Translation:

Indeed.

The team that deserves to get there is the team that converts 2 difficult kicks into points, not the team who can't convert a drop goal from in front of the posts

Pause sky+, his forearm/hand is in his neck. Also if the roles were reversed, to matterson it would then be a high tackle, embarrassing for him.

There was no cheating going on at all by neither team!! the best team won, well done leeds,

BTW, can anyone recall a high tackle from Leeds that rivaled the one on Danny Mags? According to Cas fans we got away with a few. I honestly can't recall any that were as blatant as the decisive one.

Embarrissing

The only one I remember is a similar tackle by Danny Mags, which was rightly penalised. Thought the ref had a good game to be fair, and touch judge Hicks certainly enjoyed being on telly!

My son will be

I missed all these alleged Leeds high tackles, and TV replays haven't yielded any either. The one on McGuire at the end was a high tackle and a penalty every day of the week. No malice in it, just looked a tired effort to me.

I felt for Cas, as their effort in defence was tremendous. However, I wouldn't say they were the better side. The better opportunities came around the Cas tryline and it was a combination of inspired Cas defence and poor Leeds execution that kept them in it. If I were a Cas fan, I'd be looking accusingly at their creative players. Rangi Chase looked a threat whenever he had the ball and scored a wonder try. Leeds kept him well shackled apart from that, but that clearly left a void that was screaming for Orr or McGoldrick to step into. Neither did. Apart from one charge down at the end (and Ray French's enthusiasm for telling us that he was 31) Orr was practically invisible and McGoldrick was enthusiastic but had clearly left his brain in his "potting shed" which was disappointing for an experienced player. Shame for the fans, we really weren't all that good and Cas will wait a while for an easier shot at Wembley.

Leeds, as said above, were not all that wonderful. The grit was good to see, but the lack of quality will leave Wigan fighting against complacency, which is their biggest enemy going into the final. Wigan's defence was brilliant on Saturday, and the combination of that line speed with our poor attacking execution doesn't bode well. Allied to the idea of Charnley and Tomkins in broken field on the big pitch at Wembley and I start feeling a bit overawed by the magnitude of improvement we'll need to have any chance of getting Sir Kevin's hands on the elusive Challenge Cup.

I disagree entirely. There's hardly been an unexpected result all season. Leeds have beaten the SL whipping boy rabble 16 times out of 20. Leeds have lost 6 out of 7 against the real competition, the other being a draw.

And yet, in three of their last four meetings Leeds and Wigan have been separated by the narrowest of margins.

For all the plaudits thrown at Wigan's defence - particularly down the middle of the park - Saints IMO exposed a potential weakness down their right hand side. Sadly for them, it took them the best part of 70 minutes to capitalise with good enough ball movement to leave Charnley twice clutching at thin air.

This Wigan side aren't unbeatable by any stretch of the imagination.

I agree, but Leeds' execution in attack has been poor in this cup run, and would need to be far more clinical to expose those weaknesses at Wembley. For me, Leeds need to raise their game considerably and Wigan need to have an off day. Never say never, but on the weekend's performances, Wigan will rightly start as big favourites.

Wigan starting as big favourites should be an absolute given and deservedly so. You could probably still get shorter odds on Castleford winning the Cup this morning, that's how big an underdog Leeds deserve to be.

It'll still count for nothing come kick-off time though where the better of the two performances will win it.

Leeds have that big game mentality in them somewhere. I personally am really wary of Leeds in a final. I've just got a feeling this game won't be the cakewalk some think it will be.

Leeds should draw alot from the 2 previous games against Wigan.

In 160 mins of rugby we only have a 2 point short fall against them on the score board. We aren't miles away.

Wigans tenacity and performance is surely note worthy but the massive under dog status will suit Leeds.

We have Wigans right side of defence to expose and we faired well on both flanks with grubbers. Our ability to break them down will be key and if we do get to them we will proabably have to score even half chances.

In the previous 2 games Wigan do set their stall out in an even more reserved manner. They do show us respect, so lets twist that to our advantage.

If in doubt put in 50-50 kicks and hope for a bounce of a ball or a gaff.

My glass is half full.

Overall on paper the individual Wigan and Leeds players should be fairly evenly matched.

Where Leeds lose out badly by comparison is sat in the stands where there appears to be an absolute gulf in class.

The Challenge Cup always has been and still is about the performance on the day and the underdog tag has not always proved decisive at the final whistle. Perhaps the whole Wembley experience will effect Wigan just as it did Leeds last season, perhaps last year's experience will stand Leeds in good stead, perhaps I need to visit Tescos and stock up on straws.

Clutch these...

I'll stick a first on them and you can pop them over.

bleedin nutter

I'll have Richie Mathers printed on each one first.

Stick 'em in the ground so that Bailey can use them as a training exercise to bulldoze past.

You're a true gent.

Maybe so he can try to skittle him, like he did to Rangi yesterday.

Bailey - classic half back bully.

He sent me this PM -:


I think he's trying to come out of the closet.

I take it you said yes?

can i watch i love all in wrestling

I too lean to the glass half full.

Wigan of course will be strong favourites with far more attacking class and tremendous defence....but our over the hill dads army could ....just dig deep enough for one last hurrah. For several of our players this is a last chance to get a CC winners medal (you could even say this game is our Wembley???)

Peacock certainly was motivated to lift his game on Sunday and others will want to erase the embarrassing performance of last year so motivation should not be a problem.

Our problem is our attack which appears to have got lost somewhere along the line in sorting out our defence.

Our game plan should be to keep Wigan from scoring too many in the first half as they always try to blitz the opposition early doors. However to win we will have to outscore an attacking side, which means we will need to risk an offload game in the 2nd half and keep our most creative players on the field for as long as possible. If we are still in the game with 10 minutes to go my monies on Leeds.

Despite the form book I will be very disappointed if our performance is worse than last year's debacle.