Catalans Dragons v Saints - Challenge Cup Preview

The Challenge Cup moves back into the spotlight this weekend as Saints visit Catalans Dragons in a quarter final tie on Saturday afternoon (April 9, kick-off 2.30pm).

The match-up is a repeat of last season’s Super League Grand Final, when Saints secured a 12-10 win over the French outfit who had earlier pipped Saints to the League Leaders Shield. The victory at Old Trafford gave Saints a third Super League title in a row and a ninth since the switch to summer and the launch of Super League in 1996. 

Saints have made a solid start to their bid for a fourth consecutive Grand Final win, topping the table with six wins from their first seven games. The only blip so far was the jarring 22-20 loss at bottom club Toulouse on March 19. The champions will be looking for better things on their return to France although the Dragons have also made a promising start to the league campaign. Defeat to Huddersfield last week was only the second suffered by Steve McNamara’s side in their first seven league outings. The other came at Saints on the opening night.

Saints coach Kristian Woolf has made three changes to his 21-man squad following last week’s 26-0 win over Leeds Rhinos at Headingley. Will Hopoate comes back into the fold at the expense of Josh Simm. Hopoate has only managed three appearances for the club since joining from Canterbury Bulldogs at the start of 2022, and has not featured since the 28-2 win over Warrington on March 11. He will hope to get the nod to start somewhere in a three-quarter line that is still missing Regan Grace with a hamstring injury. In all likelihood Hopoate will start on the wing ahead of Jon Bennison despite the youngster impressing in the win over the Rhinos. 

That would leave Konrad Hurrell to continue to partner Mark Percival in the centres with the remaining wing spot held down by Tommy Makinson. The England winger is currently Super League’s joint top scorer with 10, including two at Headingley last time out. Salford’s Ken Sio is the only other Super League player who can match that tally over the first seven rounds. 

The front row may have a more familiar feel to it this week. Matty Lees has not played since the defeat in Toulouse but returns to the squad for this one. Of even greater significance will be the presence of Alex Walmsley should he be ready after missing the last three games with a hamstring problem. Saints are a side transformed with Walmsley on deck. The ex-Batley man will celebrate his 32nd birthday the day after this tie but few would dispute that he is still the premier front rower in Super League. 

Between Lees and Walmsley at hooker James Roby will play game number 501 of an illustrious career which has already seen him collect four Challenge Cup winners medals. That is some achievement when you consider that Saints went 13 years without winning the game’s oldest trophy before defeating Castleford Tigers in last season’s final. Joey Lussick is the alternative to Roby while behind the starting props Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Agnatius Paasi should resume their impact roles off the bench. Kyle Amor is not included while Jake Wingfield misses out due to concussion protocols. Dan Norman has been quietly establishing himself over recent weeks and will hope to build on that here.

The absence of Wingfield and the still sidelined Sione Mata’utia means a return to the squad for the lesser spotted James Bell. Bell showed some good touches in a pre-season friendly with his former club Leigh Centurions but has so far been unable to make an impact at Saints. He has yet to feature for his new club in a competitive match. He will do well to take too much playing time off the vital cog in the machine that is Morgan Knowles at loose forward, but his inclusion in the initial squad is at least a sign of progress.

Without Mata’utia we should see Curtis Sironen partner Joe Batchelor in the second row. Sironen was found guilty of a Grade A charge following the trip to Leeds but has been cleared to play. The authorities’ loss of nerve over the clampdown on foul play has worked in Saints favour here. Otherwise Sam Royle may have sniffed an opportunity to start after featuring in the last two. He may still earn a place on the bench. That will depend on whether Woolf wants three props on the bench or is happy to go with two. One of the number nines - be it Roby or Lussick - seems a lock in for one of the bench spots. 

All of which wild selection speculation is in stark contrast to the creative spine where there seems little debate about who should get the nod. Jack Welsby should continue at fullback and the halfback pairing of Jonny Lomax and Lewis Dodd seems settled now also. An injury in one of those positions is perhaps the only circumstance where you might worry about Saints having adequate cover. 

Amid the Dragons’ defeat at Huddersfield last week was an amusing spat between the two head coaches over the French side’s travel arrangements. The kick-off at the John Smith’s Stadium was delayed by 35 minutes after high winds forced the Dragons to divert to Toulouse before boarding their flight. Giants coach Ian Watson claimed that the delay was overly generous to Catalans and was critical of their decision to travel on the day of the game. Meanwhile McNamara was unimpressed and hit back by suggesting that Watson’s comments were ‘disgraceful’ and that it was a ‘freak of nature’ which had disrupted their travel plans.

Huddersfield laughed last, winning 28-12. The Dragons will have to pick themselves up from that disappointment. Boosting their hopes of doing just that is the fact that McNamara can welcome several key figures back into his 21. The exciting Arthur Mourgue features for the first time this season following an ankle injury, while both Mitchell Pearce and Jordan Dezaria return from suspension. Micky McIlorum and Benjamin Julien are also restored. On the other side of the ledger McNamara is still without Samisoni Langi, Alrix Da Costa, Dean Whare and Julian Bousquet. 

Despite those losses there is still plenty of quality in this Dragons side. Dylan Napa was dismissed in that opening night loss at St Helens and is sure to be keen to put that right, while Tyrone May is another with significant NRL experience. Sam Tomkins is the reigning Steve Prescott Man Of Steel, while his ex-Wigan colleague Tom Davies is a genuine contender for England selection on the wing at this autumn’s World Cup. On the other flank Fouad Yaha is powerful and prolific if a little accident prone.  

In the forwards Matt Whitley and Mike McMeeken are arguably as good as any second row pairing in Super League. Joe Chan has been linked with a move to the NRL this week and Benjamin Garcia adds further quality. Sam Kasiano is probably best described as hot and cold, but if he’s hot he could give a slightly under cooked Saints front row all they can handle.

Saints won convincingly in that last meeting but if you go back to the two meetings prior to that these two sides look well matched. Saints always looked like winning at Old Trafford but such was Catalans’ spirit that Woolf’s men ultimately only just edged it. Few will forget the clash at Newcastle on Magic Weekend when Saints threw away a commanding lead in the last five minutes to lose by a point 31–30. In many ways that experience could have served Saints well. Never again will they assume that a job has been done on the Dragons until they hear the final hooter sound.

Catalans fans may point out that Saints do not have a great record in Perpignan. Their last win there came back in 2018 but that was a season when Saints made two trips to the home of the Dragons and came away with wins on both occasions. This could be a close one. It was not the draw that either side would have chosen. Saints have not dazzled in possession this year so far but I’m expecting their suffocating defence - which has allowed an average of only just over seven points a game in 2022 - to just about get them over the line and into the last four.

Squads;

Catalans Dragons;

1. Arthur Morgue 2. Tom Davies 5. Fouad Yaha 6. Mitchell Pearce 7. Josh Drinkwater 8. Gil Dudson 9. Micky McILorum 11. Matt Whitley 12. Mike McMeeken 13. Benjamin Garcia 15. Benjamin Julien 16. Paul Seguier 17. Mickael Goudemand 18. Matthieu Laguerre 19. Arthur Romano 20. Tyrone May 22. Dylan Napa 23. Jordan Dezaria 27. Joe Chan 28. Sam Kasiano 29. Sam Tomkins

Saints;

1. Jack Welsby, 2. Tommy Makinson, 3. Will Hopoate, 4. Mark Percival, 6. Jonny Lomax, 7. Lewis Dodd, 8. Alex Walmsley, 9. James Roby, 10. Matty Lees, 12. Joe Batchelor, 13. Morgan Knowles, 14. Joey Lussick, 15. LMS, 16. Curtis Sironen, 17. Agnatius Paasi, 20. James Bell, 22. Ben Davies, 23. Konrad Hurrell, 24. Dan Norman, 26. Sam Royle, 27. Jon Bennison.

Referee:  Chris Kendall

Leeds Rhinos 0 Saints 26 - Review

Despite all the talk of what might have been it’s as you were in Super League after Saints thrashed Leeds 26-0 at Headingley on Friday night (April 1). Saints are still top of the pile while the Rhinos remain in crisis despite the unfailing optimism of interim coach Jamie Jones-Buchanan in his post game interview. 

Before kick-off there were nagging doubts about Saints from some quarters. Their last league outing had ended in a shock defeat to the league’s bottom club Toulouse, a setback which was followed by a routine Challenge Cup win at Whitehaven which didn’t really reveal a huge amount about where Kristian Woolf’s side were in terms of form. 

Heartening Leeds further before kick-off was the fact that Saints went into this one without several key players. Already set to be without Will Hopoate, Regan Grace, Matty Lees and Sione Mata’utia when the squads were announced 48 hours before kick-off, Saints were dealt a further blow when Woolf decided not to risk Alex Walmsley. That left the champions without both regular starting props, elevating impact players Agnatius Paasi and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook to starting roles. They were backed up only by Dan Norman, Jake Wingfield and Sam Royle off the bench with no place even for Kyle Amor in the match day 17.

Woolf had another selection surprise in store when he named Jon Bennison in Grace’s left wing position. Grace has been absent for all but the trip to Whitehaven so far in 2022 but it has been Josh Simm who has so far been preferred as Tommy Makinson’s wing partner. Yet it was Bennison who was handed only his second start for the club, the first having been in a 26-14 defeat at Salford last September which arguably cost Saints a shot at the League Leaders Shield in 2021.

Leeds had a few key figures of their own missing. David Fusitu’a, Harry Newman, Ritchie Myler, Brad Dwyer and Alex Mellor had long since been ruled out while a groin injury prevented Aidan Sezer from taking his regular halfback slot. That meant Liam Sutcliffe partnered Blake Austin in the halves while Liam Tindall, Cameron Smith and Jack Broadbent all started. Nevertheless there seemed a feeling that the list of absentees on both sides would have a greater effect on Saints than it would on Leeds. That was something of a miscalculation as it turned out.

We can’t get into the minutiae of what unfolded in this one without first paying tribute to James Roby. The Saints captain became only the fourth man to make 500 appearances for the club. Roby is in his 19th - and he says final - season after making his senior debut against Widnes all the way back in March 2004. A time when not only were Widnes an actual Super League club but Wayne Rooney was an 18 year-old phenomenon lighting up the European Championships, Brad Pitt was starring as Achilles in an epic retelling of the Iliad and Franz Ferdinand were A Thing. 

Since then Roby has picked up five Super League titles and four Challenge Cup winners medals. He has scored 114 tries and 459 points for his hometown club, of which he has been captain since 2018. He has made 31 appearances for England and seven for Great Britain. Throughout his career Roby has been among the very best in the world at the number nine position and would surely still be in contention to feature in this autumn’s World Cup had he not announced his retirement from the international scene last year. Roby is a player who can do it all in both attack and defence, a man with great humility who has led by example long before he was given the armband by Justin Holbrook. He is still performing as well as any hooker running around Super League in 2022. There really aren’t enough superlatives to describe him and the contribution he has made and continues to make.

Roby deserves every accolade that comes his way, so it would be churlish of me to dwell too long on the out and out revisionism that is currently being applied to the career of Keiron Cunningham. To listen to some fans on the great Roby-Cunningham debate you would think the latter had enjoyed a couple of decent seasons before fading into obscurity. These are the same people who voted for Cunningham ahead of any other Saint in history to be the one recreated in bronze outside the stadium. Perhaps that vote and the current insistence on Roby’s goathood are symptomatic of the modern obsession that everything that is happening in sport now must be the best that it has ever been. Whichever side of the fence you sit the two deserve a place beside each other in the pantheon of all-time greats of not only Saints but of rugby league and even sport itself.

To the match then, and if Leeds were feeling optimistic ahead of this one that would have been reinforced when they had the first clear opportunity to score. It seemed like Saints might create something with good ball deep in Rhinos territory but a Jack Welsby pass missed it’s mark and almost found itself in the hands of Ash Handley on the Leeds wing. Handley had two or three more similar opportunities throughout the game, none of which stuck. Yet it is a telling and rather sad indictment of how the Rhinos performed with ball in hand that a Handley intercept always looked their most likely way of breaching a typically miserly Saints defence.

Moments after Handley’s first near miss Saints took the lead. Roby was at the centre of it, taking possession from a Saints scrum and feeding former Rhino Konrad Hurrell. The Tongan got on the outside of his defender and plunged over easily for his second try of the season and his first since the opening night win over Catalans Dragons on February 10. Makinson was unable to add the extras but - though they didn’t yet know it - Saints had already scored enough points to seal the win and return to the Super League summit.

Handley thought he’d secured his next opportunity to hit Saints on the counter but would have been dismayed to get half way down the field only to find that referee James Child had pulled play back for a Saints scrum because Broadbent had got a hand to Jonny Lomax’s pass and knocked it forward towards Handley. It was further evidence that despite not being unduly disturbed defensively, Saints were not quite firing in attack in the first 40 minutes. 

Lomax would settle into his attacking stride later. For now he was enduring a frustrating time not helped by the fact that the authorities have seemingly abandoned the recent crackdown on foul play. Twice he was caught high, first by Sutcliffe and then by former Saint James Bentley. Both would probably have resulted in yellow cards in the early weeks of the season. That a penalty was deemed sufficient in each case will please those who crave violence in the sport and who claim that ‘the game’s gone’ when that violence is punished. The rest of us are left to wonder whether those running the game are serious about protecting its future if they are prepared to shift under mild pressure from keyboard fans, not to mention old school neanderthal coaches rattling off misogynistic tropes about netball whenever his players transgress. 

The best way to respond to being roughed up is to post more points. This time it was Makinson going over for his ninth try of the season - his 10th would follow later and move him to the top of the league’s try scoring charts. The winger took Welsby’s pass and scooted over unopposed to double Saints lead to 8-0 with a quarter of the game played. Again Makinson failed with the conversion but goal-kicking was just about all he got wrong on the night. He reeled off 197 metres on 13 carries, a tally which was some 72 metres better than the next best Saint in this category, Curtis Sironen who had 125. Tellingly, Handley’s 120 was the best that any Leeds player could manage. Only Broadbent joined Handley in the 100+ club for the Rhinos, and just barely at 103.

Sironen had a mixed night. He was another who was fortunate that the clampdown on foul play has vanished into thin air after he caught James Donaldson high. The former Manly man has failed to hold down a regular starting slot in the early part of the season thanks to the form of Mata’utia and Joe Batchelor. He will continue to struggle to do that if he cannot clean up the errors from his game which were evident here. For all his effort and go-forward four errors is far too many to expect to be a regular starter in a side selected by the risk averse Woolf. 

Mata’utia is still a few weeks away from fitness so there should be other chances for Sironen to press his claims. Yet even if he cuts out the errors Sironen will still have to fight off the challenge not only of Mata’utia but of Batchelor, who has improved beyond measure over the last 12 months. Batchelor only gained 73 metres on 10 carries in this one but importantly he was error free and he contributed 38 tackles on a night when Saints dominated defensively. The only Saint who could top Batchelor’s tackle count was Roby. Naturally. The skipper chipped in with 40 defensive efforts - bettered only by Smith (52) and Kruise Leeming (41). But then Leeds spent a lot more time defending over the 80 minutes.

Eight points in the first half did not reflect Saints dominance but it did highlight their lack of attacking fluidity. Woolf is nothing if not a problem solver and that was in evidence in the second half.  Yet it was again Leeds who had the first opportunity as Bennison shelled Sutcliffe’s sky scraping kick to gift Leeds a full set deep in Saints territory. 

On only the first tackle of that set Saints swarmed around Tindall and forced him into touch. Just as well as they were protecting a slender lead, perhaps. On the other hand you get the feeling that the same outcome would have transpired if Saints had been leading by 30. A healthy desire to defend their try line is drilled into this Saints side, the result of which has been the concession of just 50 points in their seven Super League outings so far. That’s an average of just 7.14 points per game. Even when the attack doesn’t quite click you won’t lose many games if you are only giving up seven points per game. Unlocking Saints defence is a conundrum that the rest of the league are charged with solving. An out of sorts Leeds lacking their key playmaker was never going to find the solution.

The Rhinos thought they had come up with an answer 10 minutes into the second half, but Jack Walker’s try was rightly disallowed for an obstruction by Rhyse Martin. The moment that finally broke their resolve came a few minutes later and again it owed much to Saints defensive tenacity and Leeds’ current propensity for outright panic. Saints rushed up in defence to smother the Rhinos playmakers forcing Sutcliffe to throw an ill-advised flick pass out to the left wing. It was easily picked off by Makinson who streaked away to put real daylight between the sides. Breathing rather heavily from the exertion Makinson handed on the goal-kicking duties to Mark Percival. The centre converted to push the lead out to 14-0.

If Bennison was still thinking about his earlier mistake he needn’t have worried. Things were about to get an awful lot better for the youngster. Again Percival played a part, surging through a gap and putting Bennison away down the left touchline. Bennison kept his composure superbly to find Dodd on his inside. The young half crossed easily for his sixth try of the season. Percival’s second conversion turned the lights out on Leeds who now trailed 20-0.

Bennison was unfortunate not to find himself surging down the touchline again shortly after, Lomax’s wide ball adjudged to have gone forward by Child. Yet perhaps the moment which confirmed that Bennison has the potential to succeed arrived with 10 minutes left. Taking a Leeds bomb close to his own line he jinked away from a couple of would-be tacklers and set off on a 30 metre jaunt which allowed Saints to start their set on the half way line.  Bennison ended the night with 112 metres on 12 carries, a pair of clean breaks, just that one error which was arguably made up for by the try assist to Dodd. How long it will be before we see Bennison at this level again is unclear but his inclusion it is not something which should worry Saints fans on this evidence.

There was time for one more moment of magic to underline the difference in class between the sides. It was Lomax who provided it, noticing that Walker had moved up into the defensive line leaving space in behind. The Saints stand-off executed the perfect chip and chase to touch down and put the exclamation mark on the win. Another Percival conversion pushed the final score out to 26-0.

And so eventually - after an unconvincing start in attack - Saints proved that they can win and win well without Walmsley. Looking at those who filled in for him and for Lees there is a reasonable argument that there is adequate back up when needed. Very few props in the world could replace Walmsley without some sort of drop off, but Paasi’s 112 metres on 14 carries is a perfectly acceptable performance as are the 91 metres gained on 10 carries by McCarthy-Scarsbrook. Both were active defensively too, McCarthy-Scarsbrook weighing in with 25 tackles and Paasi adding 22. Not bad considering both had an increased work load in relation to what they are used to.

Beyond those two Norman also held his own and actually added more go forward than McCarthy-Scarsbrook. Norman racked up 105 metres on just nine carries and made 24 tackles. He may be disappointed that he could not cross for a try for what would have been a third consecutive game but he is starting to establish himself as a viable option in the prop rotation. Saints may need him to be given the current injury situation and the advancing years of McCarthy-Scarsbrook and the absent Amor. 

While Leeds continue to naval gaze following another drubbing Saints have reasserted themselves as the team to beat once more. They face what looks a tougher test next week when they go to Catalans Dragons in the quarter-final of the Challenge Cup (April 9), before returning home for the first derby meeting with Wigan on Good Friday (April 15). Woolf’s caution in leaving out Walmsley at Headingley has hopefully ensured that the ex-Batley man will be fit for those two vital games.

Saints last visit to France ended in ignominy, but there was enough in this performance to suggest that they won’t suffer the same fate when it really matters in Perpignan next week.

Teams;

Leeds Rhinos: Walker, Tindall, Briscoe, Broadbent, Handley, Austin, Sutcliffe, Oledzki, Leeming, Prior, Bentley, Martin, Smith. Subs: Gannon, Mustapha, O’Connor, Donaldson

Saints: Welsby, Makinson, Hurrell, Percival, Bennison, Lomax, Dodd, Paasi, Roby, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Batchelor, Sironen, Knowles. Subs: Norman, Royle, Wingfield, Lussick

Referee: James Child

Leeds Rhinos v Saints - Preview

Well, hello again. It’s been a while. So long in fact that the first entry on these pages in 2022 focuses on Saints’ BetFred Super League Round 7 visit to Headingley to take on Leeds Rhinos.

These sides have had wildly contrasting starts to the season. Saints sit top of the early table having lost only one of their opening six league games. They are the competition’s leading points scorers with 176 at an average of 29.3 per game, while no team in the top flight have conceded fewer than the 50 given up so far by Kristian Woolf’s men (8.3 points per game). 

Compare that to the 10th placed Rhinos who have given up 141 points in their six outings so far at an average of 23.5 per game. Only Toulouse, Castleford and Salford have conceded more points so far this season. No Super League team has posted fewer than Leeds’ 90 points across the first six rounds. That’s just 15 points per game.

If the stats look bad for Leeds then perhaps their main hope can be found in the still significant absences in the Saints 21-man squad. The champions are still without Will Hopoate, Matty Lees and Sione Mata’utia through injury. Regan Grace made his first appearance of the season in last week’s 46-4 Challenge Cup win at Whitehaven but misses out again here after leaving the action early at the LEL Arena. All of which means that Sam Royle and Jon Bennison keep their places in the initial selection as does prop Dan Norman. The former London Bronco has waited an age for his first team opportunities since making the move north at the start of 2021 but has now scored tries in his last two outings. 

What will not encourage Leeds so much is the return of Alex Walmsley. The England international has not featured since a 28-2 win over Warrington on March 11 but looks set for a return in this one. That’s especially bad news for Leeds when you consider that the 31 year-old has averaged 229.5 metres in his last two appearances against the Rhinos. In the final game of the 2021 regular season Walmsley shredded Leeds for 275 metres. He followed that up with 184 when the teams met for a place at Old Trafford three weeks later. If he’s fully fit Walmsley is a certain starter leaving  Norman, Agnatius Paasi, Kyle Amor and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook to compete for the starting berth which ordinarily belongs to Lees.

Also set for a return having been rested last week is Morgan Knowles. It is no exaggeration to say that Saints are a different animal defensively with both Walmsley and Knowles on the field. Knowles should get the nod to start ahead of Jake Wingfield who deputised at Whitehaven. With Mata’utia out there may be another starting opportunity for former Manly Sea Eagle Curtis Sironen. The Australian former City Origin representative has managed only four appearances for his new club so far and will be hoping for a run in the side to help build some form. His omission so far has largely been down to the excellent strides made by Joe Batchelor. The former York man has nailed down a regular starting spot this year after initially struggling to establish himself. Sironen has it all on to keep hold of a starting shirt at Batchelor’s expense when the previously in-form Mata’utia returns to fitness.

Which brings us to the hooking role. We’re all set for a special occasion for a very special number nine. James Roby looks certain to make his 500th appearance for the club whether that is from the start or from the bench behind Joey Lussick. Only three other Saints have reached that milestone. Kel Coslett (531), Eric Chisnall (523) and Billy Benyon (514) are the men ahead of Roby on Saints all-time appearance list. He could still surpass one or two of them by the end of what is expected to be his final season in the red vee. 

Full disclosure - I’ve always been Team Cunningham in the great debate between Saints two all-time great hookers. Cunningham was an absolute freak of a player in his youth who seemed impossible to tackle with his speed off the mark and his powerful high knee lift running style. I’d argue that he played against better teams too, with the salary cap having by now spread talent around the league and so driven down standards among the very best teams. But that is not to take anything away from the brilliance of Roby who - like Cunningham - can do it all offensively and defensively, has an inexhaustible energy and is a fine leader and tactician. Roby deserves all the accolades and plaudits that will come his way when he retires - even his own statue. For now he remains a key piece of the Saints puzzle and will be fresh having only played a short cameo at Whitehaven last weekend.

Without Hopoate and Grace the back line should have a similar look to it as it had prior to Grace’s brief return last week. Josh Simm should come back into the right wing spot from where he has scored four tries already this season. On the opposite side will be the now veteran Tommy Makinson. His switch to Saints’ busier attacking flank has helped him notch eight tries of his own this term. Yet even when he is not scoring tries Makinson’s qualities as a kick returner, metre-maker, defender and all around inspiration need no further elaboration. 

Mark Percival might have expected to be partnered in the centres more regularly by Hopoate but the Tongan’s struggles with fitness have offered former Rhino Konrad Hurrell the chance to show that he can still do it in the three-quarters. Hurrell appears to have a renewed enthusiasm for his rugby under his national coach. That has helped turn Simm into a winger and has meant that Saints haven’t felt the blow of losing Hopoate for so many games too harshly. I will again put my cards on the table and admit to being riddled with scepticism when Woolf brought Hurrell over from Headingley but to this point the former Gold Coast Titan is proving his worth.  

In the creative department Jack Welsby is settling into Lachlan Coote’s old fullback role, while Jonny Lomax and Lewis Dodd are establishing a great halfback partnership which justifies the decision to allow Theo Fages to join Huddersfield more with each passing week. 

This column priding itself on at least the appearance of balance we need to talk about Leeds. At the start of the season during the 13 Pro-Am season preview shows I was repeatedly firm in my conviction that Leeds would be much better this year and that they should be competing for at least a top four spot. I still look at their squad and wonder why it is not happening for them. The biggest disappointment for them has to be the performance of their new halfback combination of Blake Austin and Aidan Sezer. The two were once deemed good enough to form an NRL partnership with Canberra Raiders so should really be lording it over most of the opposition in Super League. Yet though he starred for Huddersfield when fit Sezer in particular has flitted between flustered, inept and disinterested so far in a Rhinos shirt. Meanwhile Austin’s Powers appear to be waning. Perhaps Daryl Powell does know something about this game after all. 

It has all added up to a miserable season so far for Leeds, culminating in a solitary win over Wakefield Trinity and the mutual consenting of coach Richard Agar through the exit door. Pseudo psychologist Jamie Jones-Buchanan is in interim charge at present while Gary Hetherington combs Australia for the right man to take the club forward. If he finds him then all is not lost. It is still early enough in the season for a squad containing the likes of Jack Walker, Harry Newman, Ash Handley, Mikolaj Oledzki, Matt Prior, Kruise Leeming, James Bentley and Zane Tetevano to clamber back into playoff contention. But the turnaround needs to happen soon. A visit from the champions of the last three seasons must be about as welcome as Chris Rock at the Alopecia Society. 

For now Jones-Buchanan still has his share of injuries and absentees to worry about. Brad Dwyer picked up a ban after he was sin-binned for tripping in last week’s Challenge Cup hammering by Castleford, while Tetevano will serve the last of his two-match suspension here also. Newman, Ritchie Myler and Tom Holroyd are all still missing as well as winger David Fusitu’a. His return has been delayed for a few more weeks by minor surgery on his knee. 

So is there enough quality available to the Rhinos to see them challenge Saints? Handley is the real deal on the wing and is set to make his 150th appearance for the club. The front row is solid in the form of Oledzki, Prior and Leeming although not having Dwyer available to inject into the action at the opportune moment could lessen Leeds’ threat from dummy half. James Bentley’s main challenge will be to keep his marbles in place against his former team-mates long enough to stay on the field. Rhyse Martin is a dependable presence in the back row and an excellent goal-kicker.

Yet it all still seems to come back to that faltering halfback partnership. Can it click into gear against the best side in the competition, with key pieces around it still missing and with morale about as low as it can go? You’d have to say probably not, which is why I expect Saints to run out comfortable winners, Leeds are probably in a false position which I expect to improve if Hetherington gets his coach finding mission right. Saints on the other hand are not in a false position. They will get home by at least 18.

Squads;  

Leeds Rhinos;

1 Jack Walker 4 Liam Sutcliffe 5 Ash Handley 6 Blake Austin 7 Aidan Sezer 8 Mikolaj Oledzki 9 Kruise Leeming 10 Matt Prior 11 James Bentley 12 Rhyse Martin 15 Alex Mellor 17 Cameron Smith 19 Bodene Thompson 20 Tom Briscoe 21 Morgan Gannon 23 Jack 24 Jarrod O’Connor 25 James Donaldson 27 Muizz Mustapha 28 Max Simpson 29 Liam Tindall

St Helens;

1, Jack Welsby, 2, Tommy Makinson, 4. Mark Percival, 6. Jonny Lomax, 7. Lewis Dodd, 8. Alex Walmsley, 9. James Roby, 12. Joe Batchelor, 13. Morgan Knowles, 14. Joey Lussick, 15. LMS, 16. Curtis Sironen, 17. Agnatius Paasi, 18. Kyle Amor, 19. Jake Wingfield, 21. Josh Simm, 22. Ben Davies, 23. Konrad Hurrell, 24. Dan Norman, 26. Sam Royle, 27. Jon Bennison.

Referee:  James Child

This Week In League - November 24

Unless you’re very old like me you won’t remember ever seeing live rugby league on terrestrial, free-to-air television. I have very fuzzy memories of Clive Tyldesley commentating on Saturday afternoon games broadcast regionally. Tyldesley went on to be a top football commentator for both BBC and ITV. Meanwhile television coverage of rugby league - although far more ubiquitous in these times of multi-channel digital and satellite systems - has now regressed to the point where it falls on Terry O’Connor to describe the action. 

Like just about every no-talent sixth-former with access to YouTube, rugby league is absolutely desperate for exposure. As much as O’Connor tries, even he can’t persuade the entire nation to part with enough of their hard earned to acquire a subscription to Sky Sports. Great swathes of the nation have been missing out on the greatest game these last 25 years. That’s partly because even Tanya Arnold couldn’t tell you what time The Super League Show will be broadcast by the BBC on any given week, but also because the live action has been behind a paywall. 

Finally, this is being addressed for the coming season. Super League today announced a two-year deal for Channel 4 to screen live matches. They will show 10 in 2022 including two end of season playoff games. It will all kick-off on Saturday February 12 when Leeds Rhinos host Warrington Wolves at the sponsors vacuum that is Headingley;

“The opportunity to offer live Super League action to fans on a free-to-air platform across the whole season is fantastic and one that we hope will continue to serve our current fans, as well as attract many new fans to the sport.” Said Super League Chairman (for now) Ken Davy. 

I’d like to end this section with a pithy put-down of the geriatric Tory. But on this I can’t fault him. Bravo Ken. Good job. You Tory f**k!

To France now where Catalans Dragons coach Steve McNamara has delved into the contact book     as he continues his Dick Dastardly-like pursuit of those pesky Saints. The headphone-wearing motivational speaker has called on a friend from his time as the Sydney Roosters assistant coach in the shape of prop-forward Dylan Napa. The 29 year-old has played State Of Origin for Queensland as recently as 2019, but has rather less impressively spent the last three seasons with the NRL’s whipping boys the Canterbury Bulldogs;

“I'm very excited for the opportunity.” Napa said, though it is not clear whether he was talking about joining Catalans or getting away from Canterbury;

“I have a great relationship with Steve McNamara from my time at the Roosters and can't wait to get over to France, put in the work and earn respect from my team-mates and coaching staff.” He added;

“Having worked closely with Dylan at the Roosters, I know first-hand the impact he can have in this competition.” Reckoned McNamara;

“I spoke many times with him throughout the negotiations and his will, desire and enthusiasm to get back to his best form was overwhelming.”

Touching 30, suffering from a dip in form, a slightly dodgy personal history involving leaked videos and revenge porn? Can’ say he doesn’t fit the profile for a Dragons overseas recruit.

There’s a vacancy in the Dragons prop group partly due to the departure of everyone’s second favourite Tomkins brother. Former Wigan, Hull KR and England kick & clap merchant Joel had been due to sign for Leigh Centurions. However, the female bar staff of Leigh can breathe a collective sigh of relief now that Tomkins has instead decided to retire;

“I thank Leigh for their understanding of my situation.” He began;

“I wish them every success for the future. I wanted to do the right thing by the club, and they respect that.”

Another largely forgotten ex-Wiganer - Leigh Head Of Rugby Chris Chester - put aside his annoyance at having to spend more time thinking about recruitment to comment;

“Joel's had a great, great career and he's a person I've a huge amount of respect for. He always comes across as humble and we'll miss his leadership which was one of the biggest reasons we recruited him.”

Over at Chester’s old club Wakefield there have been moves made to shed any suggestion of a negative attitude to diversity which may have arisen from their players’ very public aversion to taking the knee. Chairman Michael Carter enabled that stance, but has nevertheless led Trinity to becoming the first Super League club to sign the Muslim Athlete Charter;

“I am delighted to launch this charter with a commitment to becoming a more socially diverse and inclusive club” parped Carter, to the consternation of those blurts on Twitter who think being nice to people is ‘woke’:

“I want people of the Muslim faith to feel that they can become a part of Wakefield Trinity.” He continued. 

“Whether that is as a player, coach, staff member or fan, and (I) look forward to working progressively together on this charter.”

And on that note, having seen both Davy and Carter engaging in initiatives which I whole-heartedly support, I’m going for a lie down in a dark room. See you next week.

This Week In League - November 17

In case you don’t remember there should be a Rugby League World Cup going on right about now. Sadly, it was far too dangerous for those Australians and New Zealanders to come over to the UK in the autumn. Of course, as everyone knows Covid does not transmit during participation in any other sport - in particular rugby union - so I guess that explains why the All Blacks played Wales and Ireland recently while the Wallabies faced England. Rugby league - as it seems to on a suspiciously regular basis - just got unlucky. 

But just when you thought you could forget about it until it finally kicks off next year along comes some more negative news about the troubled tournament. It had been the plan to stage a women’s game and a men’s quarter final at Anfield but the home of Liverpool FC is apparently not available due to rebuilding work. The strangely gender-less ‘wheelchair’ final was also set for Liverpool at the city’s M & S Bank Arena. The Echo in old money. But guess what? That venue isn’t available either. It’s almost as if this was always going to be a problem as soon as the organisers buckled to the demands of the NRL mafia and agreed to postpone it for a year.

But often it isn’t the setback but how you respond that determines whether you really could run a piss-up in a brewery. In this regard the RLWC organisers left us in no doubt about their standards when they announced that the replacement for Anfield would be...Wigan. Maths enthusiasts will have noted that the DW Stadium has roughly half the capacity of Anfield which if nothing else will make it easier to fill. If there is one thing World Cup organisers fear more than the NRL mafia it is the prospect of a half full stadium at a televised match;

“A huge amount of work has gone in behind the scenes and thanks to so many people we have the opportunity to deliver a bigger and better tournament next autumn.” Insists RLWC Chief Executive John Dutton. 

Still on the subject of venue changes we turn our attention to the Summer Bash. That’s Magic Weekend for Championship clubs. Normally held in the summery seaside town of Blackpool the 2022 version looks like it will be moving to Leeds. 

It had been decided to hold the event in July following the decision to move the Challenge Cup final back to a May date. Because we don’t want an event in July but actually we do. That switch meant that Blackpool FC’s Bloomfield Road ground became unavailable due to the earlier start to the 2022/23 football season brought about by the presence of a November World Cup on the calendar. Ha! A November World Cup? That’ll never work.

Putting aside the reasons for leaving Blackpool the decision to go to the Rugby League Central destination that is Leeds throws the whole venture into question. It’s meant to be about spreading the game to new areas and attracting new fans. If we’re giving up on that noble pursuit then what we are left with is a set of pointless fixtures which distort the competition and waste everyone’s time.

Of course, there are those who welcome the switch. After all, who cares about mealy-mouthed shite about ‘spreading the game’ and ‘the good of the sport’ when there’s an afternoon in the Skyrack on offer? People will travel to Headingley in their hundreds from Featherstone and Batley. What have I got to complain about here?

Recruitment continues apace as clubs prepare for the new season. As I write we are just 85 days from the big kick-off. About time that comatose giant Wigan sprung into some action then. Bringing Shaun Wane back to oversee the new coaching team of Matty Peet, Lee Briers and Sean O’Loughlin was never going to be enough by itself. 

Lucky then that Lenners has pulled off the whopping great coup of re-signing former pie Ian Thorniley to replace the Wests Tigers-bound Oliver Gildart. Thornley spent last season taking part in post-try inquests under his own posts as part of a Leigh Centurions side which won just two of its 22 Super League matches in 2021. Now he gets an unexpected opportunity to prove that he is good enough after all for the club which bundled him out of the front door in 2016 after loan spells with South Wales Scorpions, Workington Town, Salford Red Devils and yes...Leigh Centurions. 

Wests Tigers also have their grubby paws all over Jackson Hastings now, so Wigan have moved to fill that void also. They welcome Manly Sea Eagles stand-off Cade Cust, who if nothing else has a surname which is a gift to those looking to lampoon him with pie-related puns. The bad news is that he’s quite handy. He’s made 26 appearances in three seasons with Manly, scoring nine tries and making one appearance for the Indigenous All Stars. He’s quick, elusive and has an eye for a gap. So not a Shaun Wane kind of player at all. Quite how he will respond when he is asked to cave someone’s cruciate ligament in we can only speculate.

Willie Isa is much more Wane’s type. Hard working but indisciplined and needlessly violent. Such qualities have earned him a two-year extension to his deal. Should he see it out Isa will have spent seven seasons at the club. Which is the complete embodiment of where a once great club find themselves at present. Oh Bevan. Where are you?

The phrase led by lambs almost literally applied to Wigan last season, but no longer. The arrival of Waney & The Fall Guys filled the gap left by Adrian Lam’s departure. A complete disaster of a coach who was to free-flowing attacking rugby league what Michael Vaughan is to race relations, Lam would have been forgiven for fearing that the jig was up for him as a head coach.

Along came Leigh Centurions - still clearly dazed from their Super League experience - to somehow entice Lam away from his role as Mal Meninga’s assistant with the Australian Kangaroos. The move reunites Lam with another former Wigan halfback as Chris Chester occupies the Head Of Rugby role at the Leigh Sports Village;

“The target is for us to get promoted back into Super League.” said Lam, confirming also that the boys trained well this week but just weren’t good enough;

“Now Adrian has been appointed we can sit down and assess the current playing squad and look at areas where we need to strengthen.” Said Chester, giving himself a fairly varied brief.”

Lam was Super League Coach Of The Year just 12 months ago. Quite the fall from grace, and all started by a dramatic Grand Final loss to Saints. Steve McNamara should probably keep the line to his agent open.

This Week In League - November 10

It must be at least five minutes since the self-harming sport of rugby league enjoyed a good old league restructure. The late decision to expand the 2020 playoffs from five to six clubs because otherwise Leeds Rhinos wouldn’t have qualified doesn’t really count. The last real change was when we did away with the eights concept, whether super, middle or otherwise. 

That was back in 2018, so it was surprising to note this week that the planned reshuffle to a structure of two divisions of 10 has been put on hold until the start of 2024. The original plan was to implement it at the start of 2023 but it has now been decided to delay to make it coincide with the start of a new TV deal. Whether it will it matter how many teams are in the league when games are being broadcast on niche DIY channels is a question we’re swerving for now.

The procrastination and can-kicking is nothing new for rugby league and not actually my main concern. The biggest problem with what now seems the certain introduction of 10-team divisions is that it is fundamentally A Shit Idea. It short-changes fans in offering each team only nine unique opponents. In a lame attempt to pull the wool over our eyes about this the self-preservation society known as the Super League chairmen will no doubt knock their heads together and conclude that they can still offer a 25-27 game season via the dubious gift of loop fixtures. All of which means we can look forward to five derbies a year again, just like we had in the days of the (checks notes...) super and middle eights. 

The authorities can move the pieces around but the truth is we are still hamstrung by the fact that we don’t have a big enough player pool. If we did then maybe we’d have a sensible-sized league of 14-16 teams. A league in which all those clubs with the means to go full time could do so without becoming cannon fodder for the masters of the grind at the top end of the league.

Worry not though, for just when you need evidence that things could be worse along comes the announcement that the newly Super-Leagued Toulouse Olympique will not enter the 2022 Challenge Cup. Toulouse’s non-participation in the game’s oldest competition went somewhat under the radar while they were devouring lower league opponents. But now they are in the top flight their absence is a PR disaster for the competition. It was already reeling from the decision to move next year’s final from Wembley to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium - thus giving it all the sense of occasion of a gritty 1-1 draw with Watford. 

Toulouse are not a full member of the RFL and so not ‘obliged’ to enter. All of which makes entering one of the grandest competitions in sport sound like an irritating chore up there with loading the dishwasher or worse - actually washing the dishes yourself. It also highlights the discord in the game given that two of the elite 12 clubs in our game are not full members of the RFL. That hasn’t stopped Catalans Dragons from being successful - not only consistently entering but winning the Challenge Cup in 2018. Yet it does throw up images of the overcrowding by supposed authorities in boxing which has led it to a place where it is now basically controlled by a handful of very rich men. Like everything fucking else. 

Lastly we must head back north (this is rugby league after all) for news of more deck chair shuffling on doomed vessels. Specifically, there was surprise this week when Hull FC allowed mediocrity’s Marc Sneyd to move back to his first club Salford Red Devils, coached by one-time Super League poster boy Paul Rowley. Remember posters? Remember Super League marketing? 

“I've been at Hull for six years and absolutely loved every single minute of my time there, but I was ready to come back to family and things like that.” Parped Sneyd, who has done more than most to maintain FC’s long run as the game’s biggest under-achievers.

Filling the void at FC will be former Leeds Rhinos team trademark botherer Luke Gale. The former England man - whose drop goal for the Tigers against Saints in 2017 in no way still haunts me or fuels my disdain for him - insisted that the move had nothing to do with a high profile spat with Leeds coach Richard Agar last year which saw Gale lose the Rhinos captaincy;

"There was no hard feelings with what happened last year. We shook hands and we moved on.” He insisted, sticking another pin in a doll which bore more than a passing resemblance to the Leeds boss.

Gale also denies that his sudden hop east had anything to do with the arrival of Aidan Sezer and Blake Austin at the stadium formerly known as Emirates Headingley;

“There hadn't been a chat on that, and that's not the reason I'm here.” he claimed;

“I just felt the opportunity would be better moving on. That was really all there was to it.”

This Week In League - November 3 2021

It must be at least seven minutes since the game has torn itself apart over expansion. Sighs of relief all round then as along comes another Eric Perez venture to help fill the mud-slinging void. Perez’s latest attempt to launch a successful professional rugby league club takes him to Cornwall. The south west county has the appeal of being an awful lot closer to most semi-professional rugby league clubs than either Toronto or Ottawa, but is not quite close enough to the M62 for everyone. 

In the most predictable thing to happen in rugby league since Saints won another Grand Final a stream of dissenters including journalists who should know better came forward to explain to us exactly how far Cornwall is from West Yorkshire. Some of them even added helpful maps to save those contemplating the trip the bother of getting on the route planner. Cost was offered as another prohibitive factor as well as the timeless classic scenario of part-time players having to get up half an hour before go to bed - python style - and do a day’s work after such epic, Bagginsian travel. Why does every semi-pro rugby league player have to get up at dawn for work? Is it contractual?

What about player welfare, they screamed? Which is a reasonable enough question on the face of it until you consider that those asking it are the same people who don’t think their front row enforcer should have been sin-binned for cracking the opposing winger around the head because ‘the game’s gone’. Last time I checked my route planner Cornwall was in the UK so it would seem a stretch to expect the national governing body to veto Cornwall’s involvement on grounds of geography. The issue here is Perez, and the well earned scepticism around weather he could launch a banger on Bonfire night much less a professional rugby league club. There is apparently a meeting of Championship and League One clubs going on as I write. Cornwall’s involvement will no doubt be on the agenda. Don’t expect any grown up decisions to be taken.

Another creating problems without realistic solutions is Wigan legend and serial meat pie grabber Martin Offiah. The self-proclaimed greatest try scorer in the game’s history (Brian Bevan, anyone?) was busy this week bemoaning the limitations of the salary cap. According to Offiah the big problem with the modern game - like there’s only one - is that players aren’t paid enough lolly. 

This view may or may not be connected to Offiah’s current activities as a player agent. He took it a stage further when he suggested that players are paid so poorly that it is now too much of an effort for wealthy people to even bother to watch. Why would you want to watch players who might be getting paid less than you are, asks Martin? The logic of this escapes me somewhat. If had £10 less than Jeff Bezos I would still spend some of it on watching Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Matty Lees give away another six again. I neither know nor care what they earn.

There might be a serious point to be made about the cap but this is not it. Nor is it Offiah’s other assertion that we would be better off having one star-studded team winning everything like in his day because at least then you would have a high standard from that team. Has he looked at the recent roll of honour in Super League? One team does win everything but it hasn’t turned Jack Welsby into a household name. The cap may have driven down standards but its main flaw is that it doesn’t appear to have created the unpredictability that it was created for. We are 25 years in to Super League and there are still only four names on the trophy. There is a debate to be had about whether we really want the kind of unpredictability and parity seen in competitions like the NFL where winning a championship is largely a matter of hanging around and waiting your turn. 

If the game is less attractive and the players less well known then that is at least as much down to coaching and rule changes as it is the salary cap. Coaches have figured out that the most direct route to winning things with a 10metre offside line is to use your wingers as battering rams and pass the ball only when absolutely necessary. The introduction of six again only adds to the feeling that what we need for ‘entertainment’ is for everything to happen as quickly as possible with fewer of those pesky stoppage thingies. Skill and variety have become luxuries we no longer have the patience for. 

No doubt Offiah would point out it wasn’t like that in his day.