The only dubious calls were the missed Percival obstructions, apart from that I thought the ref was pretty fair. The score line suggests it was easy, Cas had a go physically but they had no quality or skill on show. Nothing disrespectful about calling a game easy.

I totally agree what you have written there. Wardle and Webster didn't cause much problem on the attacking front.

Saints' recruitment on the whole isn't nothing special. They've landed lucky that an NRL star had nowhere else to go and you're getting a year out of him. Around 4th/5th recently and then sign a FB due to his personal problems that lifts you to 1st before he ends up department and you'll be back down a few pegs.....almost identical story to Cas and Hardaker.

Easy win. Didn’t need to get out of third gear. Cas thought their forwards could just bully ours but I think 8-13 of the Castleford team are still in Luke Thompson’s pocket. Ben Barba is an absolute joy to watch and no wonder the young cas fans ignored their own players and made a beeline for him for selfies.

Regards

King James

What was the crowd?

That was the group of people surrounding the pitch.

Couldn’t have been many cas fans as all I could hear were the Saints fans

Regards

King James

Put Gale, Roberts and Eden back in that side today and its a very close game. Or take the equivalent of those 3 for Saints out and its a very close game. Doesn't change the fact that we need a fullback though, but how good were Saints last year until Barba came along? Cr@p! Just the same situation as we now have since Hardaker let us down. You weren't posting your arrogant posts then were you? Probably won't be again next year when he's back in the NRL either. He was a pleasure to watch today and worth the ticket money alone if I'm honest, but you probably wouldn't know about that sat watching the game on TV

The difference between this year and last year wasn’t Barba coming along - he’s just the icing, that makes tough games feel far more comfortable.
The difference between this year and last year is going from KC to Holbrook.

Though for a point of principle, taking out Makinson , Lomax and Richardson out of our team would see Swift, Fages and Smith take their place (and since he was missing today, Walmsley coming back on to the bench in Fages place). I wouldn’t feel particularly bad about that. It’s obviously a bit but not insurmountable by any means.

^^ Those three aren't the equivalent. Barba, Lomax and Makinson I would accept as equivalent 3. No doubt you are the best side in the league at the moment and fully deserved the win today, the few contentious decisions had nothing to do with the outcome of the game so they aren't an excuse. Neither really should injury's be an excuse, they happen and thats why you have a squad. It's AS108's arrogance in his posts that annoy me to be honest mate. Like I said before, watching Barba today, he was a joy to watch and a class above - you don't actually get a full overview of how good he is watching on TV, seeing what he does off the ball that the cameras don't show is superb. I spent too much time with my head in my hands at your place first game of the year to watch closely!

Wow, that surely must be a nomination for the sour grapes award this year.

^^^ Not at all, read my other post. Plus, how can saying that watching an opposition player was worth the ticket money alone sour grapes? Best side won, simple (as I have already said).

At the moment Saints are the best team. They are confident, well coached and have a variety of attacking options. They’ve got the best player in the league and use him well.
However, at this point last year, Cas were the best team in the league and continued to be until the final game of the season.
If last year taught us anything, it’s that the best team doesn’t always win the trophies.

I wouldn't go that far..saints been champions 5 times...a couple of world club challenges.. And numerous challenge cups..

Barba just does what he wants.