They will be the way people keep harping on about an expanded format that involves less league games so that we can fit a bigger expanded WCC into the schedule.

English league and union should merger so we have a bigger talent pool.

If Todd Carney and Scott Dureau can play together for most of the season then Les Catalans has a chance to win silverware. If that happens then we might have a more even WCC contest next time around. Something to think about.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, you should do a turn at the Edinburgh fringe festival, they need some good comedian's.
Seriously though your obesseive behaviour pattern and delusions are rather worrying. I would seek help if I were you before you spiral out of control and make a mockery of yourself in public...oh wait

In 2003 saints got beat 38-0 by the roosters in front of almost 20K.

Following that record defeat there were 5 straight british wins, Saints beating the Broncos at the same ground in front of 23K a few years later.

So I would say the pedigree is for people to see these games, regardless of the result.

Have people forgotten that Wigan drew with the Broncos at the end of normal time. And their first try was from a dropped ball 2 feet from the line. And their winning points came from two of the softest pens you'll see given.

In the wire and Wigan games e could easily have been playing 12 men for large parts of the game and if the refereeing was consisten with what we are used to then they both would have enjoyed far more field position and possession.

Point i took from the series:

The standard refereeing in our game gives teams far too many pens and easy yards. We should be making it harder for teams to creat attacking positions not easier.

Attention to detail. In defence we do not do enough work. This was the platform every win was based on. The try line defence was brilliant and stopped a number of tries in each game.

Kick attack and defence. When defending, all Aussie defenders played a very active part in shielding the receiver, they were organised and very clever at it - some great examples in the wire game.

Kicking attack - probably the area we are furthest behind in alongside defence.there has to be more attention paid to this area, most of our teams just hog the ball without any thought.

Structure under pressure. When it gets tough we lose structure far too easily. Not playing or training under a consistent high intensity means we aren't able to keep the standard up for 80mins.

It all boils down to :

Improve our coaching
Reduce the volume and increase the quality.

Our kicking close to the line was abysmal. SMith & Wilkin being the main culprits. To make up for their lack of class (Wilkin has an excuse) they resort to aimless kicking anywhere near the line.
Souths were a joy to watch though.

thats because too much of SL is dross. You are crazy if you think that the way to get our best players better is to play more games against SL dross and fewer against the best players on the planet.

Whatever part of RL being discussed, there is always someone desperate to take it backwards at a rate of knots.

On the downside the Aussie team is beginning to suffer with all the imports the NRL money is attracting not to dissimilar to the premiership football over here.

The domestic product though is great.

Yep, the Catalans team that was taken to the cleaners a couple of weeks ago by Saints would definately be more competitive than Saints in the WCC.

Fact is, Saints are one of the best teams in SL. We didnt actually play that badly last night, despite the scoreline. I dread to think what would have happened to most other SL clubs against Souths.

Don't forget that Souths also won their own Grand Final by 30odd points.

Souths were on a different planet last night. We could have put out a SL dream team style selection against them and they'd have been mullered too.

Really? Remind me again where St George finished in the NRL and you lost to them at home

The reality is, the gulf in class is getting bigger and bigger

Regards

King James

We need more money coming into the game but not so we can pay the players more.

We need to get every club to work to high professional standards in their coaching , nutrition, youth structures and player welfare. We need clubs to invest in their local junior sides and put a lot of resources into the grass roots of RL. The high level of professional coaching and treatment the 1st team squads get should be replicated for all playing levels within the club. Once this is in place and the we start seeing some reward in the standard of players, then we can look at raising the cap.

However, all this costs money and there just isn't enough coming into the sport.

Souths played well in the conditions yesterday.
They are a good team.
It should be remembered that they did not come first in the NRL, they came third behind the Roosters and Manly.
They won as many regular season games as Penrith and it was an unusual finals series where neither the first or second placed team made the Grand Final.
It was third (Souths) v seventh (the Dogs) that has a lot to do with the Grand Final result, The Bulldogs had shot their load by the time they got to the Grand Final.

They are not the perfect unbeatable team by any means and are no guarantee this season to repeat last years great finish.

We need to double the number of people/kids playing the sport, which would give us more opportunities to find/develop bigger,stronger,faster and cleverer players than we currently have.Simple as that for me