceased to matter some time ago.
As for the lack of quality, fans of not-Wigan-Saints-or-Leeds twigged some time ago that being well coached, having good young players and making smart overseas signings helps, but without lots of money there’s a cap on what can realistically be achieved. One (or maybe even two) of the monolith’s facets might be poorly managed for a bit and have to slum it in mid-table for a couple of years but in some ways that adds interest for the rest of us. |
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Quote: FlexWheeler "It's all to do with the lack of diversity at the top, in terms of final outcomes. This could get to the point where saints win 4 or 5 back to back doubles, at the very least, like it's nothing. It's never been this bad. How hard is it for teams to simply be coached well, have good young players and make smart overseas signings? The competition is just so, so poor.'"
It could but we’re some way from that. Also, from my perspective this doesn’t feel different. My first post in this thread hasn’t aged well in a couple of ways…
viewtopic.php?f=59&t=637425&p=19274621#p19274621
However, the reason I share it is to show that Leeds, Wigan and Saints have essentially merged into one RL entity in my head, the one with the money that always wins. Which particular facet of that monolith lifts the trophy at the end of each season ceased to matter some time ago.
As for the lack of quality, fans of not-Wigan-Saints-or-Leeds twigged some time ago that being well coached, having good young players and making smart overseas signings helps, but without lots of money there’s a cap on what can realistically be achieved. One (or maybe even two) of the monolith’s facets might be poorly managed for a bit and have to slum it in mid-table for a couple of years but in some ways that adds interest for the rest of us. | |
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"Arguably the best Rugby League side certainly in the last 40 years!" Phil Clarke.:d7dc4b20b2c2dd7b76ac6eac29d5604e_13707.jpg |
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Fair enough! I've just binned off SkySports after a huge price hike so don't get Super League any more but I subscribe to WatchNRL and Premier Sports so get plenty of RL to watch. WatchNRL for £130 a season is a bargain. 8 games every week you can watch at your leisure and also the RL programs like Matty Johns show etc. Different gravy as they say!
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I wonder if the lack of competitive/exciting derbies is playing a part.
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Just be thankful you can watch the Australian league and the State of Origin. Without that we'd all be snookered.
Super league is dead and so is the challenge cup.
I'd suggest to any young, ambitious rugby league player in this country to set out for down under.
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| Quote: giddyupoldfella "Does the Rugby League always stand in solidarity with countries engaged in war and virtue signal that to let everyone know where they stand? I can't remember it happening before.
Is it just the TV games that stand in solidarity with Ukraine or do the non TV games stand in solidarity too?'"
No Super League like other sports have decided that as people in Ukraine are white with blue eyes they must stand in solidarity. Plenty of other wars and there has been nothing. The hypocrisy is disgusting. When wars have brown people being bombed and land occupied nobody in sport cared one bit.
For example a Few years ago UEFA fined Celtic about £8,600 because fans waved Palestinian flags in support of Palestine against a brutal illegal occupation of there land by Israel.
I see Ukraine flags all over football grounds and no fines are being issued. |
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No one can argue that St Helens aren’t the dominant side in the competition at present. It won’t last forever though and someone else will take over. The sport goes through cycles.
The aim for the rest of the clubs should be at first match, then surpass St Helens. The way to do that is through youth development. It’s no coincidence the last 16 winners have been Leeds, St Helens and Wigan. The best 3 academies in the game. The sooner the rest of the clubs get their development up to the standards of those three the sooner we will see a different name on the trophy.
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"I hope we get to the bottom of the answer":13804.jpg |
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Its a salary capped sport in terms of playing squad but I'd be interested to see a breakdown of staff numbers and spend on areas outside the salary cap.
I suspect you'll see those that have/spend the most win the most.
Clearly using those resources effectively counts for a lot but ultimately you have to have the resources in the first place to consistently challenge.
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33809_1522680904.png
'Thus I am tormented by my curiosity and humbled by my ignorance.' from History of an Old Bramin, The New York Mirror (A Weekly Journal Devoted to Literature and the Fine Arts), February 16th 1833.:d7dc4b20b2c2dd7b76ac6eac29d5604e_33809.png |
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| Quote: scarrie "Its a salary capped sport in terms of playing squad but I'd be interested to see a breakdown of staff numbers and spend on areas outside the salary cap.
I suspect you'll see those that have/spend the most win the most.
Clearly using those resources effectively counts for a lot but ultimately you have to have the resources in the first place to consistently challenge.'"
Yeah, you don’t see the ‘no coincidence’ line trotted out so much on that point!
I don’t mind the pay-to-win model or the self-mythologising bs from players, fans and management at the successful clubs. I’m sure it has always been like that, to some degree. I do get a bit frustrated when fans of other less wealthy clubs lap it up, but everybody is entitled to an opinion.
I have been looking at what Saints are and and what the current team is doing, and I don’t want to undercredit them. It is very, very impressive. |
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the future's bright the future's [color=#800000:1p3f9jf7]claret [/color:1p3f9jf7] and [color=#FFFF40:1p3f9jf7]gold [/color:1p3f9jf7]:d7dc4b20b2c2dd7b76ac6eac29d5604e_60098.jpg |
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| Quote: scarrie "Its a salary capped sport in terms of playing squad but I'd be interested to see a breakdown of staff numbers and spend on areas outside the salary cap.
I suspect you'll see those that have/spend the most win the most.
Clearly using those resources effectively counts for a lot but ultimately you have to have the resources in the first place to consistently challenge.'"
and where do those resources come from? sponsorship, which is easier to get when your team is winning. a self fullfilling prophesy, and its not just in RL.
Another interesting one - the sky money may have been divvied up equally but the exposure certainly is not.
Leeds has been on tv in all but one of their rounds so far this season. Cant imagine their marketing department needed to do much to sell sponsorship early in the season knowing that - whereas likes of salford / hudds / wakey marketing team will have had to do a lot more. |
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Not much more interesting in the championship either. We are all waiting for Fev to go up and Toulouse to come back down to us so they can compete with Leigh for who gets to replace Fev when they come back down.
Mind you, the way Fev are patting themselves on the back they might be the team to give the mighty Saints a real test.
Joking aside, it just shows how mix matched the sport is at the moment. I don’t really see a plan to address it but these things come in cycles. How many did saints ‘lose in a row’ to now ‘win in a row?’
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Dwarfs, Gnomes, Halflings/GNOME2.JPG
The new young dynasty of super saints is coming to a ground near you.
Welsby-Dodd-Simms-Eaves-Rizzelli, not Eastmond...the future is coming.:Dwarfs, Gnomes, Halflings/GNOME2.JPG |
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| Quote: Trainman "No one can argue that St Helens aren’t the dominant side in the competition at present. It won’t last forever though and someone else will take over. The sport goes through cycles.
The aim for the rest of the clubs should be at first match, then surpass St Helens. The way to do that is through youth development. It’s no coincidence the last 16 winners have been Leeds, St Helens and Wigan. The best 3 academies in the game. The sooner the rest of the clubs get their development up to the standards of those three the sooner we will see a different name on the trophy.'"
Saints have always had good youth development like a few other clubs in Leeds and Wigan the problem has always been the transition of these young players into Superleague.
The last couple of seasons the Saints have got this process right, don't forget we let go high earners Theo Fages and Laclan Coote and replaced them with 2 academy players in Dodd and Welsby. Wingfield and Bennison are also getting game time and looking comfortable in the team. |
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