2022 Super League is not in my top 5 sports.

Imagine a mark Roberts type of player and Andy Greg type of player playing today..it would be a joy to watch..only in wire colours tho

Message to Douglas Black, Moe, SAM, Wires 71, runningman29, et al

It's you that's crying, not me.





(sniff)

Damn, there were some thinking 2010-14 were great times, but they were nearly 30 years out.

Well as they say, even nostalgia isn't as good as it use to be.

I not only agree with you but I wonder how anyone can put it down to lack of professionalism or “culture”? Sometimes the rugby gods are just against you…

In his book, Lee Briers mentions how Tony Smith changed the "mentality of the team" from 2009 onwards - that's the professionalism & culture that was different than the preceding years, but still the small onfield margins might always inhibit success.

We were done by a battle-hardened Leeds side in both 2011 and 12, which I can live with. However, I still maintain we were a Joel Monaghan and Stefan Ratchford injuries away from victory in 2013, which were down to lady luck and some dubiously cynical tactics on behalf of the opposition.

The 2013 final always feels like the one that was stolen rather than lost for me.

Good bit of gamesmanship in all three finals ,playing the ref can be the difference in one off games where there's a reluctance to send players off.

The fact that Smith filled our bench with forwards, when he could have included Brett Hodgson on our bench, meant that those 2 injuries impacted on our team so badly.

We ended up with Briers at fullback and Bridge on the wing and a totally unbalanced team.

I'm sort of glad we didn't win in 2013 - the whole Westwood v Green incident would have always tarnished it somewhat.

Clearly this is much easier say, in principle, when we didn't win.

The Monaghan one was the killer for me. Completely flipped the momentum and they scored straight off the back of that.

Is that any different than the St Helens no try in 2019?

Yep - one was a blatant act of thuggery and a cop-out by the ref, the other was just a great/poor onfield ref call.

Yes, definitely. If the Monaghan incident hadn't happened & we had held that particular Wigan phase of attack out (which without the disruption is likely), then we would have comfortably won that final.

It's all the rub of the green though and it's what makes sport so special. But when you are on the receiving end of such incidents then it's hard to forget and accept.