It’s just such a hollow feeling when your team has lost a sudden death match and you know their season is over. Bradford lost to Wigan on Friday night, and while I acknowledge that the best team won, it doesn’t detract from the disappointment of knowing that there are no more chances to make a miracle come-back this year.
It was an exciting match and could have had a different outcome if video referee Phil Bentham had not disallowed Bradford’s first try. All the Sky commentators agreed it should have been a try, and it is a complete mystery how he decided it was a knock on when the ball obviously was obviously propelled backwards by Semi Tadulala. Fortunately Bradford recovered from that better than they had when a similar bad decision occurred a few weeks ago at Hull KR. On that occasion Bradford went into freefall for about 20 minutes before they managed to recover their composure. Yesterday they struck back quickly, and for the first 20 minutes or so of the match they looked the more dangerous side.
But Wigan always seemed to have more in reserve, and Bradford began to suffer, especially when Paul Deacon obviously picked up an injury in the first half and failed to appear for the second half. It was a brave decision to play Glenn Morrison, who hadn’t played since he was badly injured in May, and he was as hard working as ever, but somehow Bradford couldn’t maintain their challenge.
The match in Perpignan on Saturday night was a different matter, with Warrington completely outplayed and outclassed in every department by the Catalans Dragons. It’s hard to see how Warrington made the playoffs at all in view of their poor performances recently. It was enjoyable to watch a dominant Catalans side, but as a contest is was over in the first twenty minutes, so there was no tension. I had wondered in my last post “Exciting Times” whether Bradford might have regretted landing Wigan rather than the Catalans, but I have to say I don’t think they would have fared much better than Warrington.
So far the playoffs have panned out exactly as the placings indicated, and Wigan will now go to Perpignan next Saturday. I suspect that they will also fall to the Catalans side, who in turn will not be able to beat Leeds on their home turf. Assuming of course that St Helens win on Friday. It is all beginning to look a little bit predictable, and I would prefer to see an upset somewhere along the way. Of course a top two final and a St Helens victory vindicates the top six placings, but it does rather take the thrill out of the final weeks of superleague – unless you are a Leeds or St Helens fan of course!
