Some players work better from the bench. Poching and Ali fall into that category. Others start better

Mathiou probably falls into neither category.

It's hard to think of another import who's managed so many games whilst remaining so mediocre.

If coaches of the calibre of Murray picked him he must have had something to offer - never saw it myself

Inexpensive, decent work rate, sound defender, didn't make many handling errors.

The sort of player you need in any side at any level.

IMO got unfairly criticised because people were expecting him to smash people around the park like Farrell and Fleary were doing.

Probably like Bailey, JJB, etc, but wasnt part of such a sucessful team, so didn't get much recognition

IMHO (and who am I to critique Murray) he had it all wrong with Mathiou.

He should have started games and brought Barrie off the bench. All the go forward and impetus we'd gain would be lost when the switch was made. It was the iestyn/St hilaire tactic in reverse.

Also, Mathiou was a penalty machine.

I remember when Morley moved to Aus he said - very tongue in cheek - that the reason he went to the Roosters was to get away from jamie Mathiou. IIRC some people on here took that comment seriously.



Jamie played on for a while in the Qld Cup. BTW, Andrew Dunemann is now doing quite well coaching in the same comp (two weeks ago his side was up against one caoched by Brandon Costin).

I agree, but if it's going to cost an overseas spot, I like to see a bit more.

It's the 'Big One' apparently so I suppose we should have a look at the SL Era stats between the two teams.

Leeds SL Era Record V Wigan

All Comps: All Fixtures
Played 46, Won 20, Drawn 3, Lost 23, Pts For 1035, Pts Agst 1014 ..... Avg Scr (23-22 ) ..... 47%

All Comps: In Wigan:
Played 20, Won 8, Drawn 1, Lost 11, Pts For 386, Pts Agst 493 ..... Avg Scr (19-25) ..... 43%

All Comps: At the JJB:
Played 14, Won 6, Drawn 1, Lost 7, Pts For 314, Pts Agst 320 ..... Avg Scr (22-23) ..... 46%

SL Reg Rds:
Played 35, Won 15, Drawn 3, Lost 17, Pts For 802, Pts Agst 797 ..... Avg Scr (23-23) ..... 47%

SL Reg Rds: In Wigan:
Played 17, Won 8, Drawn 1, Lost 8, Pts For 342, Pts Agst 397 ..... Avg Scr (20-23) ..... 50%

SL Reg Rds: At the JJB:
Played 13, Won 6, Drawn 1, Lost 6, Pts For 296, Pts Agst 279 ..... Avg Scr (23-21) ..... 50%

__________

Leeds' Biggest Win: 70 - 0 (Headingley - 18th June 2005)
Leeds' Biggest Win In Wigan: 52 - 16 (JJB - 22nd August 200icon_cool.gif

Leeds' Widest Winning Margin: See Above
Leeds' Widest Winning Margin In Wigan: See Above
__________

Wigan's Biggest Win: 68-14 (Central Park - 9th August 1996)
Wigan's Biggest Win In Wigan: See Above
Wigan's Biggest Win At the JJB: 42 - 6 (23rd March 2001)

Wigan's Widest Winning Margin: 68-14 (Central Park - 9th August 1996)
Wigan's Widest Winning Margin At the JJB: 42 - 6 (23rd March 2001)

As both club's have played in every round of the SL Regular seasons lets compare the two records:

Leeds: Played 368, Won 249, Drawn 9, Lost 110, Pts For 11000, Pts Agst 7845, Comp Pts 507, 69%, Avg Regular Season Finish 3.46

Wigan: Played 368, Won 241, Drawn 15, Lost 112, Pts For 10623, Pts Agst 6857, Comp Pts 491, 67%, Avg Regular Season Finish 3.77

Will this be a new biggest win and widest margin for whoever wins at the DW Arena?

No it's still (and always will be) the JJB Stadium for the purpose of my unofficial records.

Bradford still play at a hole in the ground called Odsal, Huddersfield at the McAlpine, Wakefield at Belle Vue, Castleford at Wheldon Road, St Helens at Knowsley Road, even Widnes at Naughton Park.

Life's hard enough without tracking ground name changes as sponsorships come and go.

Leeds V Wigan SL Play Off record:

Wigan: 1 Title - Played 26, Won 16, Drawn 0, Lost 10

Leeds: 3 Titles - Played 25, Won 11, Drawn 0, Lost 14

Head to Head: Leeds Won 3, Wigan Won 4

Every one of those wins has come in the final eliminator at Headingley, and on each occasion we've gone on to win at OT the week after, yes?

Wigan, presumably, have played more games than us recently as they've always got to that game the long way round. We've always manage to lose 1 game to reach the same stage.

But when we've lost the 1v2 game we've played 3 just like Wigan would have and don't forget Wigan failed to qualify for 2 seasons.

Correct.

The last four Play Off meetings between the two sides have been at the FE stage. You won't need reminding of the 2003 game which was the only one of the four that didn't produce the eventual Champions.

I think I'll have a look at Brian Noble's record V Leeds next.

3 each, as we play the GF. Yeah, never thought of it like that.

It does explain how we can lose a lot of games yet still have 3 titles, especially compared to Wigan. We've had the 2nd chance, which they never get due to finishing lower.

Brian Noble has never coached a team that lost a game to Leeds...... courtesy (implied by) Sky's amazing commentary team tomorrow night.

While back on planet Earth -

SL Era Regular Rounds + Play Offs

Brian Noble: Coached 31, Won 19, Drawn 0, Lost 12, 61%

Brian McClennan: Coached 5, Won 3, Drawn 0, Lost 2, 60%

__________

In addition McClennan has a Challenge Cup win in his overall record raising him to 67% in All Comps V Wigan. Something tells me that we won't hear anything about him getting teams up to face Wigan tomorrow night though as I expect Leeds' recent get out of jail free cards are about to expire.

Next opponents - Warrington Wolves

Leeds SL Era Record V Warrington

All Comps: All Fixtures
Played 34, Won 24, Drawn 1, Lost 9, Pts For 980, Pts Agst 706 ..... Avg Scr (29-21 ) ..... 72%

All Comps: Headingley:
Played 17, Won 13, Drawn 1, Lost 3, Pts For 518, Pts Agst 311 ..... Avg Scr (30-18 ) ..... 79%

SL Reg Rds:
Played 31, Won 22, Drawn 1, Lost 8, Pts For 907, Pts Agst 656 ..... Avg Scr (29-21) ..... 73%

SL Reg Rds: Headingley:
Played 15, Won 12, Drawn 1, Lost 2, Pts For 475, Pts Agst 271 ..... Avg Scr (32-18 ) ..... 83%

__________

Leeds' Biggest Win: 54 - 16 (Headingley - 1st September 2006)
Leeds' Biggest Win At Headingley: See Above
Leeds' Widest Winning Margin: 52 - 10 (Halliwell Jones - 15th April 2007)
Leeds' Widest Winning Margin At Headingley: 54 - 16 (1st September 2006)
__________

Warrington's Biggest Win: 44 - 10 (Wilderspool - 16th April 2000)
........................................: 44 - 16 (Halliwell Jones - 1st May 2006)
Warrington's Biggest Win At Headingley: 22 - 18 (31st March 1996)


Warrington's Widest Winning Margin: 44 - 10 (Wilderspool - 16th April 2000)
Warrington's Widest Winning Margin At Headingley: 22 - 18 (31st March 1996)

As both club's have played in every round of the SL Regular seasons lets compare the two records:

Leeds: Played 369, Won 249, Drawn 9, Lost 111, Pts For 11010, Pts Agst 7513, Comp Pts 507, 69%, Avg Regular Season Finish 3.46

Warrington: Played 369, Won 166, Drawn 6, Lost 197, Pts For 8870, Pts Agst 9866, Comp Pts 338, 46%, Avg Regular Season Finish 7.00

Tvoc, could you make a table from 1996 till present day and position all teams that have played in every sl season just to see where everybody stands, kinda like an all time superleage table?

There is one [url=http://wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/index.php?page_id=259here[/urlto be going on with but it's inaccurate (take a look at the Hull W/D/L and you'll see one of the many problems) and is only current to the end of 2008. I've pointed it out to Bilko a couple of times already but it hasn't been corrected.

I'll add mine on here when I get a spare ten minutes.

10 mins ? Get some work done you lazy, work shy.....oh ok

SL Regular Rounds, cumulative table 1996 - 29th July 2009: (The Ever present half dozen)

St Helens: Played 369, Won 271, Drawn 8, Lost 90, Pts For 12123, Pts Agst 7287, (Avg Scr 33-20), Comp Pts 548, 74%, Avg Regular Season Finish 2.31

Bradford: Played 368, Won 253, Drawn 11, Lost 104, Pts For 11546, Pts Agst 7189, (Avg Scr 31-20), Comp Pts 513, 70%, Avg Regular Season Finish 2.62

Leeds: Played 369, Won 249, Drawn 9, Lost 111, Pts For 11010, Pts Agst 7513, (Avg Scr 30-20), Comp Pts 507, 69%, Avg Regular Season Finish 3.46

Wigan: Played 369, Won 242, Drawn 15, Lost 112, Pts For 10651, Pts Agst 6867, (Avg Scr 29-19), Comp Pts 493, 67%, Avg Regular Season Finish 3.77

Warrington: Played 369, Won 166, Drawn 6, Lost 197, Pts For 8870, Pts Agst 9866, (Avg Scr 24-27), Comp Pts 338, 46%, Avg Regular Season Finish 7.00

London/Harlequins: Played 368, Won 158, Drawn 17, Lost 193, Pts For 8160, Pts Agst 9167, (Avg Scr 22-25), Comp Pts 333, 45%, Avg Regular Season Finish 7.08

Please note -
Avg Finish based on completed seasons 1996 to 2008
Comp Points include Salary Cap deductions where applicable
% of comp points won include above deductions

It took more effort than I thought it would. I may add the other sixteen's teams records but it'll have to wait for now.

Is there any reason why London and Bulls have played a game less? Seems a little starange to me

Look at this season's table somewhere and all will become clear.

If you recall Harlequins played Manly (to give them a warm up game in this country) prior to the WCC game. That was in preference to their Round 2 fixture at home to Bradford, which I guess will be played on either the Challenge Cup semi or final weekend now.

TVOC, you have to do ALL their thinking for them don't you ?

Nice work though

Thanks, keeps me out of mischief.