Re: SL GF | St Helens (Old Trafford) : Sun Sep 25, 2022 8:03 am  

So St Helens, Wigan, Warrington, Leeds, Catalans, Hull FC should all have to spend less than they could on playing squads so (example) poor old Wakefield can still have a very small outside chance of success?

The money in the NRL is so much bigger it’s impossible to compare to SL. We lose some of our better players over there and they are average in that competition. We have to do things differently.

First 5 years of franchises should be to existing SL teams but take the shackles off them and make them work to grow their income to fund better players young or mature.

Re: SL GF | St Helens (Old Trafford) : Sun Sep 25, 2022 8:04 am  

Was pretty confident at half time, then that woeful 4 man attempt on Hurrell happened...Cant defend like that in Grand Finals...Only seen it once and was fair cut but from memory Leeming has got to stop that ball getting to ground. Been critical of Bently this season but thought he was brilliant last night, Rohans really turned the lad around.

Other than that, proud of the squad and coaching team, been an unbelievable turnaround, looking forward to the future more than i have for quite a while.

Congratulations to Saints (and the RFL), but seriously, the best team in the comp won the comp, cant take it away from them, quality side.

Re: SL GF | St Helens (Old Trafford) : Sun Sep 25, 2022 8:07 am  

A big turning point early in the second half were the 2 back to back penalties conceded by Austin that marched us backwards just when we needed momentum.

Re: SL GF | St Helens (Old Trafford) : Sun Sep 25, 2022 8:10 am  

Thought Austin had his best game for Leeds yesterday, worked so hard to try to create and really threw (sometimes literally) himself into defence.

We badly missed a second halfback, not that it would have changed the outcome as we were overpowered by Saints. Even their backs run with more purpose than most of our forwards. Still we’ve very clearly turned the corner, now we need more quality on the pitch, we’ve got the right man at the helm now, back him.

Re: SL GF | St Helens (Old Trafford) : Sun Sep 25, 2022 8:12 am  

He did I'd agree with that, but those 2 penalties were pretty unnecessary and killed us.

Re: SL GF | St Helens (Old Trafford) : Sun Sep 25, 2022 8:14 am  

batleyrhino wrote:

So St Helens, Wigan, Warrington, Leeds, Catalans, Hull FC should all have to spend less than they could on playing squads so (example) poor old Wakefield can still have a very small outside chance of success?

The money in the NRL is so much bigger it’s impossible to compare to SL. We lose some of our better players over there and they are average in that competition. We have to do things differently.

First 5 years of franchises should be to existing SL teams but take the shackles off them and make them work to grow their income to fund better players young or mature.

I agree with you on franchises and again probably the secret sauce is in how exactly it’s done.

I’m not even sure Leeds want to spend more money on players right now after the stadium development and COVID impact.

One potential benefit of removing the cap is you’d also remove a load of admin which neither the clubs nor the governing body need.

Re: SL GF | St Helens (Old Trafford) : Sun Sep 25, 2022 8:14 am  

mattsrhinos1978 wrote:

Was pretty confident at half time, then that woeful 4 man attempt on Hurrell happened...Cant defend like that in Grand Finals...Only seen it once and was fair cut but from memory Leeming has got to stop that ball getting to ground. Been critical of Bently this season but thought he was brilliant last night, Rohans really turned the lad around.

Other than that, proud of the squad and coaching team, been an unbelievable turnaround, looking forward to the future more than i have for quite a while.

Congratulations to Saints (and the RFL), but seriously, the best team in the comp won the comp, cant take it away from them, quality side.

I mean WTF was Smith doing? Trying to congratulate Hurrell?

Re: SL GF | St Helens (Old Trafford) : Sun Sep 25, 2022 8:16 am  

batleyrhino wrote:

The salary cap has levelled the sport down, restricted wages in a way that possibly is illegal, and has meant we have kept clubs who bring very little to the table at levels of player expenditure that they cannot meet.

The idea was to level out the competition upwards by sharing out the better players, well it hasn’t worked and needs a rethink. Perhaps a better way to stop clubs going bankrupt would be to fix the cap at a % of turnover which should incentivise the clubs to increase turnover. There should of course be other rules around developing players etc. but that seems a better direction to go in.

Oh and 5 year Franchising should be back on the table, it’s the only way we can possibly grow the game.

Absolutely, couldn’t agree more

Re: SL GF | St Helens (Old Trafford) : Sun Sep 25, 2022 8:23 am  

I think some Leeds fans are a little too blinkered in their ideas of this Saints team.

Like someone said, the record books show them winning 4 in a row. They have to be up there with the best teams ever. Along with our team from '07-'09.

But comparing this Saints team now to us back then for me is hard. The whole back room and recruitment from Saints these last few years has been great. Something a lot of SL teams have lacked. Especially us.

The Saints '06 individually back then was for me better, but the whole Saints club on a whole now is far stronger. That pains me to say it. But it's true! Gawwy may have got Smith right, but the last few years has been hard. Recruitment is massive this close season and we need to get shut of some serious dead wood.

The future for Leeds is looking bright. We have some great youngsters coming through and there's a great buzz about again. MOT!

Re: SL GF | St Helens (Old Trafford) : Sun Sep 25, 2022 8:27 am  

An obvious but key thing we need to do is have the player that we have playing somewhere near their potential.Easier said than done but Saints do it every year.