"It wasn't something we've seen coming. We trained pretty well this week."

Woolf post match interview, yep, they're still the team to beat but that's cracked me up, sure I've heard it before somewhere

He’s right up there with Walmsley in terms of importance to Saints IMO. He’s isn’t flashy, particularly eye catching etc but does things that you just can’t measure. He isn’t in Lockers league in terms of when Lockers was at his best yet but I recall Lockers getting dogs abuse across the league at 24-25.

I do agree with a lot of what you’re saying and maybe it’s the quality of the league that puts him right up there (IMO). I’m interested to see how he goes in that World Cup. I see Aussie 13’s like Radley, Finucane or Murray lauded and he’s every bit as good IMO. I think he’ll prove that but we’ll see.

Just to add to this around Walmsley, I could see him being found out a bit in the World Cup. He was dreadful for GB under Wayne Bennett and I don’t think the big Aussie, Kiwi, Tongan etc packs will find him anything out of the ordinary.

Yesterday's result would suggest otherwise



Just one further point on this; I don't buy into this 'he does things that can't be measured' malarky. Greatness doesn't hide under a Bushel. A great player may well do things above and beyond the obvious like motivation, organisation etc but they ALWAYS do plenty that can be measured too. If justification for a player is 'yes, he doesn't do anything flashy or eye-catching but he does lots of work in the background that can't be seen' then he is a solid pro and nothing more. When Knowles starts to take games by the scruff of the neck rather than quietly going about his business then, and only then, will I take claims like 'best in the league' seriously.

Standard Saints that when the rest a few. They were all injured according to Woolf…yeah right!

I've said many times that Saints have benefitted from a low injury count and a uneven competition over recent years. That's not to say they haven't been the best...they clearly have. But faced with an injury crisis the likes of other teams have had to endure and they wouldn't be sitting on a 3peat right now. That much I'm certain of.

The only time we've beat them of late he didn't play

Their players are the best ever produced in every position and their squad is better than anything ever assembled.

Stains-
Played 6 won 5
Wigan-
Played 6 won 5
And yet stains have the greatest team ever greatest coach and 1-17 the bestest players in the league with Knowles/Walmsley - man of steel/golden boot (which one I dont know)
Westerman has a bigger and better skill set than Knowles will ever have.

One of those nights it seems. Our attitude seemed off, perhaps a touch of complacency who knows. At least it stops the unbeaten tag being shouted about now, I don't know one Saints fan that thought we would go the full season unbeaten. Toulouse scored nearly as many points against us than we have conceded all season.

It does make me laugh though, this "If Saints had a few injuries I wonder how they would go" comment. That's like saying "If Salah didn't score as many goals this season, Liverpool wouldn't be challenging for the title".

Our S & C team is part of the reason we are Champions 3 in a row. Our fitness is the best in the league and a big part of why we do okay with injuries year on year, it's not luck and it's not a coincidence.

I know that Woolf said the club is looking into the travel arrangements for the future as we don't have a great record in France over the years. Getting up at 6am, 2 hours on a cramped plane and a completely different match day routine isn't great for the body clock and I've never agreed with us travelling in and out on the same day. Our unbeaten record went against Catalans in France last season too. Will be interesting to see if we change the routine in June when we go back to Toulouse.

Hopefully we respond now in the best way. It's great for the game that Toulouse get their first win against the Champions.

The travel arrangements are a tricky one to handle. Wigan's 10 day stint clearly didn't work and in/out in the same day didn't work for Sts.

On another note, how do people think the two teams would go if the coaches were swapped around? Would Woolf get more out of the Wigan squad? Would Sts just carry on as they are?

Both statements are true though aren't they? Yes they have a "if my auntie had balls she'd be my uncle" vibe about them, but they are true.

You have had little injury worries over the last seasons and have profited. Get the same injury crisis as ourselves, leeds, wire, hull etc and that dominance slips despite your fans belief that you're the greatest side in history. Could you compete week on week missing 7 or 8 players as we had to do last season when everyone took great delight in us getting beat? Seeing as you lose every time you play a weak side the answer is clearly no.

Saints fans hate the comments that they’ve had luck with injuries or questions of how they’d get on with 7 or 8 injuries at once but people are going to ask those questions because they’ve never had to deal with it this last few seasons, whilst pretty much every other club has had to.

I’ve given them huge credit for what clearly must be a high quality conditioning/physio department but to say luck doesn’t come in to it clearly isn’t true. Somebody goes in to a tackle and breaks an arm, gets their leg caught in a tackle and twists an ankle, gets hit high and breaks a jaw, keeps picking up head knocks and sits out with repeated concussions and on and on and on. To say luck doesn’t come in to it simply cannot be true. Yes they may be doing well at not picking up muscle injuries from poor conditioning or fatigue (Woolf does his bit on that score by thinking up ways of players getting rests, no exiles players, England pull outs, post cup final rest etc) but that’s just one part of the puzzle.