2009 Season Review

Mrs Rugby League has been silent for nearly a year!  This is largely due to the fact that I have been so depressed and disheartened by Bradford’s performance over last season that I haven’t had the will to put pen to paper.

But notwithstanding Bradford’s miserable season (barring the last five matches, which were exciting and gave a feeling of what might have been) it has been an exciting year, with some great matches and some emerging talent, especially in Kyle Eastmond, Sam Tomkins and Richie Myler.  I have enjoyed watching a much improved Wigan, and Wakefield and Huddersfield have also impressed.  It is a pity though, that at crunch time no-one could stand up to Leeds and St Helens.  Huddersfield, despite finishing third in the table, have still never won a play-off game, and Hull KR were no match for Leeds or for Saints in the play-offs.

Despite that, I thought the new 14 club system, with eight teams in the play-offs, was a successful formula, and kept everyone guessing right up to the wire as to who would make the bottom couple of places of the eight.  That last evening when everything hinged for Bradford on whether they beat Hull and whether Catalans would beat Saints, made for a nail-biting finish.  In the end I don’t think Bradford deserved to make the play-offs, they had been too poor all season to be credible top eight material.  The pity is that their run of form at the end of the season has probably gifted Steve McNamara another year in charge.  There has been another huge clear-out of players at the end of Bradford’s season, which means another team of newcomers struggling to gel in Superleague XV.  Leeds and St Helens are deservedly at the top of the pile because they nurture their talent, have a real team spirit and have very few personnel changes year on year.

Now there are a few internationals to look forward to, and some interesting additions and omissions to Tony Smith’s squad.  In particular I was very surprised at Rob Burrow being left out, as well as Paul Wellens.  But I think he is right, there is plenty of new half-back talent and Shaun Briscoe has been great at full-back for Hull KR.  Perhaps it is a good idea to reduce the number of Leeds and Saints players in the team,  there was undoubtedly friction between them at the World Cup and I am sure that contributed to our dismal performance.  It is definitely time to build for the future in the international team, and I will look forward to seeing how they shape up.

Last chance for England to disprove the doubters

Tony Smith seems to have adopted some strange tactics for Saturday’s world cup semi-final against New Zealand.  He has not named either Ade Gardner, Superleague’s top try scorer, or Danny McGuire in the 19-man squad. Yet surely both must be going to play;  McGuire is widely expected to partner Rob Burrow if Leon Pryce is not fit.  Smith has also named Paul Wellens despite injury doubts due to ankle ligaments damaged in last week’s defeat to New Zealand.  Less surprisingly, the Bradford duo Paul Sykes and Jamie Langley are not included in the team after they failed to impress last week.  If these team selection tactics are supposed to confuse the Kiwis, it seems to be rather a last-ditch desperate measure.  Smith can, however, change his selections to include the unexpected absences.

A much better performance on the field is an absolute must this weekend if England are not to go home with their tails between their legs.  There is much brave talk about how England have still got the ability to win the World Cup, but proof is now urgently needed.  England have skilled players, but so far they have failed to produce the performances required to stand up beside Australia and New Zealand.  The passion shown by Ireland, Scotland and the South Sea Island teams has been sadly lacking. Perhaps tomorrow will be day when we see the potential promised by Tony Smith realised. They will need to play for the full 80 minutes though, and not give up at half time as they did last week.

First test for Smith’s new England team

Tonight sees the England team getting their first hit out before departing for the World Cup in Australia. They play Wales at the Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster. For many it will be their only chance to play for England. The 15 players from Leeds and St Helens who will be going to Australia are rested tonight, and only 24 players will be on the plane. Tony Smith, the England coach, insists that every player needs to play at the top of their game in case there are casualties from the original squad, and others need to be drafted in.

There are three players from Harlequins in Louis McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Rob Purdham and Tony Clubb, though only Purdham has made the final cut at present. The 18 year old Salford half back Richie Myler is also selected. Stuart Fielden has surprisingly missed out on the trip to Australia but is selected tonight, and must be hoping for a big game which alter change Tony Smith’s decision to leave him out. Mark Calderwood is selected on the wing, having been picked for England after initially opting for the Scotland squad. For those who are definitely going to Australia, it is an important chance to play a competitive game after several weeks without match practice.

Although only a warm up game, it it Wales’s only match after failing to qualify for the World Cup, and they will be wanting to make up for that failure by playing well tonight. Smith will be hoping that all his players will come through unscathed, but will also want to see a hard-fought game with the players treating it as seriously as if it was the World Cup final.

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Who will get the glory?

Very often the grand final is a rather one-sided affair, with one team or the other having used up all their energy in the fight to get there.  I had felt that this weekend would be the same, with St Helens easily beating Leeds to win the treble for the second time in three years.  Now, thinking about it and looking at the teams, I’m not so sure.  Both teams are at full strength (though of course Leeds lost Toopi earlier in the season) with Lee Smith avoiding suspension despite being found guilty of kicking a Wigan player.  Can’t quite get to grips with how someone can be guilty of something but yet not get suspended, though I am glad for the sake of the game, Smith was important to Leeds last weekend.

Leeds lost comprehensively to St Helens two weeks ago, and I thought then that no-one could get close to Saints.  They will be buoyed by James Graham being voted Man of Steel by the superleague players - four straight wins for Saints players in four years.  They have had another week’s rest, and have played only twice in the last month.  But that can be a disadvantage too, they could be out of practice and a little complacent by the ease with which they reached the final. Leeds have had two tough matches against Saints and Wigan, and are definitely battle-hardened.

St Helens will want to send their coach Daniel Anderson back to Australia on a high.  They will also want to gain the kudos of winning the treble again.  But Leeds are the champions and won’t give that up without a fight.

I would have liked an upset at an earlier stage in the playoffs, as the Leeds/Saints final is a rather predictable end to the season.  If Wigan or Catalans had made the final from outside the top two, that would have been a more exciting final run, though I think it would have given St Helens an easy win in the end.  As things stand, it’s a difficult one to call, but I am going to stick with my gut instincts and go with St Helens.  But I hope that, for a change, it will be a close and exciting final which keeps us on the edge of our seats till the final whistle!

Last chance saloon

Leeds Rhinos will be relieved that Kevin Sinfield has recovered from a knock to the hand sustained in last week’s defeat by St Helens at Knowsley Road.  Brent Webb damaged his kneecap in the same game but has been named in the squad for Friday.  Their absence would be a big blow to Leeds in their bid to reach the Grand Final at the second attempt, aftter last week’s emphatic loss to St Helens.   They went down 10-38 in a very one-sided match which showed that St Helens are nowhere near past their best while Leeds looked distinctly ordinary.

In a repeat of last year’s semi-final, Leeds play Wigan Warriors.  But whereas last year they romped to a 36-6 victory, this year’s result seems much less certain.  Wigan have fought off the challenge of Bradford Bulls and Catalans Dragons to get to Headingley, and both victories have been comprehensive. The Warriors have looked strong and hungry, especially against the French side who they crushed by 50 points to 26 in Perpignan.  Although the Rhinos have the benefit of home advantage, Wigan will be feeling very confident, having won two out of their three encounters this season.  Barrett’s influence continues to be key, with strong support from Leuluai and the impressive Hock and Fielden.  Brian Noble will be anxious to avenge last year’s defeat and for Wigan to become the first team outside the top three to make it to the Grand Final.

Sinfield insists that Leeds have learned the lessons of last week’s defeat and will come out determined to get to Old Trafford again.  But Wigan look equally determined, and it looks as if a thrilling climax to the playoffs is in prospect.  The prize is the right to face St Helens on 4 October, but either team would have to be on top form to beat Saints.  I think Wigan will beat Leeds, but that they will have run out of steam by then and St Helens will run out easy winners at Old Trafford and will have won the treble for the second time in three years.

World Cup squad possibilities

If I were Tony Smith I would be feeling quite depressed now, as all his England hopefuls seem to be dropping like flies.  He has spent the past year going to lots of matches and watching all the possible England team candidates play.  No doubt he has his list of core players, and lists of maybes, some of whom have been named in his train-on squad made up of players no longer taking part in the playoffs.  But when it comes to the crunch, I think he will be lucky to be able to take 24 fit players of his choice on the plane to Australia.  He must be praying that the likes of Leon Pryce, Rob Burrow, Keith Senior and Jamie Peacock can stay injury-free.  Inevitably the backbone of his squad will come from the teams who progress furthest in the playoffs.  I wonder if he is secretly hoping for a Leeds defeat on Friday night, then at least he will know that Burrow, Senior, Peacock, Maguire, Ellis and a few others will be safe bets for the squad (unless any get injured in the match against Wigan).  Kevin Sinfield must also be a definite, and he might also be looking at Jamie Jones Buchanan, and Matt Diskin as cover for James Roby in the hooking role.  Wigan can only provide Gareth Hock, Stuart Fielden and possibly Andy Coley and Mickey Higham.

The latest news is that Gareth Raynor is out with a toe problem.  This follows the withdrawal of Terry Newton, Andy Lynch and Paul Deacon through injury.  Sam Burgess, Sean O’Loughlin and Jon Clarke are also out, and Kirk Yeaman ruled himself out as his wife is expecting a baby.  The choices are becoming very limited, particularly on the wing, in the centre and scrum half.   

There is a danger that the team will be almost entirely Leeds and St Helens.  But Stuart Fielden should definitely make it back onto the international scene, and Gareth Hock is looking very strong again.  Quite a few players from the bottom six clubs were named in the train-on squad, but I would be surprised if many of them made the final cut.  Sean Briscoe might get the nod as back up to Paul Wellens.  Gareth Carvell looks to be in-form. Then from Warrington Adrian Morley is obviously a definite, and Ben Westwood might be picked too.  Jamie Langley might get to represent Bradford, and Paul Sykes could make the team as a reserve centre. Sykes is quite versatile too, and could play at full back, on the wing or at stand-off I believe.  Could Peter Fox get the second wing spot with Ade Gardner?  Rob Purdham plays at loose forward, and is very well thought of.  I think the others named by Tony Smith in that batch are just there to make up the numbers, and maybe to encourage them that they may be considered in the future.

My 24 would be: St Helens: Wellens, Gardner, Wilkin, Roby, Pryce, Graham, Fa’asavalu, and possibly Gilmour; Leeds: Burrow, Maguire, Senior, Sinfield, Ellis, and possibly Diskin and Jamie Jones-Buchanan; Bradford: Sykes, Langley; Wigan: Fielden, Hock, possibly Andy Cole; Warrington: Morley, Gleeson, Westwood; Hull KR: Briscoe; Hull FC: Carvell; Harlequins: Purdham. That actually comes to 26 – not much leeway for the inevitable last-minute injuries and need for post-season surgery.  But if all are fit I would leave Purdham and Carvell off the plane.  I think I would have picked Jamie Thackray as a prop as he has been playing very well, but that’s another matter.  Let’s hope Tony Smith can find enough fit and healthy players to give us a chance of World Cup success!

Can Barrett quench the Dragons’ fire?

Trent Barrett will be hoping to extend his stay in English Rugby League by at least another week as the Wigan Warriors head to France to tackle the Catalans Dragons in the Engage Superleague playoffs on Saturday.  Wigan had a convincing win over Bradford last weekend, while Catalans destroyed Warrington Wolves, so both teams must be in confident mood.

Wigan were not fazed by Dave Whelan’s refusal to let them play their home tie at the JJB Stadium, and in fact that adversity seemed to work in their favour; Barrett and Thomas Leuluai combined forcefully and the return of Gareth Hock after a five match ban was a boost to Wigan, who eventually proved too strong for Bradford after a slow start.  The Catalans played strongly from the beginning, and the combination of Tomas Bosc, Adam Mogg and Casey Maguire was very effective and bemused the Wolves. 

Catalans have known for some weeks that they would finish third in the table, and this knowledge seemed to coincide with a dip in form.  Now they are in playoff mode and  look to be back to their best.  In this, their third year in Superleague, they have reached the playoffs for the first time, but so far they don’t seem to be intimidated by this.  As far as Wigan are concerned, Brian Noble of course knows better than anyone how to get his team to perform well when it matters, and Wigan certainly also seem to be on the up.

Wigan have chartered a plane for supporters as scheduled flights filling up so fast, so although the Catalans have home advantage in what is seen as a daunting stadium for visitors to come to, at least Wigan will also have plenty of support.  Wigan also held Catalans to a thrilling draw at the Stade Gilbert Brutus earlier in the season, so a home win is by no means a foregone conclusion.

Whoever wins on Saturday night will know who their semi-final opponents will be.  St Helens play Leeds at Knowsley Road on Friday night, and as they have not lost in 22 matches they must be favourites to win and thus go straight to Old Trafford.  Leeds have stuttered a bit in recent weeks, but have begun to play attacking rugby again and will not lie down quietly.  St Helens have named Jason Cayless in their squad of 19, returning after four weeks out with a knee injury, and Leon Pryce also returns after hamstring problems.  Leeds have named Ryan Hall in their squad, while Luke Burgess drops out. 

Whatever the results this weekend, it looks as if there will be two close and exciting matches in prospect!

Ditch the Video Ref!

Why is it that the RFL, and apparently the coaches of Superleague teams, are so wedded to idea of the video ref?  Why can’t the referee on the ground be trusted to make his own decisions?  Now that superleague has full time referees who are much fitter than the part-timers used to be, there is no reason that they cannot be more or less on the spot when tries are scored, or at least have a good view of what is happening.  They have touch judges to assist them, who are also very often in a good position to check whether someone is offside or whether there has been obstruction.

Sometimes it is very hard to see whether the ball has actually been put down, and this is a frequent reason for referral upstairs.  However it is often the case that even after the footage has been viewed from every angle, often time after time after time, the video ref still cannot make a conclusive judgement.  He may then award the try on “benefit of the doubt”, a decision which seems fraught with inconsistencies.

One of the fundamentals of rugby league is that it is a fast, unforgiving game.  Players lie groaning on the ground in back play after being injured, but play continues, at least for a while.  Penalties are taken fast, there is very little hanging about, the momentum of the game continues to flow.  Then someone scores a try and the referee refers it to the video ref.  Then follows an interminable period of waiting, while he looks at the “try” from every angle and through every camera.  Famously Steve Ganson took four minutes to make a decision earlier this season.  Meanwhile the fans get restive and frustrated, the players get unsettled and lose their focus.  If the decision then goes against the attacking team, it can completely turn the tide of the game in the opposition’s favour, as was the case a few weeks ago when Bradford played Hull KR.  A Bradford try was disallowed, wrongly in the opinion of all the Sky pundits and newspaper reports I read, and Bradford then completely lost the flow of their game and allowed Hull KR to score three times before they recovered.  Of course a team shouldn’t let poor decisions upset their game, but they are only human and it happens.  Rugby League games shouldn’t be determined by refereeing decisions, but by the force of one team or another.

Video refs often get it right, but they also sometimes get it wrong, and usually after long and tedious delays.  Referees on the ground usually get decisions right, but sometimes they get them wrong.  The difference is that it happens instantaneously, the game moves on quickly and that wrong decision is more likely to be forgotten.  Perhaps the other side of that coin is 2006’s Millennium incident, where Steve Ganson, the referee on the ground, awarded a try to Leeds against Bradford when Jordan Tansey was clearly offside.  But the decision came after the video ref, Ashley Klein, had  intervened to tell Gansen that Leeds should be awarded a penalty.  This was not only the wrong decision, but the video ref is not supposed to comment unless asked to do so by the referee on the ground.

Up until now video refs were only used at televised gamesm but on the last weekend of the regular season the RFL trialled using a video ref at a non-televised match, that between Hull FC and Hull KR.  The trial seems to have been pronounced a success as far as it went, though there were only three cameras and no screen as opposed to Sky’s twelve cameras and screen, and more trials are to be carried out.  If it is adopted I gather it will cost the clubs around £600,000 a year.  I am dismayed at so much good money being thrown at this crazy and unhelpful policy.  I would rather see more line judges or even a second referee on the pitch being trialled (as I think is happening in the World Cup in November) than an extension of the video ref system.

On the whole, however, I think that the introduction of full-time referees has proved an effective way of improving refereeing decisions, and there is no need for a video ref to add delays and confusion to such a fast moving and exciting game.

Sudden Death

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!

Exciting times!

Another weekend of thrills and spills has marked the end of the regular season. The intensity was maintained up to the end, with Bradford getting a last gasp two points to ensure a proper shakeup of the teams in 4th, 5th and 6th position. So on Friday it was Warrington, Wigan, Bradford, and now it’s Wigan, Bradford, Warrington. Wigan thoroughly deserved their point, after a real battle at Knowsley Road ended in a draw, but Warrington looked like a team on the way out. By all accounts Bradford were pretty uninspiring too.

It’s also true to say that the lack of relegation has not made the end of the season in any way dull or disappointing. Obviously Castleford and Huddersfield had pride to play for, as was the case in the local derby of Hull against Hull KR yesterday. And Harlequins also showed that they wanted to end the season with a flourish, with a win over Catalans. Have the French team peaked too soon? Bradford may feel that some euqilibrium has been restored with a finish in fifth, but they could have had a better chance heading to France than to Wigan. They haven’t beaten Wigan away since Februray 2005, and last season’s humiliation at Odsal in the first round of the playoffs will take some forgetting. One crumb of comfort for Bradford will be that the match will be played on neutral ground as the JJB stadium is unavailable next Friday. Warrington will be lucky to progress any further after travelling to France on Saturday.

So my predictions for next week’s eliminator are Catalans v Wigan. I think St Helens will beat Leeds next week, but that in the end it will be another Leeds v St Helens final. This year though, St Helens look set to win, and to complete the treble again, as they show no signs of flagging at the end of the season as they did last year.

In my blog of 31 August the only two placings I got right were Bradford and Warrington, so I will wait to see if my predictions for the final four and the eventual winner are correct. Let’s hope Bradford can confound everyone and make a surge for the top! My dream would be: Bradford beat Wigan, Catalans beat Warrington, St Helens beat Leeds, Bradford beat Catalans, Bradford beat Leeds, Bradford beat St Helens. I’m definitely daydreaming!!