Leeds the game : Fri Feb 12, 2021 9:25 am  

Mods, started a new thread as I think the old one has gone (rightly) in another direction. So this one is about the actual match.

For Trinity. We have one mission, to win. Two years ago CC team reached a point where we looked like we had finally arrived. So much so TJ felt the need to point it out to the brain dead SKY man. Then the wheels fell off, 95% injuries but all the same we have not yet shown a genuine recovery. We need to send a message out and show we are back if the players aren't up for that it's going to be a long hard season.

For Leeds. I can't make Leeds or Agar out, to be honest. Clearly not the Leeds of ten years ago or even five. Yet they won the CCup last year whilst we still look a million miles away from that. Agar had one good year with us then went backwards in a big way, yet to my surprise, he hasn't done a bad job at Leeds with by there standards a small budget.

Yet when I look at Leeds I just don't see the quality I once did and I think many Leeds fans feel the same. Assuming Gayle doesn't recover in time and knowing our luck he will I don't see much game craft. Ditto there new signings, all quality but are they enough? We shall see.

Should hopefully be a good game because we certainly have no excuses. Fully fit for the first time in two years with as good a close season as anyone else and Leeds not really having much in the way of a 'home' advantage.

Re: Leeds the game : Fri Feb 12, 2021 7:14 pm  

The whole Leeds ethos annoys and frustrates me. No matter what barriers or downfalls come their way they come out of it smelling of roses. It came to a head when Agar got the coaching job. I thought that this must put an end to their seemly endless good fortune, but no, they go and win the cc. I thought the same when their team of all stars broke up two or three seasons ago. I b****y well hate them!!!!

Re: Leeds the game : Sat Feb 13, 2021 10:00 am  

Redscat wrote:

The whole Leeds ethos annoys and frustrates me. No matter what barriers or downfalls come their way they come out of it smelling of roses. It came to a head when Agar got the coaching job. I thought that this must put an end to their seemly endless good fortune, but no, they go and win the cc. I thought the same when their team of all stars broke up two or three seasons ago. I b****y well hate them!!!!

On the plus side, we aren't alone - everyone hates Dirty Leeds.

Re: Leeds the game : Sat Feb 13, 2021 10:25 am  

Redscat wrote:

The whole Leeds ethos annoys and frustrates me. No matter what barriers or downfalls come their way they come out of it smelling of roses. It came to a head when Agar got the coaching job. I thought that this must put an end to their seemly endless good fortune, but no, they go and win the cc. I thought the same when their team of all stars broke up two or three seasons ago. I b****y well hate them!!!!

Don’t hold back.

I don’t hate Leeds never have other than on match days.

Certainly since Heatherington took over no club has treated us more fairly than Leeds.

Leeds have always given us the chance to loan players. They have never stood in the way of us signing fringe players from them. They are the least intrusive of our neibours in pinching and hoarding our local talent. Cas are the worst now but Bradford used to be diabolical.

Most importantly they have always been fair when they are interested in our players. They paid top dollar for Ellis and that deal is still laying a golden egg every Boxing Day.

Some of the best player deals that have ever come our way have been from Leeds, a few of which it could be said to have saved us at the time. Wigan have been plundering our talent pool for as long as I can remember and have rarely given much back, Mike Forshaw was perhaps as good as it got.

On the many occasions we have been on the edge I know of no incident in which Leeds exploited us or sided against us.

One club stands out in the game as being the most dishonourable imho and it isn’t Leeds or even Cas.

It’s Wigan, who to me are without doubt the most nefarious and ruthless club in the sport and always has. Every dodgy stereotype regarding the mercenary nature of RL can be summed up by that club.

Whether it be the dust bowl harvesting of swathes of RL talent in almost every other clubs backyard. Or their relentless refusal to play by the rules, on and of the pitch. Or there unwillingness to pay other clubs, especially smaller ones, what they are due. Wigan not Leeds are the true locusts of the game imo.

Historically both have been the two richest most powerful clubs in the game. However to me Leeds have always seemed willing to share their toys, sometimes at great expense to themselves. Wigan are the playground bully who only ever takes and is certainly never willing to share the joy.

Having said all that I’m not all that bothered about Wigan either, they are what that are and nobody can deny they know how to win and to win well. They can only bully us for the most part because we let them. All I’m saying is that if you want a RL bogey man I’d go Wigan and a few others above Leeds every time.

Some may disagree.

Re: Leeds the game : Sat Feb 13, 2021 10:47 am  

vastman wrote:

Don’t hold back.

I don’t hate Leeds never have other than on match days.

Certainly since Heatherington took over no club has treated us more fairly than Leeds.

Leeds have always given us the chance to loan players. They have never stood in the way of us signing fringe players from them. They are the least intrusive of our neibours in pinching and hoarding our local talent. Cas are the worst now but Bradford used to be diabolical.

Most importantly they have always been fair when they are interested in our players. They paid top dollar for Ellis and that deal is still laying a golden egg every Boxing Day.

Some of the best player deals that have ever come our way have been from Leeds, a few of which it could be said to have saved us at the time. Wigan have been plundering our talent pool for as long as I can remember and have rarely given much back, Mike Forshaw was perhaps as good as it got.

On the many occasions we have been on the edge I know of no incident in which Leeds exploited us or sided against us.

One club stands out in the game as being the most dishonourable imho and it isn’t Leeds or even Cas.

It’s Wigan, who to me are without doubt the most nefarious and ruthless club in the sport and always has. Every dodgy stereotype regarding the mercenary nature of RL can be summed up by that club.

Whether it be the dust bowl harvesting of swathes of RL talent in almost every other clubs backyard. Or their relentless refusal to play by the rules, on and of the pitch. Or there unwillingness to pay other clubs, especially smaller ones, what they are due. Wigan not Leeds are the true locusts of the game imo.

Historically both have been the two richest most powerful clubs in the game. However to me Leeds have always seemed willing to share their toys, sometimes at great expense to themselves. Wigan are the playground bully who only ever takes and is certainly never willing to share the joy.

Having said all that I’m not all that bothered about Wigan either, they are what that are and nobody can deny they know how to win and to win well. They can only bully us for the most part because we let them. All I’m saying is that if you want a RL bogey man I’d go Wigan and a few others above Leeds every time.

Some may disagree.

Valid points from your point of view, vasty. I bet if there was any suggestion to reduce the SL to ten clubs, I would imagine their charity wouldn't be as obvious then.

My memories go back somewhat further than yours.

Re: Leeds the game : Sat Feb 13, 2021 11:18 am  

Redscat wrote:

Valid points from your point of view, vasty. I bet if there was any suggestion to reduce the SL to ten clubs, I would imagine their charity wouldn't be as obvious then.

My memories go back somewhat further than yours.

That’s true but there has to come a cut off point where the past is the past.

For me it’s generational. Whatever the previous generation of those running Leeds did this lot have been fine. Where as at Wigan they just seem to carry on the same.

I will concede that Leeds remain incredibly spawny, pact with the devil perhaps?

Re: Leeds the game : Sat Feb 13, 2021 11:49 am  

It is a long held tradition to hate Leeds but as Vastman says they have given us some cracking loan guys during Super League and lay us the Boxing Day golden egg. Similar with Cas, even though they recently tried to seduce Fifita, Tupou and Tanganoa.

I would put Shudds at the top of the list for clubs who have screwed us during this period.

Re: Leeds the game : Sat Feb 13, 2021 12:26 pm  

Wollo-Wollo-Wollo-Wayoo wrote:

It is a long held tradition to hate Leeds but as Vastman says they have given us some cracking loan guys during Super League and lay us the Boxing Day golden egg. Similar with Cas, even though they recently tried to seduce Fifita, Tupou and Tanganoa.

I would put Shudds at the top of the list for clubs who have screwed us during this period.

I thought about them but they are more tragic. A decent enough old guy trying and failing to but success. He won’t be the first or the last. Wigan it’s more in the DNA of the club.

Got to agree though that from there first go at SL to 2016 they were like a parasite we couldn’t shake. Even though the Richardson and Glover collapses were our own fault and the players had to go somewhere the eagerness with which Hudds fed on our corpse was distasteful,

Where as Leeds or most other clubs might have helped us out with some loans or fringe players Hudds just seemed to put the boot in.

When the old man goes then we will see how Hudds will fair and I suspect it won’t be well.

Re: Leeds the game : Sat Feb 13, 2021 1:50 pm  

Agree re Shudds....Whilst Davey is obviously the money-man, Thewlis is the one that pulls the strings there and for every positive comment I've heard about Davey, I've heard a negative one about Thewlis, even from a Shudds fan I know.

Re: Leeds the game : Sat Feb 13, 2021 2:04 pm  

Savour every victory over Leeds, their fans look down their noses at us. Boils down to that level for me really. Can never understand people supporting them in cup finals etc because they ‘want the Yorkshire side to win’.

Though I’ll admit enjoying their 2017 grand final win