I've not watched it back and don't think I will (once was enough) but for me the Dufty obstruction was soft and a bit of defensive gamesmanship by the KR player.

There's always that air of discomfort when the dummy runner breaks the line and I think it was Nicholson that 'got in the way' as Dufty broke to score. I'm biased and often wrong but the ball had gone the defender wasn't getting anywhere near and targeted our player to feign making an attempt.

I'm not sure overall we deserved to win that's subjective but we should have won outplayed in the first half but should have gone in level at least and to rally in the second half like we did was a case of small margins and fluffing our lines.

BTW how annoying was (their) Burgess he was grinning all the way back to the reset after his 'try' Whilst it's not his responsibility to offer himself up, in addition to Mikey Lewis the Pinocchio jibe is another reason to support Wigan next week

I really thought that was going to be game set and match

Indeed. A Superleague quality right centre is a must (perhaps Wrench can stay fit or Lindop can break through), a fully fit Fitzgibbon in the back row with a big pacy back up forward as well, an organising scrum half with a kicking game and a tackle breaking front row forward. We don't have a Tanginoa/Mago/Satae/ type player to come off the bench and cause some damage although that's what Musgrove should be capable of. We'll see what close season brings.

Wire were far the most dangerous side but just could not get field position in the first half , the obstruction try was soft and i do not agree with the decision , but unfortunately that is a regular call .

No way could Moore call on the Burgess try as he was not in a position to see anything . It was at least a 90% no try .

Musgrove is a waste of an overseas spot in reality, a disappointment, doesn't offer anything above average. Tai, bless him, is too limited in attack. See you later Drinkwater, thanks for the memories and the crap tackling.

The new signings for 2025 will be crucial.

Yeah we can certainly improve. Believe we’ve signed a second row from the NRL, no idea who. We scored 3 fair tries last night and they scored 1, it’s going to stick in the craw for a bit

Yes it will stick in the craw, we also blew two conversions that would have won it, and a chance with 4 mins to go. But I could not see us beating Wigan in the GF anyway, perhaps spared more disappointment. In truth we peaked attacking wise on 26 July in beating Wigan 40-4.

I hope we push on in 2025 as Hull KR pushed on in 2024.

Probably the only sensible post regarding the "topic". I'm not gonna sit here and say I wouldn't have been livid had it gone the other way. But we were dominant in that first half and as sport goes we almost "deserved" that luck. Had Burgess try happened in the final 5 mins to win it from behind I'd understand the furore more cos you were so good 2nd period
There was plenty of time left for Wire to change things and they very nearly did so.

I wouldn't worry, no doubt they'll be something that happens next week for Wigan that knocks this into touch, RL doesn't like change and judging by the who do we want to win thread neither does its fans.

For what it's worth, us getting there isn't a fairytale story. We have pretty much unlimited resources money wise. A brilliant set up and we will be knocking on the door year after year, we just don't crow about it until now

What about the dufty try? We evened it out in the second half and scored 3 legitimate tries to your 1! You didn't deserve to have a try awarded that never was because you made decent yards for 40 minutes. Good luck next week super league needs a new name on the trophy.

You don't have anything to crow about. You haven't won a trophy since the water wheel. Most teams spend up to the cap. Do you think having loads of money is going to be guaranteeing you knocking on the door year on year? Wire have multiple Challenge Cup trophies in their cabinet and have started doing what they should have 20 years ago. A huge investment in their youth product and now it's starting to bear fruit. They will get that GF win sooner rather than later because they have finally got their house in order. But you keep throwing money at over the top NRL players, see how far you get.

It was a clear obstruction.

Once Dufty dummies Hiku and came inside of him rather than go around him, it was obstruction.
If he’d had gone around him, he may have been in a position where the obstructed player had no bearing on the move.

Just think you men were screwed by the ref all match. Some diabolical decisions. The Burgess no try. Your obstruction try, why not have a look on the screen? 2 guys pushing Williams, penalty all day. When Tai obstructed the guy near the line going for the kick, the guy obstructed was offside when the ball was kicked. Just a few from memory.
Must be hard to take. Would be for me. You really should've had em that 2nd half.

Having loads of money enables to get all the things off the pitch that impact on the pitch too. Backroom staff, ours is the best without a shadow. The ability to pay players off and transfers, we paid Reynolds off after a game and a half and Rhys Kennedy was cut.
You're right in saying if a bad overseas window happens it can set someone back .

You're paying credit to Wire for sorting their academy out and rightly so but we are doing the same, again, quietly behind the scenes. Leo Tennison remember the name for one..In a nutshell we're letting our results do the talking though.

Your attitude is stale and epitomises RL in this country, a bit of change and everyone's Iestyns fall out.

Saints have reputed money problems and is it no coincidence they've not been to a final in 2 years. Arguably their setup could be seen as being built on sand. It probably isn't that obvious mind.

I think some of the signings talk is a bit fanciful. We will sign Leyland to replace Drinkwater, but any cap space we had handy will have gone to the upgraded contracts for the younger players. If Fitzgibbon is done - and we have missed him in both playoff games, we will need to replace him.

Tai is still only 25 and Burgess clearly rates him. I really hope Wrench can get back into shape over the off-season because he has all the silky centre skills people are moaning about Tai not having.

We have Lindop who is a better centre than Tai.