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ESL Superthread

Didgi

Moderator
Messages
17,260
Wtf is up with Huddersfield? Brown signs elsewhere an they've gone to a rabble since, might be better off without him for the rest of the year.
 

LeedsStorm

Juniors
Messages
715
Hudddersfield must be a frustrating team to follow. Playing in the birthplace of rugby league, they show so much promise and then fall off the pace. Can't imagine Wigan would have dreamed to have had such a good weekend. All major rivals dropping points and putting on arguably their best performance in recent years. Prefer to be playing like that in September/October of course ;-)
 

Patorick

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
8,994
Any news/ideas on who the Wigan halfback will be next year (presuming Finch goes, and Rhodri Lloyd can cut it at 5/8)?

(Besides Soward).
 

JasonE

Bench
Messages
3,107
Any news/ideas on who the Wigan halfback will be next year (presuming Finch goes, and Rhodri Lloyd can cut it at 5/8)?

(Besides Soward).

Matty Smith will be the Wigan halfback next season mate.

I would love to see a SL club try and tempt Kyle Eastmond back to RL too.
 
Messages
3,329
Tomkins is the player the ESL must throw everything at to make sure he stays in the game forever. He is the Andrew Johns type generational player of the ESL. Absolutely dominant footballer and single handedly determines a matches outcome. No doubt he will play NRL one day.
 

geordiesaint

Juniors
Messages
54
Rhodri Lloyd can cut it at 5/8?

Probably not as he is second row! Saw him at Caerphilly a in Nov 10 against the Aussie schoolboys. He had a great game.

Johnny_L_O, I watched the game with a couple of non-league fans last night. They really enjoyed it! I guess as fans we get spoilt too often and can see when two sides play poorly; their defences were non-existent!
 

Johnny_L_O

Juniors
Messages
833
Johnny_L_O, I watched the game with a couple of non-league fans last night. They really enjoyed it! I guess as fans we get spoilt too often and can see when two sides play poorly; their defences were non-existent!

I actually said to a couple of guys in the ground that the new viewers on Sky who hadnt seen much RL before were probably loving it, but yeah, give me an intense 10-8 victory with massive hits and brilliant defensive reads any day over the stuff I saw at Odsal on Monday.
 

geordiesaint

Juniors
Messages
54
I actually said to a couple of guys in the ground that the new viewers on Sky who hadnt seen much RL before were probably loving it, but yeah, give me an intense 10-8 victory with massive hits and brilliant defensive reads any day over the stuff I saw at Odsal on Monday.

I agree. SL sides really need to improve their defences. If they do, it will also improve the attacking players within the competition, as they'll have to learn how to break down an organised and structured defence. This is one of the key reasons why our national side struggle against the Aussies. Only Wigan currently play like this in SL.
 

JasonE

Bench
Messages
3,107
Leeds were awful against Warrington but i thought Stevie Ward looked good when he came on and only him and Rob Burrow offered any positives.
Gaz O'Brien gets better and better at halfback so it will be interesting to see what happens when Rich Myler returns.

Gutted about the long term injury to Gil Dudson, that also means Wales have now lost their impressive front row of Dudson, Lloyd White and Craig Kopczac for the French test.
 

JasonE

Bench
Messages
3,107
With the injuries and the poor form of Bradford and Leeds, it looks like John Bateman & Stevie Ward won't be on the Academy tour of Australia, big shame imo i think it would be great for them to tour for their on and off field development.
 

IowaRL

Juniors
Messages
419
Was a bad week to tune into the Leeds game, we had a pub here in the US showing the game. The group I was with didn't know much about league, so at least they found it interesting. 2other tables seemed interested too. What was with the warrington strip?
 

geordiesaint

Juniors
Messages
54
#397 The Warrington kit was a charity version for the MS disease. Warrington do it every year. Hull have just released a kit for Help for Heroes and Saints have done the same for the Army Benevolent Fund.

#393 The Catalan vs Wigan game took place in Montpeillier. Good crowd but a poor result sadly... Wigan are looking very good at the moment.

#394 First time I've seen Stevie Ward play. He looked really good and stood up well against a very physical Warrington pack. Sadly he was let down by the rest of the Leeds side, bar Burrow of course. There are some excellent young players coming through in the UK at the moment. Sadly, I am not sure the competition is strong enough to develop them into truly excellent international players.
 

WireMan

Bench
Messages
4,479
Leeds were awful against Warrington but i thought Stevie Ward looked good when he came on and only him and Rob Burrow offered any positives.
Gaz O'Brien gets better and better at halfback so it will be interesting to see what happens when Rich Myler returns.

Gutted about the long term injury to Gil Dudson, that also means Wales have now lost their impressive front row of Dudson, Lloyd White and Craig Kopczac for the French test.


yeah Leeds were pretty bad, only Burrow had any spark or anything for them. Didn't notice much of Ward but i it was hard to see through the rain!

It will be interesting what happens when Myler returns. O'Brien has played a lot so may be due a rest and personally i think the left attack works better with Myler there and not O'Brien. OB will be Briers replacement and Ratchford is going to be an awesome fullback so thats a good young English creative heart we will have there. Which is nice.

Talk in the pub was Bateman has already signed for Wire, but don't know if thats true or pub talk. Unless Waterhouse goes into the prop position i don't know where he is going to play. I'm not even sure he is any good, because everytime i see him, he has not stood out in an average bulls team. Still we'll see on that one.
 

LeedsStorm

Juniors
Messages
715
Actually not too worried about the Leeds performance. Element of fortune for a couple of those runaway wire tries and its hard to defend when Briers has a kicking game like that. Superb in those conditions. Leeds run-in looks favourable and any turn of events that gets burrow back at 7 imo is a good thing. Expect us to be in the mix come September. I'd be more concerned if I was a huddersfield fan. Wonder if Brown's departure is having an effect there
 

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