a) this Saints team is already sans Walmsley who is one of our best.

b) Saints have won games without Barba or Roby so far this season. Even with both of them out we would probably have Lomax - Fages - Richardson - Smith in the spine (may even forgo moving Lomax and put Costello there after his debut vs Huddersfield). Not a bad spine at all all things considered.

They are the most consistent team in the Superleague era, never missed a play off in all the super league years no other teams have done that. I think they have won the LLS about 7 times and finished top 4 on 17 occasions out of 19 seasons.
I think they have battled in 10 grand finals with and without injuries, Leeds have got the better of them but that doesn't stop Saints from being consistent especially at the business end of the season.

Powell has gone down a few notches by spitting his dummy out, he really can't motivate his team consistently when it matters, winning one LLS title is not really a good measurement of success.

Although Walmsley is a miss for Saints, surely its not a big a miss as if one of your spine picked up an injury? Luke Thompson seems to have stepped up in AW absence.

Saints have had there 3 best players out in Walmsley, Roby and Barba, most probably the best players in super league by position.

Saints beat Huddersfield 66 - 4 without Walmsley, Roby and Barba.
Saints beat Salford 60 - 10 without Walmsley, Roby and Barba (half a game)

You would think by your theory the score lines would have been closer or perhaps its better to digest Barba's comment that the Saints Pack are working really hard to lay a platform for the backs.

Apart from the try he gave Cas thats should never have been, he had a good game, if he keeps improving as aref then we have a good ref on our hands, a few 50/50s call that could of gone either way, but all the the major calls he got right.

Quite and what the more inexperienced refs don't need is coaches ridiculing them constantly.

I seem to remember Powell complaining about Thaler and since then I don't think they're had a game where he's been main official

He has but not many. The game was after Wigan in 2016. But I think we've had Thaler maybe once or twice since then.

It's got bad when you actually want Thaler as ref. Hicks Child are at best ok but Kendall and MickeyMouskas are hard to defend. Hewer always impresses me when I see him ref. But doesn't seem to be in the clique?

What's happened to Phil Bentham. Not been seen since houston nailed him.

What's happened to Jack Smith the one who was in the Marines and shot in Afghanistan seemed to be one of the better new refs coming up in the previous year or so but he doesn't seem to be getting many SL gigs this year and confined to the Championship.

He stepped down as a full time official last season(?) seemingly after a string of bad performances (pushed?), now seen running the touch line in SL. Shame really because until that run he was pretty good.

I didn't see this many Cas fans question the officials when they were battering Leeds last week!

The Shenton try Kendall sent up as no try in that game because obstruction was the most bizarre call of the season tbf. The replay showed literally nothing close to a dummy runner nevermind obstruction