Be interested to see what the RFL do with this game/series next year. The crowds and interest have been good, and I'm sure SKY will have got good viewing figures, but I'm not sure if the credibility can recover from tonight.

We can gloss over the fact that St George and Brisbane are mid table teams and that Wigan and Warrington ran them close and get away with it, but you can't disguise an 80min drubbing in the game that actually mattered.

Roby is a work horse but his attack is one dimensional, just relies on the quick scoot after quick play the ball. They never got that tonigh so he was ineffective.

I think we tend to convert our physically bigger kids into back-rowers rather than teaching them the skills to make it as a back.

I can't think of many big English backs other than Atkins and Hall.

A couple of sides might get close but I'd be surprised if they don't win it again tbh.

I mean they beat the Bulldiogs 30-6 in their GF so i don't think we should over think this . We know the salary cap difference and generally it's a tougher comp but I wouldn't go as far as saying we're miles behind, although Saints were tonight.

Stick with it.Its been a great weekend despite the flat end.Fans have backed it and the games have been by and large entertaining.
Keep it going imo

To be fair St George and Brisbane were mid table last season. I think they'll comfortably make the 8 this time around.

Agree with all that.

Oh what a joy to watch, well done to The Bunnies

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To all those deluded individuals who think their own team could compete week in, week out, in the NRL, this has to be a wake-up call

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Agree with this.

I said on another thread that, in patches, Wigan, Wire and St Helens all looked capable against their respective opposition. Forget the arguments about preparation, flights, weather, etc - all three teams showed that they could compete to a degree with the NRL sides.

In all three games the SL teams made mistakes that, in all probability, wouldn't be punished. Similarly, Souths today made mistakes that in the NRL, probably would have been punished.

What has let the SL sides down this weekend is the fact that, for about three years, the top sides have had nowhere near the level of week in, week out intensity that the NRL teams experience. We have talked at length in that time about teams being able to coast into the play-offs, play badly and win, and 'peak at the right time'. Teams in Australia are instinctively ruthless, because their competition demands that they are. The Super League doesn't demand the same because, in all likelihood, if you make a mistake, the team you are playing isn't good enough to punish it.

That isn't an issue of salary cap per se, it's an issue of having a competition that doesn't demand the best of its clubs, its an issue of letting the tail wag the dog and its an issue of too many clubs being too badly run for too long. When we have 12+ clubs that can regularly compete, we'll have teams that aren't suddenly shocked when they come up against the best in the world - at both club and international level.

The commentary was almost as embarrassing as St Helens performance. British RL is so bush league.

British teams have won 5 of the last 10 WCC matches.

Just saying.

Doesn't matter, they weren't trying in those games

If Sydney Roosters halves Pearce and Maloney are not injured for extended periods, then the Roosters can beat Souths -- esp with Blake Ferguson joining Michael Jennings in the centres.... the Roosters also bought Willy Manu asa backup backrower!

Of course, they only win when they want to.



I think we and most of the NRL are miles behind South Sydney to be fair. The NRL grand final was hardly a nail biter was it.

Lineham, Watkins, Briscoe, are all big lads, and then there's the likes of McGilvery. Joey B could well turn out to be a monster too, and Ben Crooks has the frame to add some bulk. But if their catching and passing can't hold up in pressure situations then it's irrelevant.

It'd allow the SL clubs to retain their top English players though.

roosters will push them this season

You can call it club bias all you want, but had Warrington not turned up to the weirdest reffing performance ever(tonight's being somewhat different) than I think we could have took a close win.

People have said we were dumb for not adapting, but it would have been our luck to start lying on and then thaler deciding to blow his whistle

Souths will have a good crack at the NRL this year but there are 5 or 6 other genuine contenders ready to take their crown.

Miles behind

Yes and so we should be considering the salary cap.

It's about time people stop going all gooey eyed about the NRL and playing them. Instead of wasting time and energy on WCC formats that will never truly prove "who is the best" we should concentrate on our own league and product.

Anyone who watched NRL last year must have known Saints didn't really stand much chance tonight. Souths are an outstanding team even for the NRL. They have the occasional 'off' game but even when they're poor they're dangerous and can beat good sides. Too good by far, and it didn't help that Saints weren't at their best. Slightly weakened by the loss of Sam Burgess but Glenn Stewart is a huge addition.

One big difference for me, as ever, has been the explosive acceleration off the mark and sheer pace of the Aussies. Only our very fastest lads can cope in the open, and we have too few of them. That said our athleticism is getting there as Wigan and Wire showed with their defensive performance and scrambling defence.

Before this I thought Wire might win, Wigan would lose (based on performances so far), and Saints would be in trouble unless they were at their very best. As it is Souths were a standard above everyone else and that showed. The other games could have gone either way.

The backs thing is something that's been a problem for a while. Guys like Makinson are good skillful players, but physically they just can't match it with what the Aussies and Kiwis have. I thought Kevin Penny was excellent the other night, he was everywhere, but he offered no impact whatsoever when carrying the ball and was just smashed every time he carried it.

Imo the two best athletes we have on the wings are Hall and Lineham (Briscoe is a close 3rd). Both guys are well over 6 foot, over 16 stone, fast, strong in the air and most importantly they carry the ball like forwards and won't be physically dominated. They might not be the most exciting wingers to watch in this country, but they are the closest we have to an Aussie style winger. Lineham has been unlucky with a couple of bad injurys over the last couple of years. Providing he stays injury free and has a good season then they should be the two guys facing NZ imo.

I feel that it's not just about the different caps. The problem with the salary cap is that even if we had the same cap as the NRL, we'd still only have the same players available, they'd just be earning more money. You could argue that there may not be as much of an incentive for our better players to leave for the NRL or union, but money isn't always a factor. There's other factors such as the weather, the lifestyle, the lure of the massive international profile, the national and international coverage, and backing yourself to go and test yourself against the best. We could have the exact same cap and I still think we'd be in the same boat. The Aussies get nice weather. They grow up in nice conditions being able to flick the ball about. Our kids grow up sliding about in the mud. Their players are simply bigger, stronger and have more skill. Sport and winning is an important philosophy in Aus. Over here we're happy if we lose as long as people try their best and put the effort in. We grow up on the mentality of, 'It's not the winning, it's the taking part' and 'everyone's a winner'. In reality, why would the very best NRL players leave to come to play in the wet and cold if they could get the same money back home?

We aren't that far away. Saints were poor tonight and Souths very good. If Saints had played at or near their best then they'd have pushed Souths close. A bounce of the ball and some even reffing would help too.

We do have issues though. In my opinion the biggest advantages the Aussies/NRL have over us/SL are:

- bigger talent pool (In England there are approx 9000 registered, active players at age 12-16. Sydney alone has 42,000)
- Feeder clubs/reserves
- playing fewer games
- a supply of athletic Pacific Islanders

We can't do much about the last one, but we can coach our youngsters in the right fashion and try and get them more athletic. The other issues we can do something about. The talent pool being the biggest issue in my opinion.

You can say that about penny but the first half we were having plenty of joy on the outside against the dragons, wheeler had a couple of half breaks and we were setting up overlaps, let it not be forgotten that we were about to break with a two man overlap on the right when nabuli took his head off, then the game changed considerably, we started going down the middle more and he wasn't carded.