Jeez that last 15 mins was pretty tense and we was going to score again so it was down to whether Widnes could get over and it looked as though they would on several occasions.

23-4 up and put cue on the rack again and started drilling into touch again to play for time. We need to start learning some lessons.

Really poor again tho Stevie Ward was very string and thought Peteru showed up well again. Myler overall good and Handley showed some good monents in 2nd half. Parcell ran once in whole 80 mins which was very odd. Ferres awful and possibly lost Ablett for a while now too.

End of day all that matters is that we are into the bag for next round but performances at the moment need improving but I suppose that's what we do better than most teams.

Can't remember Leeds playing in front of such a small crowd too many times. Thought young Whitley was outstanding for the Chemics.

I've always thought Grand Finals are irrelevant.

Hypothetical- would fans trade any cup wins for say 3 years for watching some good rugby during the season? Or is this turgid crap worth the silverware at the end of the season?

Me, without doubt. Maybe not what you quite meant, but said it many times, 2005 team was the best team we ever had IMO, and we didn’t win the trophy’s. Loved that season. We have not been close to that side since, in terms of quality.

well you had your top spot last year and that has gone forever ,wont happen again

Surely not, I can see the ones you've lost seeming irrelevant. But you must think the ones you've won are relevant?
Oh hang on a minute!

Played 10 won 8 easy to forgot the little st wins when you win so many,

Remember the first one well as it was the first ever grand final, don't remember much about 2005.

A horrible day. Thankfully we have had 7 far more enjoyable trips over the hill since to make up for it

Slightly better this week, as we played for about 30 minutes instead of 20.

The turning point? When we kicked for a scrum instead of putting a high ball. That makes it four games where that tactic has heralded a monster comeback, to my recollection.

And, once again, in the last quarter, we struggle to contain the other team. I question our fitness.

Also, can they please stop closing the M62 on Friday nights? The struggle to get home is starting to make me think twice about going to these games.

I have watched a lot games in last few years and must admit I am finding it increasingly boring. Turgid is an excellent description. I know we have been here before but can't see this side winning anything. On wider point the game is in trouble, I Doubt Leeds have ever played a c cup tie in front of a smaller crowd. I remember Widnes winning at Leeds in c cup q final around 1989 and think there was about 23k in headingley. Totally agree with Marty grr, Whitley would be a good target for Leeds.

They mentioned on the BBC commentary today that when Saints appointed their current coach they looked for someone to coach their attacking flair. I hope we do something similar. I am sick of seeing four drives, an aimless fling wide on the off chance that someone does something then a poor kick. I want to see my team asking questions, running lines and properly using the talent they possess.

At the risk of upsetting a some....We look a very poorly coached side at the minute imo. Theres no semblance of a gameplan whatsoever

Would help if there was someone even marginally close to being a pivot there instead of Moon.

We played infront of a similar crowd at Salford once in a CC game live on the BBC. I can’t remember the exact year but do recall Craig Innes playing at 6. We, as well as Salford, must have been in a very poor run of form

Well Cas got blown away today ,we may get the backlash next week and Saints might be fancying themselves for the treble ,but that might add pressure to them

Yeah a natural 6 would help but i dont think moons the sole problem. He's not a game manager or an organiser by any stretch but he's also not such an out of control maverick that he would constantly spoil our gameplan or attacking structure ,if we had one. I dont see any kind of plan with what we'r trying to do when we have the ball, never get the sense that we'r doing something on tackles 2 and 3 with a view to it opening somthing specific up on tackle 4. Like Mcdermott said last night, at times it looks like the players have never trained together.

Saints have an ex factor player - he is head and shoulders above any other player in the competition - keep him fit and they look a really good side.

Its a shame SL cannot attract more players of his quality - it would help to raise the standard of play above abysmal.

26k i belive quarter final i was there biggest crowd i have ever been in at headingley, i thought we had a good side that year thought we could go all the way to the final. Wrong taken apart with ease by a superior widnes side. That widnes side from 88-90 was as good as any side ever.
But lost semi final to a young 17 year Gary connolly inspired saints, who then rolled over at Wembley to Wigan, Alex Murphy sacked after final.

Increase in salary cap for next year, and of course all clubs have the marquee option in addition. Whilst ever clubs hold on to players based on sentiment, the teams, and therefore the competition won’t move forward.

Cas were a tad unlucky to get beaten by that margin, with the long range scores they conceded in the first half.mainly, Cas as expected looked toothless with ball in hand without Gale but otherwise they were solid and matched saints for the most part.

As others have said, Barba is a class apart and Roby runs the show as usual if both those stay fit for the duration they have to be big favourites for the lot.

Totally agree with your comments ref Saints, the question for Saints is what will they do when Ben Barba's rehabilitation period outside of the NRL is complete and as seems inevitable he goes back to Aus next year. Still they should do well in all comps this year if he stays fit.

Disagree slightly, Cas got what they deserved, some shocking defensive efforts on display, Truman cannot tackle for toffee, the 3rd Barba try, he went through 5 tackles and all but one was just a flapping arm attempt, that's very poor, yes very good player but you can't stop a 12 year old tackling like that. Hitcox did well to chase back for Barba but then put an awful flapping arm Grag tackle on him, jiffy was right critisice him on commentary for that, tackles low possible puts him in touch, if Barba rides the tackle and still scored so be it, but very poor tackle after a great chase back.

Hope Cas tackle like this next week.

It will take you more tha cash to bring players over from NRl.
Players constantly told super league is second rate and vastly inferior to NRL, then there's origin attraction, players will only come over when then Nrl careers are all but finished or they can't get a game.
Any player with origin ambition won't come here for any amount of money, or any player who is a regular Nrl starter.
We all know Barba would not be here if he had kept his nose clean.


Personally wish we could throw an open chegue book at Jonathan Thurston and get him a two year deal to finish over here, but doubt it.

May be SL can become to the NRL as the Championship is to SL, ie a league to negotiate loan deals for fringe or unrequired players

Is it not already.