Redvee

Quote: sally cinnamon "In fairness to them, what would we have been feeling if we were in their situation.

Saints have, under Holbrook, at least taken steps towards becoming more of an entertaining team, against the general trend in Super League. Holbrook comes across as a good guy and I would expect that most Wire fans regret that we weren't more bold and moved for him last year, when we were still dithering about with TS. Wasn't the story that we could have had Barba as well but TS put him off joining? Players like that are rare in modern SL and we could have both Holbrook and Barba (according to this forum anyway) - instead of Price and Roberts.

If you take away the p&b glasses and look at it objectively, Wire v Wigan is the "anti RL" final. Saints and Cas would at least have given the game a showpiece final with two teams that try to throw the ball about and play even if the overall quality is mixed. Saints have also tried to bring through their own talent through their academy, which is what we want to see. Now the final is between two attritional teams who are all about "the end justifies the means". The Saints fans will look at this and think, most likely Wire are going to blow it in a final again, which means they know the script for next week. Wigan grind away a win, the media hails Shaun Wane as a departing genius, we have to hear about what an all time great Sam Tomkins is, it's another trophy for Wigan to take them further away from Saints in the all-time list, which the pie-eaters will rub in their faces. And it is unlikely to be a classic final to remember. So you can understand why the Saints fans are not in a great mood about the turn of events.

Also it will play on their own neuroses in a way that Man Utd fans struggle to deal with being in the shadow of Man City and Liverpool. To Saints fans who have watched for any length of time, the concept of losing to Wire in a knock out game, at Knowsley Road, in a close finish, is completely wrong. The win they had in the league where Richardson kicked the penalty from half way a couple of months back will have just made this worse because that now seems completely futile.

They will also look at this season, with Catalans winning the Challenge Cup and now seeing the two teams in the Grand Final, and think that the vast majority of Saints teams from 1996 to about 2014 would have wrapped up a treble and this is one that has massively slipped away.'"

Classic Sally.

However based on the Semi I would hardly call Saints entertaining. 3 drop goals, 3 kicks at goal and a scruffy try off the bounce of a ball. Champagne stuff clearly.