5 Talking Points From Saints 36 Castleford Tigers 16

Magic’s Mystery Tour. Will It Work?

After four years in Newcastle Super League took the bold, some argued foolhardy step of moving the event to Liverpool. Detractors accused Robert Elstone of trying to fix what was not broken when it was announced that this year’s event would be moving to Anfield.

A week earlier there had been almost unanimous agreement from fans that taking rugby league to an area more associated with European football was a great idea. This week it was a bad idea with reasons ranging from the lack of leg room to the colour of the Anfield seats. Football allegiances differ among the support of our club in particular yet it is interesting that precisely nobody complains about having to go to the home of Manchester United for the Super League Grand Final every year.

So ignoring the red herrings what is the real reason why Magic recorded its second lowest attendance since it began in 2007? Some blamed the fixtures but in a league this mediocre you would no more expect to find six enticing match-ups than you would to find an appealing candidate in the Tory leadership election. Most clubs whiff of something. If anything the way results had planned out going into the weekend had enhanced the appeal of the menu. Leeds v London looked a turkey when it was announced but in reality was an epic relegation dogfight decided by two points. Along with that you had Wigan v Warrington, which if you ask the latter’s social media people is a rivalry on a par with Ali and Frazier. Wakefield v Catalans and Salford v Hull KR always looked well matched and turned out to be thrillers, while Saints v Castleford was a meeting of last season’s two most consistent sides.

Not everyone has negative things to say about the experience. Some point out that Anfield generates a better atmosphere than other Magic venues even if there are fewer fans inside, while the city of Liverpool rarely fails to get good reviews from those seeking something social once the rugby is over for the day. One bug bear appeared to be that Anfield is too far from the city centre or any of Liverpool’s finer eating and drinking establishments for fans to take advantage during the day. Other Magic venues like Newcastle and Cardiff are city centre stadia which would have enabled fans to pop out to a nice bar or restaurant when the performance of Hull FC was making their eyes bleed.

My own view is that Magic has always been a flawed concept. A sop to the broadcasters which distorts the season and leaves even the armchair viewer feeling like they’ve been beaten over the head with too much of a good thing. But Elstone was bullish in his interview after the event, hinting strongly that a return to Anfield next year is on the cards. Whether we like it or not it looks like Magic is here to stay in the short term at least. Indeed the latest idea doing the rounds is to combine it with the Championship’s Summer Bash over one weekend. That desperate need for an events culture within our sport will no doubt one day see the whole season played out over one weekend at a central venue where Eddie Hearn does all the pre-game and half-time entertainment on Elton John’s million dollar piano.

Yellow (Card) Submarine

Saints’ discipline has been pretty good this season. Going into this one they had only received two yellow cards. Joseph Paulo picked one up for flattening Sam Tomkins in the 50-point swatting of Catalans Dragons at the end of April, while a couple of weeks before Dominique Peyroux earned himself a 10-minute break from the derby victory at Wigan with a lazy shoulder charge. Those cards were arguably deserved but the third of the season, dished out to James Roby for an alleged crusher tackle on Jake Trueman, was perhaps a little more unfortunate

There seemed little intent from Roby as he leaned in to complete the tackle on the young Tigers half. Yet as he lowered Trueman to the ground Roby did exert pressure on the back of Trueman’s neck. Analysing for Sky Sports former Saints skipper Jon Wilkin controversially suggested that crusher tackles aren’t new to rugby league, and that the difference now is that players on the receiving end stay down knowing that a break in play increases the chances of a video review and further action against the perpetrator.

The officials are blameless. When you see the footage it is clear that Trueman is placed in a dangerous position by Roby whether he intended it or not. You may argue that there is little that Roby could have done short of opting out of making any kind of tackle. But the yellow card has to serve as a reminder to players that they have a duty of care to each other. Where it probably should not apply is when ball carriers back into contact deliberately. That didn’t seem to be the case in this instance and so a yellow card seemed about right, which was unfortunate for Roby but also for Hicks who like most referees doesn’t need to do much to attract the wrath and anger of the more unbalanced rugby league follower. Ultimately it is perhaps telling that Roby has not received any suspension from the disciplinary panel after further review.

I Am The Wal-msley

One of the key individual duels at Anfield was that between Alex Walmsley and Liam Watts. Both have found themselves on the fringes of the England side in a position in which Wayne Bennett has a lot of quality options but both have been stating their case with some fine form in Super League this term. The Saints man, like his team, was a resounding winner of this particular battle.

Walmsley was ably assisted by Matty Lees, who spent large parts of the first half getting under the skin of the notoriously hot-headed Watts. It didn’t restrict the former Hull FC man completely as he made 102 metres on 21 carries, dished out three offloads and added a couple of tackle busts. But all of that pales rather into insignificance compared with Walmsley’s seven tackle busts as he trampled over the Tigers defence for another 128 metres on 14 carries at 9.14 metres a clip.

Watts only averaged 4.85 metres per carry and was not as efficient defensively. He made 31 tackles which is 10 more than Walmsley managed but the former Batley player missed only 2 compared with Watts’ four missed attempts. That translates to a 91.3% success rate for Walmsley compared with 88.57% for Watts. Fine margins perhaps, but it is the small gains that are proving the difference between Saints and most of the other teams in Super League right now. Justin Holbrook’s side are relentless and nobody embodies that more than Walmsley.

Tomorrow Never Knows

Walmsley is the dominant forward in the competition at the moment but it is the gap between his team and the rest that should be the biggest cause for alarm for all but those of us lucky enough to have been born of a red vee persuasion. Saints almost came a cropper at home to Salford last week, and indeed were very lucky to secure a win given to them by virtue of a decidedly ugly, ropey old try by James Bentley in the dying minutes of a stirring contest. Yet a week on this Saints outfit looked on a different planet to the one which had faced Ian Watson’s side last week.

The striking thing about Holbrook’s side is how fit they look. The strength and conditioning team must have been putting in the overtime. The defence is ferocious, the attack incisive and clinical, and it seems to stay that way long after the opponents have started to look a bit jaded. Men like Morgan Knowles, Joseph Paulo, James Roby and Dominique Peyroux do the little, simple things relentlessly well allowing the more creative forces of Lachlan Coote, Jonny Lomax and Theo Fages to do their thing, or else supply speedsters Tommy Makinson and Regan Grace out wide. The return of Roby and Kevin Naiqama made a huge difference to the side compared with the one which took on the Red Devils last time out and at the moment it is very difficult to see anyone matching Saints over 80 minutes.

The statistics back that rather bold statement up. Saints’ seventh try of the game against Castleford was their 100th of the Super League season. The next best tally after that is the 82 that Warrington have managed. Saints have also made more metres than any other Super League side so far in 2019 (22461) while their 158 clean breaks is 25 more than any other side, with Warrington again the nearest challengers in that category. Holbrook’s men have scored more points than anyone else so far this season (549) while their defence is also the meanest having shipped just 246 at an average of 15.37 per game.

And yet we have been here before with Saints. As the Ben Barba Roadshow rolled around Super League riding roughshod over everything in its path for the better part of 2018 hopes were high that after the League Leaders Shield was wrapped up a first Grand Final victory since 2014 would have been secured. Yet the fickle nature of the playoff system, albeit amended to offer a little more security this time around, is always likely to find you out if you are not on top of your game at exactly the right time. Tomorrow never knows.

It’s a joy to watch Saints at the moment but nobody has won anything at the end of May since the switch to summer. The key now for Holbrook is to keep his charges fresh and firing so that they can be at their absolute optimum come the business end of the season. If they can find a way to improve on their current form by then the rest of the league looks to be in a fair amount of trouble.

Please Please Me - Get To Wembley

Before we can think about getting to and winning the Grand Final there is the small matter of the Challenge Cup to consider. It is a well-worn tale by now that Saints have not reached Wembley for the final since 2008, a quite astounding period of absence given the strength of the club since the introduction of Super League in 1996. The dream died in a swamp of underwhelming complacency at the semi-final stage at Bolton last year when the well-drilled Catalans Dragons confounded the critics before going all the way to their first piece of silverware since they entered Super League in 2006. The Dragons are still around in this year’s last eight too, but it is Wakefield Trinity who will provide the next test for Saints as Chris Chester’s side visit for a quarter-final clash this weekend.

Regular listeners to the WA12 Rugby League Show will know that I am particularly awful at predicting the outcome of Wakefield games. It’s such a talented squad that Chester has assembled, but it is one that continues to flatter to deceive, brilliant one week and then fairly horrible the next. Sometimes they flit between those two extremes within the same 80 minutes and we saw a bit of that during their own Magic defeat to the Dragons at the weekend when, having fought back from 12-0 down to take the lead they then allowed the game to slip through their fingers.

You get the feeling though that whoever is standing in their way in the Challenge Cup the barrier has become more mental than physical with Saints. The fans and I am sure the players are desperate to end the cup drought and once again walk out at the national stadium. If they play anything like they did at Anfield then it is hard to make a case for Trinity causing an upset, but equally when you are a little bit off colour against Super League opposition it can catch you out. Normally the consequences would be mild, what with Saints sitting on top of the league fully six points clear of the Wolves in second place. Yet in the cup there are no second chances, no opportunity to put it right next week as the old players’ cliché goes. It’s another stern test of Saints and in particular Holbrook’s ability to get them playing to their capacity when it really, really matters. And let me assure you, it matters this week more than it has at any time during the league campaign so far.