Super League XIV. Round 11. *contains spoilers*

toomevara

Super League XIV. Round 11.

Friday 24th April 09

Leeds Rhinos v Harlequins RL. KO 20:00
St. Helens v Bradford Bulls. KO 20:00 *SKY*

Saturday 25th April 09

Salford City Reds v Hull FC. KO 18:00 *SKY*

Sunday 26th April 09

Celtic Crusaders v Castleford Tigers. KO 15:00
Hull Kingston Rovers v Catalans Dragons. KO 15:00
Wakefield Wildcats v Wigan Warriors. KO 15:30
Warrington Wolves v Huddersfield Giants. KO 15:00

Another interesting weekend in prospect. Saints v Bradford will be fascinating in that it could be very, very ugly. Wakey V Wigan match of the round for me...should be cracking.

I'm going for;

Leeds
Saints
Salford
Cas
KR
Wakey
Giants

couerdelion

I'm going for;

Leeds
Saints
Hull (They can't keep on losing and Salford won't be able to bully them like they did Leeds)
Celtic (It's due now!)
KR
Wakey
Warrington (I think Smith is starting to have a bit of influence and they'll be on a high from last week)

As an aside... Briers to Barrow? wtf!

toomevara

couerdelion wrote: »

As an aside... Briers to Barrow? wtf!

Watched Boots'n'all yesterday and according to Phil Clarke, it'll never happen..would be utterly bizarre. He also had a really good cameo in last weeks game...

amacachi

Leeds
Saints
Hull
Castleford
KR
Wigan
Warrington

I'm getting those last two hard to call, major case of depending on which side turns up. I can see Bradford running Saints closer than the 20 or so spread the bookies are offering, they HAVE to turn it around at some point.

WakeyTyke

amacachi wrote: »

Leeds
Saints
Hull
Castleford
KR
Wigan
Warrington

I'm getting those last two hard to call, major case of depending on which side turns up. I can see Bradford running Saints closer than the 20 or so spread the bookies are offering, they HAVE to turn it around at some point.

One thing that can be said about Wakey this season is that they will turn up (excluding the Saints match for obvious reasons). If Noble can motivate Wigan it will be a great game and home advantage should swing it Wakey's way. Don't think Wires are anywhere near the finished product and the Giants are smarting after their performance adainst Leeds, so I'd take Hudds.

amacachi

WakeyTyke wrote: »

One thing that can be said about Wakey this season is that they will turn up (excluding the Saints match for obvious reasons). If Noble can motivate Wigan it will be a great game and home advantage should swing it Wakey's way. Don't think Wires are anywhere near the finished product and the Giants are smarting after their performance adainst Leeds, so I'd take Hudds.

I reckon Wigan and Warrington can beat anyone on their day, but it's whether or not they turn up. I've no doubts Wakefield will turn up, but I'm expecting an extra little stutter from Huddersfield after last week.

toomevara

WakeyTyke wrote: »

One thing that can be said about Wakey this season is that they will turn up (excluding the Saints match for obvious reasons)

The Wildcats have been fantastic this season, especially given their huge injury list...Kear (surely pound for pound one of the best coaches in the SL) has done amazing things. I reckon they'll put one over on the Warriors...just...

amacachi

Only saw the replay of the first try so can't say anything about the alleged knock-on in the build up.

For the second try, what the **** were Saints thinking!? Great chasing by Bradford but still!
Told me da not to back Saints -18 points! :P

DigiDec

Bulls doing well, only 2 points behind now, 13 mins left

DigiDec

Great result for the Bulls !!

amacachi

And for Harlequins. I didn't fancy Bradford but I thought there was potential for an upset. Didn't think Harlequins had a prayer though.

DigiDec

Makes it interesting, better to see the so called big guns can be beaten from time to time.

Paul Tergat

cmonnnnn Bradford. Quality comeback. Strange how we have done ok against the big 2 so far this season (and thats about it though)

couerdelion

Bradford and Quins winning.
I feel like I've been kidnapped by aliens and woken up in a bizarre parrallel universe!

toomevara

couerdelion wrote: »

Bradford and Quins winning.
I feel like I've been kidnapped by aliens and woken up in a bizarre parrallel universe!

Just back from Headingley...we were fecking dire, dire, dire...booed off at half time, can't remember the last time that happened...we had no desire, execution was appalling and we thoroughly deserved the beating the Quins gave us...lifeless, gutless stuff from Leeds..I've got to confess this 'blip' is in danger of becoming a full blown slump....

I take nothing away from Quins they play a lovely, direct form of rugby and were good value for their win tonight, but most SL teams would have put us away tonight...

amacachi

toomevara wrote: »

Just back from Headingley...we were fecking dire, dire, dire...booed off at half time, can't remember the last time that happened...we had no desire, execution was appalling and we thoroughly deserved the beating the Quins gave us...lifeless, gutless stuff from Leeds..I've got to confess this 'blip' is in danger of becoming a full blown slump....

I take nothing away from Quins they play a lovely, direct form of rugby and were good value for their win tonight, but most SL teams would have put us away tonight...

I was actually disappointed Leeds got on the scoreboard in the end. :P

toomevara

Just watched the Bradford game...what a cracker and fair play to the Bulls...(their win also cushions our loss!:D)..that was a real Lazarus job and for the first time this season those guys stood up and were counted...Newton had a huge, huge game and Halley and Sherfife played out of their boots..and what about Burgess' try?....well done the Bulls.

....and on a sour note I thought the Saints' fans reaction to Solomona's injury was absolutely disgraceful, its been creeping into the game of late at certain grounds and its shameful...

amacachi

toomevara wrote: »

....and on a sour note I thought the Saints' fans reaction to Solomona's injury was absolutely disgraceful, its been creeping into the game of late at certain grounds and its shameful...

At first I didn't think it was all that bad, just a reaction like. On reflection though it's pretty **** and it's a nasty habit for fans to be picking up.

Burgess had a great game, tbh pretty much the whole Bradford team did.

Stev_o

Bradford Saints game was a cracker and another huge surprise come back game, think we are being spoiled

toomevara

Stev_o wrote: »

Bradford Saints game was a cracker and another huge surprise come back game, think we are being spoiled

This years SL has been brilliant. Hugely competitive and unpredictable.Our form of late has been a worry, but it's great for the competition to see Leeds and Saints loose in a weekend to two relatively unfancied (no surprise to me that Quins put us away given their form this season) teams...God knows what's going to happen when we reach the play-offs!

amacachi

toomevara wrote: »

This years SL has been brilliant. Hugely competitive and unpredictable.Our form of late has been a worry, but it's great for the competition to see Leeds and Saints loose in a weekend to two relatively unfancied (no surprise to me that Quins put us away given their form this season) teams...God knows what's going to happen when we reach the play-offs!

I'm sure ya know it, but there's not much cause for worry, I can't see Leeds not making the play-offs, and once the play-offs start form is almost irrelevant.

toomevara

Salford/FC a good game. Nice to see that the Reds are now without question up to SL standard...Richie Myler may be the best stand off in the competition...pity that Wilshire's dire performance under the high ball cost them so dear tonight

couerdelion

toomevara wrote: »

Salford/FC a good game. Nice to see that the Reds are now without question up to SL standard...Richie Myler may be the best stand off in the competition...pity that Wilshire's dire performance under the high ball cost them so dear tonight

Myler seems to be establishing himself as a serious England starter. Is he a SH or SO? Not that it really matters as they are so interchangable.

Worried for the Loiners. I can't remember them losing so many in a row since SL1. (Although I'm sure some statto will prove me wrong!)

And another loss for Celtic. still at least they have a few years to sort themsleves out without having to worry about relegation. It worked wonders for the Dragons.

toomevara

couerdelion wrote: »

Myler seems to be establishing himself as a serious England starter. Is he a SH or SO? Not that it really matters as they are so interchangable.

Yeah, sorry CDL, SH....(and I was completely sober when I wrote that post!).

I was listening to Karl Harrison on radio leeds last night, talking about the current slump, and his theory was that the players involved in the RLWC (10 of our starting squad) are totally drained and flat because they had a tiny 10 day pre-season.

Which means they've had no time to condition themselves for the gruelling slog that is SL...He reckons the Easter games have totally exposed it. He believes Bluey's going to have to start some serious squad rotation, which of course will inevitably lead to more losses....

couerdelion

I could stomach more losses if it meant the players were ready come the business end of the season. Whether or not the average southstand chav could? I doubt it!

toomevara

couerdelion wrote: »

I could stomach more losses if it meant the players were ready come the business end of the season. Whether or not the average southstand chav could? I doubt it!

+1, I was shocked at the booing at HT on Friday. not the kind of thing we need in our game...it was clear to me in the stand that the guys were knackered and out of sorts..you couldn't fault them for effort.

McGuire (200 appearances for Leeds,pity it had to come on that night) and Burrow were busy and creative and played their hearts out and Buderus was excellent, his dummy half play gave us real incision and go-forward...

It's not bloody soccer, sometimes I understand why fans of other clubs label us the 'Whinos"!

On another subject raised before, this weeks League Weekly says the Briers thing's a nonsense...and apparently Wigan have been sniffing around Richie Myler but the Reds have told 'em to sling their hook....

couerdelion

i don't disagree with booing as a way of showing disatisfaction, but I would hazard a guess that most fans were booing because Leeds weren't winning by 10+

It's the price of success, the better you get the more often it's expected.

I wonder if it's anything to do with the modern make-up of most crowds where by most of the 'audience' will never have played RL at all and don't really know what reasons there may be for poor performances. Like you said... "it's not soccer!"