Noticed in the Wire Wakey game the ref telling tackled players to stop moving off the mark and moving them back a yard or two.
That's half of Saints go forward gone if a clampdown is coming

I’ll be honest I was hoping this thread was going to say Walmsley had been found with a body in his car boot, so I’m a bit disappointed

More evidence from today's game that Saints aren't anything like the same team without Walmsley in it.

2 minutes to go and Toulouse winning 22 v 20 !!

Correction - they're [ireally[/i not the same team without Walmsley in it. Biggest upset in SL history?

"No Walmsley, No Winny"

Saints as usual proving just how fortunate they’ve been to have never had more than an injury or two at the same time to their major players. If they ever have to deal with 5 or 6 of their 17 missing games all at once, we’ll see the same test every other side in the league has had to face at some point in the last 4 years.

Said it time and time and time and time again......their squad depth is nothing special. Take the same 6 or 7 players out their side we have played without week after week and they'll struggle like the rest. They lose every time they play a weakend side.

Yes we have some 'poor' players but in a salary cap you need them to improve your depth.

We have the best SQUAD in the league, end of.

Their salary cap is a bit top heavy no doubt. Great 1-17 but outside of that they have Hurrell and maybe Amor but not too much else.

If you look at us last year, we had Field, French and Leuluai all out at the same time. We lost Clubb to suspension long term and whilst he was dreadful, he still would’ve been a first 17 player. We lost Hardaker to a bad neck injury as well and George Burgess retired on the eve of the season (they probably all didn’t overlap but we had times with more than 6 out and for weeks on end).

So that’s 6 players, all of which would’ve been in our 17. Take Welsby, Makinson, Percival, Lomax, Walmsley and Lees out the squad at the same time and see how they go week to week. They’ve never had to do that and I give them plenty of credit for that because clearly their conditioning is high class but it doesn’t make the question any less interesting.

I just saw the result and assumed Saints put out a team of kids, but it looks like a strong side apart from Walmsley.

On the walking off the mark, what bugs me is not only do they get away with it, but to add insult to injury, they often get a penalty too!

Just seen the highlights and as with our game I come away thinking ‘he’s some rugby league player Tony Gigot’. I guess it’s an attitude thing but how he’s not reached the very top is beyond me. He’s the French version of Jake Connor (although slightly more sane). The penny drops late with some players and I mentioned that with Joe Westerman and like with Westerman last year, I wouldn’t be against an offer for Gigot.

Westerman has always had so much ability. He's probably the last loose forward in the OLoughlin, Farrell, Sculthorpe mould. If he'd only "looked after himself" he could have been a great player rather then a very good player?

He should’ve been right up there. I remember Melbourne were all over him when he was coming through at Cas and who knows, that may have been just what he needed. It’s really sad when natural talents like that don’t have the brain to realise just how good they are.

I really noticed a switch flick in him early last season and he now looks like what he should’ve been for over ten years. He was terrific on Thursday and it’s funny when you hear somebody like Wilkin say Knowles is the best player in the league. I don’t really dispute that but Knowles could only dream of a performance like Westerman’s on Thursday and that says it all. He can be ‘that good’ but it’s too late now to change most people’s opinions.

I’ll be honest, I’d have him well in contention for the World Cup.