- 1 year ago
On this week’s show, The Yorkshire Post’s rugby league correspondent James O’Brien joins host Phil Harrison to reflect on Hull KR’s League Leaders’ Shield chances after beating biggest rivals Wigan Warriors and whether Leeds Rhinos can somehow join them to make it a Yorkshire one-two at the top of the standings – the two meeting at Headingley in Round 23 on Thursday night.
We assess the impact Jake Connor has had on the Rhinos’ season and his Man of Steel chances as well as the awarding to Wakefield of a 48-0 win after the cancellation of their game against Salford Red Devils at the weekend.
We assess the impact Jake Connor has had on the Rhinos’ season and his Man of Steel chances as well as the awarding to Wakefield of a 48-0 win after the cancellation of their game against Salford Red Devils at the weekend.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Hello, welcome to the latest Rugby League Talk podcast from the Yorkshire Post, joined
00:13as ever by James O'Brien.
00:16It's been a while, I think last time we spoke was probably around about the time that Super
00:20League revealed its controversial, ambitious, puzzling plans perhaps to expand the competition
00:27next year.
00:28A bit more light has been shed on that in the last few days, which we'll perhaps get
00:34on to later if we have time, but we've got a bit of catching up to do, but we'll probably
00:40just concentrate on the last week or so really.
00:45Things actually, I think last time we spoke, we were also talking about, or one of the more
00:49recent times we spoke was about top six teams and who would finish in the top six.
00:54Well, that's all kind of changed around as well, but we'll start off with Hawke, obviously
01:00took a massive step, James, last week towards winning the League Leaders Shield, adding that
01:09to the Challenge Cup they've already won, with a hard fought, very narrow sort of win against
01:15Wigan Warriors, finally getting over the line against a team who seemed to have been their
01:18sort of nemesis in the last couple of years in particular.
01:21But it was a massive, I know the word massive is often used, made by people like myself,
01:27but it was an important and perhaps pivotal result, wasn't it, for Hawke AR's chances
01:33of adding that shield?
01:35Yeah, it definitely was.
01:36And I just, first of all, I want to say that I'm terrible at these things usually, but I
01:40did say when Hawke AR had the little wobble and they lost two in a row and everyone writing
01:45them off and thought Wigan were going to steal top spot, I did back them at that time.
01:49So, I just want to get that out there and remind people of that, because like I say,
01:53it doesn't come around very often and I'll be wrong about pretty much everything else.
01:58But yeah, I did feel at the time that it was just a little wobble.
02:01I think we mentioned at the time that it's not uncommon for sides that finish top or go
02:05on to play in the grand final to lose a couple of games around that stage of the season.
02:11They got those out of the way and they've quickly got back to business.
02:15They haven't conceded many points since then.
02:17I think it's only one in each game, apart from the Salford game, which was a very old
02:21game for strange reasons.
02:23Obviously, since then, they've gone on to forfeit games and stuff.
02:27They've got stuffed by eight points at home.
02:29So, Rovers could have been forgiven for switching off in closer stages of that game, but they
02:33have got back to that steely defence that they had before the defeats to Leeds and in
02:39particular that league game where they shipped a few points.
02:43Massive psychological boost winning at Wigan.
02:44Obviously, Wigan, not at full strength still without Bevan French and other key players.
02:50But OK, I could say the same though without Tyrone May and a couple of others themselves.
02:55But yeah, going into the playoffs and they're unlikely to play to face each other before
03:00Old Trafford.
03:01Although, if Wigan finish outside the top two, they could.
03:04But whenever they do play in the playoffs, if they do play or meet again, yeah, they know
03:10they can beat them now in one of those tens tight games.
03:12And they had a little wobble at the end and they steadied themselves to get over the line.
03:17And that's massive for them.
03:18There's always a different challenge, as Willie Peter's pointed out last week, and we're
03:23always on at home about certain things.
03:25And now it's beating Wigan to win a trophy.
03:28That's the next one.
03:29And can't wait for it.
03:30If it does happen at Old Trafford again, it's going to be a really, really good contest.
03:34Not probably, it'll be very similar to last week.
03:37Very tense and low scoring, but fascinating all the same.
03:41Definitely, definitely.
03:42But obviously, as you sort of alluded to there, if Wigan finish second, that could obviously
03:48change.
03:49There's two or three candidates actually now.
03:52Look, I mean, you know, the whole KR win obviously left them six points clear.
03:56I think there's five games left.
03:58But they haven't got an easy run in, as we've mentioned before on this show.
04:02But obviously, one of the teams who were pushing or chasing Wigan in particular very hard
04:06are Leeds Rhinos, where Hall go on Thursday night.
04:10A win for Leeds Rhinos will take a level with Wigan, increasing the pressure on Wigan.
04:16How realistic is it for Leeds to sort of nail a top two spot?
04:24It's not beyond the realms now, is it?
04:26Like you said, there's two points behind with five games to go that can close that gap.
04:30Well, wipe out that deficit tomorrow, Thursday night, sorry.
04:36Wigan got Hulky.
04:37Sorry.
04:38Wigan have got Wakefield on Sunday, so that's not an easy game for them.
04:41They've still got St.
04:42Ellen's to play as well, as well as Leeds on the final weekend at home at the Brick Community
04:47Stadium.
04:48So it's also helped for a really, because it looked like, well, it's looked like for most
04:52of the season that it'd be Hulky, how Wigan top, just which order they'll finish in.
04:57But now Wigan are really looking over the shoulders and, yeah, it sets up a real fascinating running
05:03because you want that week off, obviously, to gather yourself for the sevens and hopefully
05:09the grand final for whoever makes it.
05:11But now Wigan have got a lot of work to do just to get that far.
05:16And with Leeds and St.
05:17Ellen's breathing down the neck, St.
05:19Ellen's look reinvigorated.
05:21They've found that defensive steel and that physicality that brought them so much success
05:26in previous years.
05:28And Leeds, obviously, they're having a bit of a wobble now, but they're not out of it
05:32either.
05:32So we're going to have got a lot of work to do.
05:34Whereas Hulky are, if they win the next couple of games, they could probably relax a little
05:38bit.
05:39I think they need a maximum, looking at the points difference between them and Wigan,
05:43there's about 210 points.
05:44I don't think Wigan are going to close that gap.
05:47So Rovers need a maximum of two wins from five games.
05:51If they can get them very quickly, it sets up the chance of, I don't know how early they
05:56would get the shield, but I'm sure they'll be pushing to get it for when HulFC visit
05:59at the start of next month.
06:01I think that'd be a great occasion for them.
06:05And HulFC fans might give that a miss if that transpires.
06:10Attendance might be down for that game, in your way.
06:13But against Leeds, obviously, nothing's a given, as we know, but Leeds have had success
06:19against Hulky-R already this season.
06:21And as you mentioned there, Leeds are having a bit of a, quote, wobble, but it was Leeds
06:25who beat them last week and come into the game at Heddenley on Thursday in very good
06:29form, don't they?
06:29They do, and obviously they've backed that up with, well, it was nothing more than a
06:35training exercise, really, against Cass.
06:37Cass were the races all there, winding down to the end of the season.
06:40Now a lot of those players will be leaving.
06:42But Leeds got the job done.
06:43They'll look very good.
06:44One thing that there's been a question mark over their attack this season, the defence
06:48has been much improved night and day compared to the defence under Rowan Smith.
06:53But their ability to score points has been questioned.
06:56And obviously they put 48 on Lee not so long ago in the game before, the one that you just
07:00mentioned, and scored 11 tries last week.
07:03So they're looking in good shape in both areas of the game, attack and defence.
07:08It's just whether they have got what it takes to beat a Leeds or a Wigan in a semi-final
07:15at the end of the year, those sides have got a lot of experience in those games.
07:19Leeds, not so much in recent years.
07:20The last time they reached the playoffs was in 2022 under Rowan Smith, obviously went
07:26all the way to Old Trafford.
07:28But this side actually looks a lot close to the real deal in that Rowan Smith side, which
07:34just rode on the crest of a wave at that time.
07:36But there's a bit more substance to this Brad Arthur side.
07:40And I mentioned the other day that they have not had a playoff game at Headley since 2017,
07:46which is just absolutely nuts when you think about these successes they had prior to them.
07:51They went on to win the eighth Super League title that year.
07:54So to not have a home playoff game in eight years, it's just bonkers.
07:58But they're getting close.
07:59If they finish in the top four, the guaranteed one, albeit in the eliminators, they'd love
08:05a top two finish, which would give them the chance to book an Old Trafford place in front
08:11of the home fans.
08:12And that's got to be the motivation for them going into these last five games.
08:14Definitely.
08:16And of course, another plus for Leeds is one that we won't have covered on the show,
08:19is there are a lot more settled behind the scenes as well with them in relation to Brad
08:24Arthur's future, which is key.
08:27And we'll have settled a lot of players down, wouldn't we, if nobody else, as well as the
08:31fans, obviously.
08:33Yeah, that gives them a massive boost because that, I wouldn't say it was a cloud hanging
08:37over them because the form has been pretty good anyway with that going on in the background.
08:41So it didn't really affect them too much.
08:44If anything, the form's improved.
08:46But it does give them a boost for the running because it gives them that stability that
08:52they've lacked over the years.
08:53They've gone from one coach to the next.
08:55And then Brad Arthur's coming in, he's done a good job.
08:57But you're thinking, is he going to be here next year?
08:59Because he's got that real pull back to Australia and his family.
09:03But now he's at least committed for next year.
09:06We can stop asking him about it until at least the start of next year.
09:09Give him a break from that.
09:10But I think there's a deadline for a decision written in that new contract for June.
09:17So we'll start with the questions and see where he's at around May time, maybe.
09:23But yeah, Leeds are in a good spot.
09:25And if he could say for a few years, you can see them returning to somewhere close to where
09:29they were during that golden generation.
09:32Obviously, they can't be mentioning the same breath at the moment.
09:34But for the first time in a while, they are a team to be feared.
09:38And other sides are looking over their shoulder at Leeds.
09:41I think they've beaten every side in competition this year.
09:44I might be missing someone.
09:45But they're beating Leeds.
09:47Sorry, not Leeds.
09:48OKR, Wigan, Lee, St. Ellen's.
09:52So yeah, I don't have to go through the rest.
09:54But I'm pretty sure they've beaten everyone.
09:56So it's just a case of when they get to the end of the season,
09:59can they hold the nerve and win a semi-final tomorrow away?
10:05Yeah, a lot with Leeds, just last night and then before we sort of move on
10:09to the Southwood-Wakefield situation.
10:12How key, I mean, it was a controversial, it always seems to be a controversial sign
10:16wherever Jake Conner goes.
10:17But it was sort of greeted with a bit of disdain and a bit surprised by a few people
10:23in the close season, was it, when he was signed by Leeds?
10:25But overall, would you say, is it fair to say that he has had the impact
10:31that Leeds hoped for when they signed him?
10:33And he's perhaps silenced a few of those doubters?
10:37Massively.
10:38I thought he was a big gamble myself.
10:39And I think a lot of people said the same thing at the time.
10:43I loaded my hands up and thought it was a bit of a bonkers decision.
10:46But the Man of Steel leaderboard's gone dark now, so we don't know where he's at.
10:54But when it was live, he was at the top when he was leading the way.
10:58And his form's not dipped since then.
10:59So he could be crowned the Man of Steel at the end of the year,
11:01which if you'd have said that at the end, when he signed for Leeds,
11:07he just won't on the cards at all.
11:09But he's had an unbelievable season.
11:11He seems to have matured as well.
11:13He's not as chirpy or getting distracted by little things that would get in his head.
11:20But now he's just fully focused on his game.
11:22And he's got that faith from Brad Arthur to go out there and express himself.
11:27And he's done an unbelievable job for Leeds.
11:30And Lockie Miller at the back is another maligned player
11:33who got a lot of stick in his debut season.
11:35But he's been incredible this year as well with his threat from full-back.
11:40So they've got that defensive steel that I mentioned earlier
11:43and these players as well that can open opposition sides up.
11:48And it makes them, like I said earlier, a team to be feared.
11:51And I don't think many sides will fancy playing Leeds in the playoffs
11:55except maybe St. Helens, who do seem to have the number
11:59except that Magic Weekend game.
12:03Every other game they've got them.
12:05But regarding Conor, I mean, you talk about his maturity
12:09and he seems to have sort of like rid himself of the, I don't know,
12:13the behavioural issues or whatever you want to call it
12:16that sort of let him down at previous clubs.
12:18How much of his that is down to his actual, his coach
12:21and Arthur's style of coaching and man management?
12:25Yeah, he doesn't mess about.
12:27He doesn't stand for any of that nonsense.
12:29So, yeah, he'll have been on at him from the very start.
12:32And he's the kind of coach that he's standing in line for as well.
12:37You respect him because he's very straight-talking.
12:40Even us as the media, we respect him because he's very honest.
12:44And he'll be the same, obviously, with the players.
12:47So, yeah, he's got him into line.
12:49He's got him playing his best rugby, probably best rugby of his career.
12:51So, that's a massive feather in the cap of Brad Arthur.
12:57And if he goes on to win Leeds Rhinos, the Super League title,
13:01then it's just going to be a massive stroke, that signing.
13:05Definitely, definitely.
13:06We'll just finish off by talking about the Southwood Wakefield situation.
13:09You mentioned Wakefield earlier.
13:10They're going to Wigan on Sunday when they could do quite a few teams a favour,
13:15as well as themselves, obviously, in terms of their own play-off hopes,
13:18which have kind of dipped slightly and Hull FC seem to have the initiative back
13:22in that respect for that sixth spot.
13:25But, obviously, we've heard this afternoon that the RFL have confirmed
13:31that Wakefield have been awarded a 48-0 win following the cancellation
13:34of last week's game at Salford.
13:37Salford, obviously, has been a team, a club, an organisation,
13:41that's been just at a nightmare year from start to finish
13:46and it would be, obviously, a massive surprise, as we sort of alluded,
13:50or spoke about a few weeks ago, about the Super League expansion,
13:54if they're part of it next year, unless it's some kind of miraculous buyout
13:58or whatever, but it's highly unlikely.
14:01But, anyway, Wakefield have been awarded the points.
14:04Just on the whole situation, James, the cancellation of the game,
14:09I mean, it seems as if it was done for the right reasons,
14:12player welfare was cited, but the situation as a whole,
14:17and, you know, Wakefield would obviously have preferred to play the game,
14:19but it doesn't benefit anyone, really, does it?
14:22No, it's a really bad look for the competition.
14:24As you mentioned, they can't survive this, can they?
14:28They can't be in the Super League next season.
14:29They can't drag the competition through the mud as they have
14:32and then come out the other side and line up for those photo shoots in February.
14:37It just wouldn't be right.
14:39There's got to be repercussions.
14:41They've got to lose the Super League place
14:43and they've got to come back from the championship
14:45or they might even go lower than that.
14:47Or they might not even exist if they can't get these owners to front up the cash.
14:53So, yeah, just moving on to Wakefield,
14:55I think they've been really hard done by.
14:57Not so much in the award of the 48-0 win.
15:00I do think they have been shortchanged there
15:02because they put 72 points on a stronger Salford team earlier in the season.
15:07And Salford in the previous game conceded 80 points.
15:10I don't think it will come down to points difference
15:12just purely because all I see are on an odd number at the moment.
15:16So, it'll take a draw after 90 minutes after golden point
15:19for them to be level on points.
15:21I can't see that happening.
15:24I mean, no, in Robber League, it probably will somehow happen.
15:27Yeah, I do feel for Wakefield because Salford played once this month.
15:33They beat Leeds.
15:36They had a week off, which was already scheduled.
15:39Every club obviously had a week off over two weekends.
15:42Then they came back.
15:43Daryl Powell said himself that players have been off on holiday.
15:46They struggled to get in the right mindset to face St. Ellens
15:48in the first game back.
15:50They lost to St. Ellens for the third time this year
15:52and they've not been able to put that right.
15:55He would have made changes last week, fielded a few players.
15:59But it would have been...
16:00Again, they're going to another tough game this time against Wigan
16:04without the game under the belt.
16:06So, it's a big ask for them.
16:08And they've got Salford again in the final round.
16:10So, they might be in the same position with a 48-0 win
16:14and no game time going into the first round of the playoffs,
16:19which is just...
16:22Yeah, they've got a rough deal.
16:23It looked great on paper having Salford twice in the final six rounds.
16:27But it seems to have flipped the other way a little bit.
16:29But, yeah, it's a fascinating battle for that last playoff spot.
16:35I've said Wakefield all along,
16:36but now, given the stop-start nature of these final few weeks,
16:42it's a disadvantage for them, I think.
16:45I'm still backing them, but...
16:47Yeah.
16:47All FC, they're going to beat Leeds.
16:49Tough night.
16:50Yeah.
16:51They've got a tough night on Friday, haven't they,
16:53against St. Helens, All FC.
16:55They have, yeah.
16:56And as I've touched on earlier,
16:58they've got a whole KR as well, don't they?
17:00They've got Leeds as well next week.
17:02So, they've got a tough run in.
17:04Wakefield have still got a whole KR on Wigan.
17:06So, there are a lot of games between sides in that top six,
17:11and that's why it's going to be so fascinating going into the playoff,
17:13because it's almost the playoff before the playoffs.
17:17And I hope Garby have a big grin on their face
17:19to probably rest a few players,
17:22provided they get the job done in the next couple of weeks,
17:25whereas the rest will just have to keep going to the end
17:27to secure the place in the top six.
17:29And then, yeah, set up a home playoff tie in some cases
17:35and get ready for the knockout stages,
17:38which are going to be great this year.
17:40I think there's...
17:42Wigan having a dip has brought the competition closer together
17:45in the top half.
17:47So, it's anyone's, really.
17:50It's adding an incentive for those teams immediately below Wigan
17:53that perhaps a few weeks ago,
17:54they didn't think would be there, hasn't it?
17:56Yeah, exactly.
17:57But if you can get that home semi-final
17:59with a direct route to Old Trafford
18:01and a week off before that,
18:02it could make all the difference.
18:04Whereas a few weeks ago,
18:06I couldn't see anyone going to OKR and Wigan and winning.
18:09Leeds have done that recently.
18:11They went to OKR and won.
18:13They got a Wigan in the final round,
18:15which could secure a top two place
18:17that could play Wigan at home
18:19and a couple of weeks later.
18:20That's why there's so many permutations
18:22and so much to look forward to.
18:23It's just such a shame
18:24that Salford have dampened that enthusiasm
18:28and that's going to linger over Super League, isn't it,
18:31for the next five weeks,
18:32whether they can fulfil the fixtures
18:34and get to the end of the season
18:36and what implications,
18:37any cancellations will have
18:38for the teams who are chasing that top six.
18:41Just lastly, on Salford, just a quick word.
18:43I mean, could it have been handled any better,
18:46the situation that sort of arose
18:49in the early part of this year?
18:50I mean, are the Super League or RFL,
18:54are they not at fault, obviously?
18:56I mean, that probably obviously
18:58lies with the owners, et cetera.
19:01But I mean, could it have been handled
19:02any better, any differently?
19:04I mean, it's always been easy being wise
19:06after the event, I know, but, you know.
19:08Well, I think I mentioned previously
19:10that these new owners
19:12who have been there since
19:14over six months now, I think,
19:18and we haven't seen any of the money yet,
19:20they're in the process
19:22of trying to get a bridging loan.
19:23So it's just, I heard from the start
19:26that they're only interested
19:26in the ground and surrounding land.
19:28And once that, the council
19:31put the skids under that,
19:32they haven't been interested
19:33in the playing squad, have they?
19:34They've not invested any money
19:35in the playing squad.
19:36It's been stripped bare.
19:38And going back to your original question,
19:40I think the RFL,
19:41it's going to be hard for people
19:42at the top there to survive this
19:44because they've approved these owners.
19:47They've done the due diligence on them.
19:49I don't think it was extensive, clearly,
19:50because they haven't got the funds.
19:52They haven't provided those funds
19:54in full, at least.
19:57And now we're seeing, like I say,
19:59the reputation of the competition
20:00has been dragged through the mud.
20:01And, yeah, if I'm someone like Tony Sutton
20:06or people eye-opened the RFL,
20:08I'm getting a bit twitchy
20:09because it's, yeah,
20:12it's been a terrible look.
20:13The optics are absolutely terrible.
20:15And like I say,
20:15these owners from the start,
20:18all the talk was
20:18that they're not in it
20:20for the right reasons.
20:21And maybe the RFL should have
20:22pushed harder.
20:24And I know they were worrying
20:26about the broadcast deal
20:27and things like that.
20:28And right from the very start
20:30of the competition,
20:30so they felt like these owners
20:31were the only option
20:32to get Salford
20:33into the season
20:35and playing all their games.
20:36But clearly,
20:38they've backed the wrong horse.
20:39And, yeah,
20:41there'll be serious repercussions
20:42at the end of the year.
20:43YorkshirePost.co.uk
20:45YorkshirePost.co.uk
20:47You
Comments