I disagree about Ward, he will go on to be a fantastic player.

The point is that these players exist, they just dont play in SL. We have gone from a league which imported the likes of Lauitiiti, Lyon, Vianikolo, Barrett, Webb etc to an exporter of our best and the ones we recruit arent of the same level.

At Leeds it's because we are actually trying to get our house in order with us building 2 new stands that we aren't splashing the cash on players. Also with Leeds when you're talking about the best decade in a clubs history it's a bit unrealistic to expect the bar to remain at that level and we are still 2nd favourites with the bookies for the main two trophies so not exactly too bad. Lets see if Cas can keep this up year upon year upon year before criticising successful clubs for eventually having low periods.

Personally whilst the standard of players may not be as high I think the problem is exasperated by the style of play with the focus on the wrestling at the ruck and many more defenders in the tackle (just watch a full game for 10-15 years ago and see the difference), increased number of interchanges I think helps this style and a reduction of interchanges could help. Also the refereeing standard has really dropped and is really hurting the game. Too many of the refs are whistle happy and have a poor ability to let a game flow. If we had some of these refs in charge 10/15 years they've managed to spoil many a good game. Finally the constant lack of getting close to a first choice 17 out on the field really hurts. Nearly every team are having bad periods with 6-9 first teasers out and it simply like that a decade or so ago, you might have had 2/3 teams suffer at most. Can't recall Leeds having a injury hit 7/8 guys out at once period at any point from 2004-2009, I think we've had one every season since 2013 now.

So why are more players picking up injuries ?

Ive no idea because according to the BIG club fans the sport is weaker and less aggressive now.

Can't we have a debate on the VT without the massive chips on Cas and Wakey fans shoulders taking over?

The "my club your club" talk always makes me cringe

It would be nice to have a debate about the qualifications for the eights, rather than a total thread drift.

B.T.W. Not all Wakey fans have chips on their shoulders, same as, not all Wakey fans are like some other Wakey fans!

Too many games in a season - including two ridiculously congested periods - and a failure to manage the evolution of how the game is played.

LOL I'm surprised it took you that long since it's the only thing you can bring to a debate.

It's very odd that some Wakefield and Cas fans seem to take it as a personal insult to them if you say the standard of SL is going down across the board. I'm honestly not sure what they take offence at?

Im a cas fan and agree the standard has dropped, as I have said that's more to do with the top clubs failing to maintain there own playing standards rather than super league as a whole.

So when did the decline begin?

Hardly as you should be able to see above from a previous post actually on topic. All this chip on the shoulder stuff really is as tedious as when Eddie Hemings constantly drones on about injuries during a match.

Too many games is a reason but also some teams whether this year or previous have had big injury lists within 4/5 weeks of the season starting so can't all be down to number of games played.

About the same time other clubs started to threaten the Leeds/Wigan and Saints dominance - it's a handy way to deflect the fact that your particular team isn't as good as it used to be.

Just wait until its a 123 with the above teams and all will be well again.

Just read Smokey TA post (any of them) and you'll see the mentality.

Which year did Huddersfield finish top again?

I didn't say it was all down to that; I also said that the game has been allowed to evolve in such a way that in my view, makes player injuries more likely.

There could also be an issue for some clubs in terms of how they train, and what conditioning/rehab they have in place - but I'm not party to what goes on behind closed doors, so I can't comment on that, apart from to speculate, which doesn't seem helpful.

Medical teams and diagnosis in general is also a lot better now as well as the care of players is now far greater than it was 10 years ago.

Remind us who the last three GF winners were???

I like how Wakefield being 5th after half a season is now somehow an existential threat to the leeds/wigan/saints hegemony

For people who want an end to the chippy responses on this thread - there's a determined effort to continue in that vein.

As we have discovered whether or not such comments are made, the chippy ones will be chippy. We are sadly helpless to cure or curb their chippiness.

We can mock their ridiculousness though. It seems a victimless crime.

I'd say a combination of a few factors:
- players getting bigger, stronger, faster. Puts more pressure and higher impacts on opposing players but also puts more pressure on players own joints/ligaments etc
- more focus on the play the ball and the evolution of tackle/wrestling techniques to involve more and more bending and twisting of the ball carrier
- the increased quality of "smaller" clubs meaning there are fewer and fewer "easy" games
- a small player pool and no NRL style reserves/feeder system means less chance to rest players
- a significantly longer season than the NRL

Just my opinion but I think all those combined are why we have so many injuries.

All fair shouts.

If they haven't already (yeah, I know), the RFL should be conducting an investigation into the types of injuries sustained and the causes of them., with a view to see what can be done to reduce numbers.

Superleague needs it's best players playing matches. Sponsorship, media attention, attendances are all effected by games played at a poorer standard.

I don't watch enough NRL to comment, but what is the scale of injuries like there? If it's a similar amount, then maybe that points to wider issues in the laws of the game & interpretation of those laws/how the game is played, or if they see substantially less injuries, it could point to an issue with more games, double-weekends, possibly sports science, player pool etc.

No ones said that have they ya daft get.