- 3 months ago
Episode five of The Serious About Rugby League Show one is a fiery one as Will Jackson, Sam Cook, Sam Brockson and Peter Smith debate Jon Bennison's try for St Helens against Leeds Rhinos and whether it should have counted. The gang also discuss what the win could mean for Paul Wellens, Leigh Leopards' win over Wakefield Trinity, Grand Finals in the Championship and Women's Super League and Victor Radley's decision to pull out of England contention. Play-off semi-final predictions are also made.
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00:00hello and welcome to this series about rugby league show however you're watching this can
00:11i just ask you to like this video and subscribe to the channel it really really helps us out
00:16and i'm will jackson i'm joined by sam broxon sam cook and pete smith of the yorkshire evening post
00:25first so then before we get into it some some admin lee leopards and saint helens have booked
00:30their spots in the semi-final lee beat wakefield saint helens beat leeds and that sets up semi-finals
00:39of um levis versus wigan on friday night and hulk are hosting saint helens on saturday
00:48pete do you want to tell us about about about leeds rhino saint helens on on saturday night
00:56i thought you said we weren't going to mention that will
00:58um well i'm going to be magnanimous um incredible win for saint helens obviously um i read some
01:12social media stuff before the game from saints fans saying that they hoped they'd lose because
01:18they thought it'd mean the end for paul wellens which is just a ridiculous attitude um i don't
01:24know if they meant it but um i'm pleased for paul wellens you could see his delight after the game
01:30he was on the pitch with the players running about celebrating he's a good bloke um and i think he's
01:37done a decent job he's got saints into the playoffs and he's got them to um to within one win of the
01:44grand final which is a decent effort and um obviously better than um better than eight other teams in
01:51super league have um i think the ending was something that i've never really experienced before i can think
01:59of two or three games in in over you know 50 years of watching rugby league that um that come close
02:07to that one i think it's fantastic for the sport uh looking at social media again over the weekend
02:14there are the the clip of the last um second try well it wasn't even the last second try was it it was
02:20it was after the the last second the hoot had already sounded so so um there was one tackle left in
02:28the game and saints kept the ball alive and um i've seen that clip on a lot of sites that don't
02:34bother with rugby league including some rugby union sites just saying look at this this is absolutely
02:39incredible so it's great for them it's great for the sport unfortunately for leeds it's going to
02:44haunt them for years and years because that clip's just going to be shown over and over again a bit
02:49like the um the wide to west one um haunted bradford for for a lot of years it was very similar to
02:56that um i think we're calling it left to right um and just you couldn't in terms of um the profile of
03:04the sport you couldn't ask for anything more um more exciting whether it should have come to that
03:09is another matter um leads with a better team throughout the um throughout the 80 minutes
03:19and they should have finished it off it's um it's down to them they should should have made the final
03:25tackle they were one tackle away from winning there were eight points up with five minutes to go and
03:30you should win in that situation they had enough opportunities to um to win the game and they didn't
03:38take them and that's something that they're going to have to dwell on for a for a long long time it
03:44one thing about sport we always say well there's always next week but there isn't when you're losing
03:48in the playoffs um because that's it your season's over you're going to stew on your last defeat for
03:55um till the next season starts which is in best part five months time um from leeds's point of view
04:00they'll obviously use it as um as motivation in the uh the off-season and pre-season um they say
04:08what doesn't kill you makes you stronger leeds will be hoping that's the case i think overall leeds
04:13have had a really positive season they've had a couple of excellent um outstanding individuals
04:20most notably jake connor who i thought was good again at the weekend he's um he's on the man of
04:27steel shortlist whether that defeat will cost him the man of steel award i'm i'm not sure
04:31um but brad arthur's transformed leeds just getting into the top four it's the first time they've done
04:38that for since 2017 they haven't been in the playoffs for the last two years um they've been in every game
04:46that's the best defensive record they've ever had in in the super league era they only conceded i think
04:53it was just over um 300 points about 310 points in 27 regular rounds which is really impressive
05:00um they were in every game that's something brad arthur talks about he wants his team to be in the
05:05game with 10 minutes to go and you could say maybe wigan in the last round they weren't but other than
05:11that they were in every game they've been fiercely competitive they've had some great wins they've won
05:16at whole kr um they've beaten whole kr twice in fact they've beaten all the teams around them on the
05:24table they just can't beat st helens leads this record against st helens which i think is now
05:29two wins in 23 i think it is i mean that must be unprecedented in any sport between two top top teams
05:37um just couldn't do it on this occasion and obviously it cost them but i think once the dust
05:43settles they'll be able to um to look back on a pretty positive season but um but overall
05:51that defeat the other day is going to take a long time to get over yeah just on on the try if i mean
05:59if you haven't seen it you must have been living under a rock for the past 48 hours but um look
06:05was it an accidental offside the penalty that's given away with 10 seconds ago st helens kick it out
06:11into touch the hooter goes leeds fans are celebrating st helens then put on a move that includes 16 passes
06:18including uh what i think seven missed tackles on harry robertson uh and a pretty wild out of the
06:27back pass from from tristan sailor but that pass sort of opens it up for st helens to finish in the
06:32corner through shane right look is that one of the best moments you've ever seen in rugby league
06:39well pair of you both sams for me yeah i think so i was watching harry robertson thinking what are
06:49you doing i thought i was sure that someone was going to wrap him up like i was like i couldn't
06:54but i just to be honest i thought it was like youthful naivety at the point i thought what is
07:00he doing he he's either forgot the situation or he's just overconfident and he just made me look
07:06like an idiot he proved me wrong he was i mean yeah there's some suspect tackling but i think
07:10leads in that you can kind of defend lead because they're so desperate they're not necessarily
07:14they're they're already fatigued this play has been going on for 20 seconds and they're having to
07:20scramble so then making like the sort of wild swings it's it's understandable and the fact he
07:25manages to get it out and then obviously sailor does probably his best thing that he's done in a
07:30saint helens shirt and then from that point it looks inevitable i thought shane right my um my
07:36bummer i think harry harry newman had a bit of a swing near his head but um but no i think for like
07:43drama there's just nothing that beats playoff rugby league and it's it's horrible if you're a
07:50leeds fan it's brilliant if you're a saints fan if you're neutral then you're loving it as well i
07:53think um i can't i can't think of a moment i mean obviously the challenge cup was won a bit
07:59dramatically this year but it just doesn't even compare that was 77th minute and it just it's
08:05like chalk and cheese really but um yeah i just wonder what harry robertson was doing but
08:11he justified it so fair play to him um yeah i mean that pass from tristan sailor um is just out of
08:20this world isn't it that you know out the back 10 meters to get it away and keep the move going and
08:26then obviously gets to low max and saints have got a four on one basically i think that's the best
08:33thing i said i said at the time in the group chat i think that's the best thing tristan sailor's done
08:37all season and i don't think any other player could have really made that pass either um look
08:42a couple of bits of controversy in that game the john bennison try pete i know your opinion on this
08:49so i'm going to start with you but i mean so second second st ellen's try six minutes to go i think it
08:56is um john bennison reaches out and the ball touches or appears i personally thought it just touched the
09:03line jack smith takes a look at it i mean he's about a meter away he's got the best view in the
09:08house and still sends it upstairs which i find i find pretty baffling but but pete what what's your
09:13view on it
09:13it
09:17it wasn't a try will it was it was it was short um
09:25there are angles which suggest that the ball is on the line and there are angles which suggest the
09:32ball wasn't on the line um the referee as i understand it the video referee has to be sure
09:39that um that the referee has made a mistake um he has to have clear evidence for that and the fact
09:46that there were two angles showing different things proves as far as i'm concerned that there
09:52was doubt he couldn't be sure he couldn't be a hundred percent sure that the ball was grounded
09:59on the line therefore he should have ruled it out simple as simple as that um this particular
10:05video referee has been involved in a new number of controversial incidents um this season you could
10:14refer back to um to leads against lee when brodie croft had a try ruled out very dubiously in the opening
10:24moments um i think he got it wrong on this occasion and it it cost leads but leads were still in front
10:34at um at the time and they should still have seen seen the game out yeah i mean full transparency
10:40i was i wasn't at the game i was watching at home and i wasn't working i was just watching as a as a fan
10:44really kind of rugby league watching it at the time i didn't think it was that controversial because
10:50i think the first angle chris kendall saw had him touching the ball down on the line and i think
10:57if you've got an angle that shows a try then that's the one that really matters
11:03well yeah but there are other angles that show it wasn't a try that's the
11:07but chris kendall didn't use them he only i don't know if he had them at his disposal but there was only
11:13two there was only two angles that he watched if chris kendall didn't use them then that's on chris kendall
11:20isn't it as i say i don't we don't know whether he had them available to him do we but we've we've
11:25seen the angles on tv since haven't we they the video referee say i've seen every available angle
11:34usually i don't know if he said that on this this occasion um if he didn't use every available angle
11:40that's a mistake by somebody i don't know who by um the video referee has a job to do he does it
11:47honestly in my opinion in this case he made a mistake but it's over and done with it's it's
11:53as they say it's in the papers um the try was given there's absolutely nothing we can do about it
12:00now um forget about it move on yeah jack smith sent it up as double movement as well
12:07sam c sam b have you got any any issues with the double movement decision part part of the decision
12:14there i'm not sure i don't think it was no try i i messaged sam straight away and was like there's
12:22no way this is given and i and then you kind of look i think the more you look at the more you start
12:28to doubt and wonder and i think but you you're writing that chris kendall didn't seem to
12:33to given given how long some video referee decisions have taken which you know we've had
12:40over five minutes on occasion it didn't seem to take that long and that's probably where you're
12:48wondering has it has he looked at every single angle and obviously it's micro it's um like just
12:54it's intensified because of the the situation and like the fact it's the playoffs and what what that
13:01try means and then obviously what it means when they score the winner but i think i think it's
13:07it's one way if you if you polled 100 people you're probably going to get 50 different answers
13:11either side and i think like pete says it's in the books now and it's it's how how leeds use
13:17that as motivation for next season really
13:22yeah yeah i'd agree we all we all know what the problem is the problem is this referees on field call
13:29malarkey and technology as well technology not being good enough so many camera i mean
13:34not necessarily on this situation but so many camera angles across the season have been blurred
13:38which just isn't and i understand there's a lot of money that has to go into that which
13:41the sport doesn't have but it's not it's not a perfect process you're not going to get perfect results
13:49but jack smith was right on the spot he didn't think it was a trial or he would have sent it up as
13:53a try he said no try um i personally don't think jack smith has got an excuse for sending it up
14:00given how close i mean look if you watch it back he is literally a meter away bent at the hips
14:06scrutinizing and he still doesn't believe his own eyes i don't i don't understand why he sent that
14:11up as a sent that to chris kendall at all but when he sends it up as no try it changes the picture
14:17doesn't it because then then supposedly the video referee has to has to be absolutely clear that
14:23there's been a mistake made and with some see has just said you know if you asked 100 people 50
14:31people have a different opinion there was doubt this we wouldn't be having this debate if um
14:37um if it had been a straightforward i don't know if that's a try or not chris you have a look and
14:46you decide but because we've got this daft rule whether the referee has to make a guess effectively
14:54then we get this sort of controversy if i just don't understand why they expect the referee to make
15:01a decision and then check check with the video referee either the referee knows in which case give the
15:07try or don't give the try or he doesn't know in which case why should they give an opinion before
15:12he hands it on it's just an absolute nonsense and it creates well i mean we all like controversy don't
15:19we we've been talking about for 15 minutes um but it creates unnecessary um hoo-ha and that if if jack
15:31smith had made a decision one way or the other or hadn't made a decision at all i don't think we'd be
15:35talking about this um everyone would just move on but because he said one thing and the referee said
15:45the other then um then we've we've got this debate it wasn't the first time in the game was it that the
15:52that the um referee video referee over who overruled sorry the referee um there were two captain's
16:00challenges by saints earlier in the game both of which um the video referee upheld um
16:10just one of those things yeah i completely agree with you about the the on-field decision i don't
16:15think we should be getting referees to to effectively get against yeah and what like what does that what
16:23does it prove really sam c i know well when we spoke about this as well i know you thought a point
16:29of contention was the curtis syrennan incident on on mcdonald as well yeah for me that that was a
16:37seven so um i don't i don't i'm not even sure if it was given as a penalty i think it might have been
16:44play on um which didn't it was a penalty sammy it was a penalty yeah but um i thought to me at that
16:54point it seemed like and we'd had it the night before can we get through a game without giving
17:00any penalties away can can we get it to run as smooth as possible and there's definitely i mean
17:06there definitely is a an aspect of playoff rugby is officiated differently and that it is allowed to
17:12flow the things that are on the line are kind of maybe let us allowed to slide and sometimes that
17:17creates great moments but i think also sometimes you do have to just say well that is actually
17:23beyond the line it's not on the line and that that for me i think he's i think he's hit out there um
17:30i don't really know i think james mcdonald's maybe got something to start it but i really don't think
17:35there's that much in it from mcdonald and i think syrennan's reacting in a way that he shouldn't do
17:40and to be to be honest i thought syrennan had been since his best player to that point as well
17:45and i thought at that point i thought we cost them there but they didn't it wasn't given um
17:49and for me it probably should have been but again and obviously then at that point if leeds
17:54is on our sense down to 12 then it makes a big difference but for me also leeds were finding a
18:00way to chase a game that they were winning that that's how it seemed to play out i think pete
18:04mentioned a couple of weeks ago about when they're against catalans and the way they chased that game it
18:09just wasn't they actually they actively chased it rather than trusting the process this game they
18:14were leading and they seemed to try and just be forcing things they weren't again trusting the
18:18process that's got them there even after the legit connor 20-40 attack even after the fact that john
18:24bennison scores i think connor has that attempted 40-20 or maybe it's a clearing kick it looks like a 40-20
18:30and it's not even it's not really that close it goes over the sideline by quite a way and i think they're just
18:35i don't want to say shortcuts because i don't think the brad arthur team takes shortcuts but they
18:40looked they just didn't rely on what has got them there they were trying to like i said win a game
18:47that they were effective they were already winning i don't think they needed to do stuff they needed
18:50just to kind of play simple rugby and they would have seen that game out so i think all of the
18:56controversy aside you can look at how leeds played but well there's there's questions there for me
19:01anywhere i don't know what yeah he's probably best place to give his opinion on it
19:09yeah i mean you i think i i think you're you're right to a large a large extent um but
19:20you know it's it's a playoff game isn't it these they're they're not robots that there was a a lot
19:27at stake um a really passionate atmosphere and i think both sides got got caught up in in that a
19:33little bit i think the key thing is saints know how to to stop leeds playing they've done that um
19:39that was the fifth meeting between the sides this year and and saints have won four of them um they
19:45just they've got the upper hand over leeds i don't think leeds played that well um but i don't think
19:52they played poorly i wouldn't have said they played poorly they missed some chances didn't
19:56they harry newman had one in the the second half where if he if he'd scored or passed it to to i
20:03think it was ryan hall um then they would probably have won if leeds had got another try they would
20:10probably have won but terrific defense from from saints to to keep them out there's two sides to it
20:15isn't the saints saints really battled hard and managed to win a game which effectively
20:20they they weren't ever in front were they in the 80 minutes um they never looked like they were
20:27going to win it and somehow they they found a way to win it i think leeds have obviously got
20:33got a lot of things like sam says to to work on in in pre-season but this they're still um
20:40a developing team i think leeds i think they've made great strides and i think with another pre-season
20:45under brad arthur they'll they'll iron out some of these things like last pre-season remember that
20:53the the pivots didn't really train in the positions that they ended up playing because
20:58the the number one number seven was um was matt froley and of course when when the season started
21:05that that all changed i think with a season a pre-season of of croft and connor working together
21:12i think um i think they'll be better i think the game management will be better i think they'll be
21:19they'll be calmer they'll learn from the experience you would you would hope i i wouldn't be too
21:24critical of of leeds performance overall but i do think what what sam says is is right where i think
21:31it's understandable yeah sam b look this is going to stick in the teeth for a long time but how how do
21:38the leads shrug this one off and come back with a fresh fresh mindset for next season well it's going
21:46to take a while isn't it um i mean brad arford alluded to it to it in his press conference they
21:52were they were just shattered um and you would be if you'd lose in that in them circumstances but
21:59they've got to take positives of the fact of the season they've had um you look at the start of the
22:03year compared to now it's the improvements have been massive um you know jake connor's turned into
22:10this you know elite level halfback um he's got brodie croft playing his best stuff lockie miller's
22:17been one of the best fullbacks they've got a team there that can win trophies um and they need to
22:23take positives in the fact that they do have that and it will be hard to take but they've got confidence
22:29they should have confidence that um they you know can overturn this defeat yeah just one more on
22:37this game there sorry i think it reflects where they are i don't think they're quite a title winning
22:42side yet this time next year maybe they will be well we'll see won't we but but you know over the
22:49over over the season as a whole certainly um okay are we gonna leave just been that a little bit
22:57better than leads over the whole course of the season leads have beaten all those teams in one-off games
23:04um but then they're not quite there yet as a championship winning team i i think the potential
23:11to be a championship winning team they probably need a couple of additions um but with another
23:17pre-season under half that another everyone another year older and wiser i think they'll be a force next
23:23year just to make your said that i want to pull that thread a bit where do you think they need to
23:27improve then where do you think these additions need to come well that i think that they need
23:34they need to replace samlisone obviously who is who is leaving that whether they'll bring in in someone
23:43to play a similar role i'm not sure because someone sounds sort of quite a unique type of player
23:49because he he comes on for 10 15 minute spells um he's not someone you're going to get a lot of game
23:56time out of i think they they may feel that they've got a ready rate made replacement in the the um 18 year
24:05old presley cassell but i would imagine they'll probably look at maybe bringing a prop in and obviously again
24:12second row um where morgan gannon who has been quietly excellent i think this season i think
24:19they'll really miss him i think they'll miss him more than samlisone um he's going to new zealand
24:24warriors so they need to to fill the gap there they do have some good good prospects in the academy
24:31cassell we've already seen there's a kid called zach lloyd who um who i like the look of he was very
24:37good in the uh the reserves grand final the other week he's only 18 um but i think they'll probably
24:43look to to strengthen there they've all been well they'll have um mike acivo available for next season
24:52and that will give them a little bit more strength in depth in the um the outside backs and he's going
24:58to be like a new signing he he did his acl in pre-season as we all remember in in january having
25:05leads that expected him gone all the way through pre-season literally to the last couple of weeks
25:12with him going to be on on the wing and then he he did his acl and hasn't played a game for them but
25:17he's somebody that we expected might score 20 or so tries in a super league season they've been without
25:23him all year so it's i mean they've done pretty well to to get where where they have he'll come back in
25:29um i don't know if they'll look at any other areas i would think a couple of forwards is probably what
25:39they need um they're not i don't think they're far off but just just a couple of tweaks here and there
25:47i don't think major surgery is required yeah just one more on this game before we move on then onto
25:53this and look ahead to the semis sam c look paul wellens has been scrutinized criticized at
26:00every twist and turn of the season really but this wasn't the perfect st ellen's performance with
26:07you know in attack they were pretty jaded but how much did he personally need that win
26:12massive i mean you see you see the out like the outburst of motion at the end of the game and i
26:18think pete mentioned at the start like he's one of rugby league's good guys um he does cop he
26:25cops a lot from fans i think as journalists as well we ask questions because you understandably
26:31they've signed tristan sailor that's that's all it comes down to this season really they're trying to
26:36sign tristan sailor to play six and he can't play six to the standard that they need
26:42and it just means shuffling other pieces so whether that's on him whether it's on the
26:47recruitment side we don't really know but the persistence to keep china mixing i mean that
26:53was only the second time the wells being lomax had played in half with sailor at fullback with round 27
27:00being the other time that that you should not be going into the playoffs with that being the situation
27:06that said they still managed to win and i think it almost it's the point now they've almost got to
27:11embrace the fact that the their attack is what it is they're not going to change it by next week or
27:16by potentially old trafford that's that's an off-season problem i've got to resolve but what
27:22they've got to do is embrace the fact that i mean they are one of the best defensive sides
27:28they made it really ugly in the first half with some of the slowing down the rope but again i
27:33mentioned earlier the playoffs are sometimes officiated a bit differently leeds maybe could
27:38have cottoned on to that and done the exact same since good at the dark arts they're good at defending
27:44i think if they embrace that then there's no reason why they can't beat a whole care team who haven't
27:49really been firing but for wellens i'm i'm really pleased for him i think he deserves it um and i think
27:57again if you if you look at the fact you kind of suggestible we can't fix much with this attack at the
28:02moment so what you've got to do is just lean into what you are and also lean into the fact that the
28:08the passion that's in that club and the passion emanates from him so i i think they're a real
28:14live chance next week to be honest with you yeah well looking ahead to that game then look saturday
28:19night saints have been to rovers twice this season now and lost first time pretty convincingly before
28:26the week before the cup final second time it was a lot closer um pete samby can you see can you see
28:34saints going there and and you know shocking the league leader shield winners i mean personally
28:40speaking i i think rovers know they can go set for set with with st ellens and and get the job done
28:48i think um i think the um okay willie peters will have been jumping up and down um
28:58um out of his seat when he he saw that last last minute try um i think whole kr would have been
29:08nervous about playing leads i i think um i think they're pretty sure that they can beat
29:13st helens um that said the last game was fairly close wasn't it and it's a it's a one-off um okay i
29:23didn't react great under pressure to the against warrington they were they were when they needed
29:28the win to to secure the league leader shield i don't think they're in great form um i think
29:34saints if everything went right for them and they can hang in there and show the same sort of
29:39determination um they showed the other day and have a bit of a bit of look they could do it but i
29:46certainly wouldn't wouldn't bet on saints but i'd i'd okay i don't look to me like a grand final winning
29:53team either i think the two um the two most in form or more informed sides are in the other playing
30:01each other in the other semi-final um i i'd say it's a tough it's a tough one whole care are a good side
30:10they could get the form back but i i just i just don't see them as grand final winners the way
30:17they're playing i don't think saints are either obviously one of them's going to be in the grand
30:23final um i think it'll probably be whole kr but i don't think they'll win it yeah sam be just before
30:30you you pop in here how emotionally draining was saturday as well especially with the with
30:36the matty lee situation where he's you know he had to brush off for the birth of his daughter as
30:41well and and everything else on top of that do you think there's a a natural come down almost after
30:46that one as well uh yeah it'll take a lot out of them um and i think it could come to my time
30:54with especially with kr having that extra week off um you know to win a game in that um sort of scenes
31:02it even though it is a high it will it will drain you um and but if if they defend like they did
31:11against leeds they've got every chance um you know that they were structured and you know they
31:17kept leeds leeds only scored twice um yeah i think if they stick in with their defense um and try to
31:25keep look knows and wells be targeted croft on that if they do that with lewis um i think they've got a
31:31good chance of i won't say win but i'll say sticking in there predictions then uh i'll go kr by six
31:43yeah i think i'll go kr by two i think i just don't trust them at the moment and i think
31:49while st helens will be fatigued they've also that momentum which k i haven't had for months
31:54well weeks maybe so yeah i'll go kr by two but i think it'll be really close
32:02but i don't really care sam uh yeah to be honest but um um um i think
32:11whole kr will i think whole kr will probably win it um
32:18but you know anything can happen we've already seen that but yeah whole kr i think saints have
32:25struggled to beat teams above them in the league this season haven't they it'd be a good time from
32:30from their point of view to to change that but i just can't see it happening um so whole kr by a
32:35couple of scores yeah i'll go a bit more one side i think i'll say brothers by 18. um i mean we're 32
32:43minutes into this recording now we've not even mentioned the other playoff game so so lee leopards
32:48i mean the the blue wakefield away didn't they on friday um
32:54sam c what was the difference for you was it just a case of the pack being too strong and obviously
32:59local lamb pulling the strings in in in the red zone i think they were just too strong everywhere
33:06the the only maybe i think the second try doesn't really come to about the 25th minute but they won that
33:12game in the first 20 anyway even at 6-0 they absolutely battered wakefield wakefield wakefield
33:19will have had nothing left in the second half um the line speed was ridiculous and they just trapped
33:27wakefield in the half you were you were for long periods you were only watching one half the field
33:33and then on the back of it when wakefield try and bring their own line speed they just couldn't
33:37because i think they were just drained um if i mean starting like that against wakefield and starting
33:43like that against wigan are two different things but if they can replicate that and really go toe for
33:49toe like they did in round one then there's such a live chance and i think it's it's great for super
33:55league that you've potentially got like lee last year yeah they made the semi-finals and played wigan but
34:00no one was expecting much and as it went they lost 38-0 i think people are genuinely thinking that they
34:07could actually go across and make the upset especially on the back of the fact they've done it
34:12once this year like mentally that's such a big thing for them um but on on friday night they just
34:20were just too intense um and i think isaac leo had one of his best games he was unbelievable um
34:30just all of that pack joe fang always been one of probably the best mid-season signing you've had in
34:35recent years um alex who is back is coming into his own rowing trout and robin moherner candidates for
34:42england as well um i think yeah you can you don't even necessarily have to look at what landed because
34:50it was just set up for him by that pack so yeah i think against wigan that is going to be
34:56a really really good game yeah i mean the two stand out to me where as you just said isaac lewin
35:03joff and gary for me um but having said that lachlan lamb's a difference maker consistently is he
35:10i mean he's got different attributes to bevan french but is lachlan lamb the best player in in good ball in
35:16that last 20 meters in the league his kick selection is brilliant isn't it i mean
35:23and he i've said it i've said a couple of times recently about um
35:28something about you and erwin in the warrington academy where you know in really like threatens
35:32the line and he makes defenders bite you can't give a risk i think lamb does the same he's some
35:38you get some half so you run at the line you kind of know that they're just trying to distract
35:42the defender and they're going to pass he he will take the run in and he'll he'll actually really
35:48make the defenders think and you all you know his reputation as well you know he's assisted more
35:54than 40 tries this year so you have to respect the past but you also know that he's got that
35:58grit in him as well to go and i think that's something that defenders just can't really deal with
36:04and gareth o'brien is the underrated one there as well he just ticks along and controls everything
36:10on the other side i think considering that they obviously had planned for matt moyland this year
36:17gareth o'brien's been brilliant i think one of the underrated stars of super league this year
36:24yeah local it's it's simple but effective it's that it's that double pump it just seems to work
36:29every single time when when he's moving towards a flank um yeah this is probably the most interesting
36:36semi-fat i mean they're all they're both interesting but this is the one where you know as we've as we've
36:41all sort of agreed on probably the grand final winner is going to come from yeah on current form you know
36:47league going to this having won six straight games before this week um we're gonna have a week off
36:54they've been in in yorkshire on a training camp this week they're gonna be fresh how do we see this one
37:00going sambi uh yeah it is it's going to be really interesting um i think wigan just with that match
37:08experience in the big games obviously they've won the last two grand finals uh i think wigan do edge
37:14it but don't count out lee lee have definitely have the ability to uh to win this one but i will say wigan
37:20by eight feet do you care about this one no to be honest not really um you know it it'd be nice to
37:31have it'd be nice wouldn't it be nice to have a um elite versus hawke our grand final one we were
37:39guaranteed a um a new winner of of of the trophy that that would be great wouldn't it i can't see it
37:46i think um i think i think a really good side i enjoy enjoy watching them um i don't know why
37:54lachlan lamb isn't a man of steel nominee um but i think because we're gonna have got bevan french and
38:01jayfield i think they'll they'll win um if those two fall off the the bus on the way back from yorkshire
38:11or whatever and and can't play then then you'd fancy lee but i think we can they're a different
38:17side when they've got bevan french um in the ranks and i think with home advantage they'll they'll
38:23probably win it um win it narrowly but i'd like to see lee hopefully i hope they do um but i think
38:30we can win some see just before i ask your prediction there's a bit of controversy in this
38:35one as well was there yeah i was gonna say we've not actually we've mentioned lock and lamb and how
38:40brilliant he was and it looked like it was going to be the talking point of the weekend until obviously
38:44we got that saturday night ending but lock and lamb is he's on report for um allegations about
38:50unacceptable language it's a bit confusing at first i think because of the fact that lamb is the captain
38:56he can't be i don't think um the referee was able to address him so you have to speak to gareth
39:01o'brien so the tv cameras are looking at gareth o'brien so you think it's him who's on for the
39:06charge but it's actually lamb uh mason leaner's made that allegation um and then also which in
39:13itself will be looked into by the match view panel today um and then potentially an operation rules
39:19tribunal but then there's also the incident with uh seth nicotimo nicotimo gets tackled by lamb
39:26the neither of them here tackle complete or held so nicotimo gets up and the lamb continues the
39:34tackle and effectively slams him down the tackle itself is probably like illegal i'd say but nicotimo
39:43hurts his shoulder and is unable to return at that point if there's a charge there and i think the
39:49charge would probably not necessarily be about an illegal tackle but you'd probably be looking at like
39:55tackling after hell's being called so i don't know if you look what what necessarily the terminology
39:59would be but if there's a charge there because of the fact nicotimo can't come back on there's an
40:04extra three points on his record which would push him depend if it was only a grade a which it could
40:12well be would push him to 5.5 with the threshold being six so then obviously then you're looking at
40:17what happens in the on-report incident so we've mentioned how good the pack is and the pack won it
40:23but if they don't have him then i really struggle to see him obviously ben mcnamara will probably come
40:30in potentially even they might put brad dwyer in there but i think that's that could be a huge loss
40:37we need we need to see what happens today but um i i think the on-field decisions were fine i don't
40:43think there was it was simming worthy we'd obviously don't know the other incident but if he's out then
40:49that's wiggin in the grand final for my eyes at the moment if he plays then i think we could be
40:56coming down to a drop goal either way similar to a round one i genuinely think it's that close we can
41:01just know how to win big games so i probably would favor with them there yeah i mean i completely agree
41:07with you i think lamb's a game breaker even if he's played if he plays i think lee might go through and
41:12i'm gonna say a point 19-18 gareth o'brien drop goal so a bit of other news this week then york play
41:24to lose in the championship grand final pete this one's a bit more local to you tell us what it means
41:30to to york to go and win the championship grand final well it would be and a treble as well it would
41:38be fantastic for um for the city i live in york um i covered rydell york as they were some time ago um
41:49and i was was around when they were playing at heworth and amateur ground and playing in front of
41:56a few hundred fans and the original york club actually went bust midway through a season and
42:01they came back as the york city knights initially and now now york knights and that it's there's
42:08always been a lot of interest in in rugby league in york but people tend to go and watch castleford or
42:14leeds now they're starting to watch the knights and i think the knights are they've they've been
42:19tremendous this season what a fantastic job mark apple gaff has um has done i think he was poorly
42:25treated at wakefield he had an impossible task in his season as coach there um when when they just
42:35had a team that were obviously going to get finished bottom of the table and get relegated he sort of
42:40held things together there a little bit and when when some money came in at the end of the year he
42:45he got the boot he's re-emerged at york and he's just completely transformed their fortunes they were
42:50struggling um before he was appointed um that they went on to to the semi-finals last year and lost
42:58fairly narrowly against wakefield um and this year i think they've won the last 20 consecutive games
43:05to finish top of the table they've won the 1895 cup um they've just had an outstanding year um and i
43:13think it'd be great for um for the city and for rugby league in in north yorkshire if they were to win
43:18it and it would make it a lot harder for um for the panel that are deciding who who it goes into
43:27super league next year to exclude them they'll if they win the grand final they've earned the right
43:32to be in super league um to lose will say the same thing got a lot of time for for to lose and what
43:38they're doing there as well i think it's a i think it's going to be a great occasion um
43:43um it's it's a bit disappointing it's not on on neutral ground really the old um second tier grand
43:51finals when we had grand finals day there used to be three games three games on on the same day and
43:57they were great events i think it would would have more of a big game feel if if that was the case but
44:03um york's a good terrific stadium um they've got a passionate growing fan base um i think with
44:13home advantage that they they might shade it i think it'd be quite a quite a tight game but um but
44:21yeah it's just great it's great for the city of of york i'm really pleased as i say for uh for mark
44:26applegarth who is another of the uh the good guys in in rugby league is a really decent bloke mark
44:32applegarth and the job he's done there is is fantastic yeah sam broxham do you want to uh
44:39preview the women's grand final as well saint helens versus wiggin at the brick community stadium
44:45uh yeah so we're gonna run for a four p if you include the ninth tournament that they won
44:50mid-season they obviously won the challenge cup in quite dominant fashion against saints
44:55uh and then they bit they won the league leaders shield i don't believe they've lost all year
45:00i've had a couple of draws i think um but yeah dennis betts has done an incredible job with that
45:06sorry sorry to interrupt didn't they lose to york didn't they oh yes they did in newcastle yes
45:14yeah um but other than that it's been a near perfect season um they've got evil hunter in the back row
45:20who's just a weapon with a dominant carries and um tackling they've got grace banks at the back
45:26and saints in have had uh probably not underwhelming but they've had a tougher year than last year
45:36with wiggins rise um but again still a very good year they've they've brought back shona hoyle and
45:43amy hardcastle who i don't think has played as much as she'll have wanted this year
45:46um but yeah johnny cunningham's been classed they've got caitlin casey and cunningham switching
45:52between the seven and thirteen role um i think it will be another great showpiece event for the
45:58women's game obviously live on sky sports um but yeah i think wigan do edge it and will win that
46:03four-peat this year lovely stuff and just as a last point this week we've seen well last week we've
46:10seen victor radley pull out of the england squad sam cook how much of a blow is that to sean wayne and
46:18and who does it open the door to for to come in for that that loose forward spot i think it's a big
46:24blow in the sense that um just as a as a squad because i'm not actually sure if radley would have
46:31got the noise because i think morgan knows has been and pete mentioned lock on lamb and man of steel
46:37morgan knows he's not he's never going to get points in this system but i don't think he's been
46:40far off one of the best players in super league i think he's been exceptional he was all over the
46:46place again on saturday night um so i think he'll be he's definitely the starter now in my eyes and i
46:53think he may well have been if radley had been there anyway um but that's not to say that radley
46:59won't be missed i think the the importance of being battle hardened in the nrl when you especially
47:06when you're playing the aussies i think is a big thing i think that might shape what some of the
47:11pack looks like in terms of morgan smoothies mike nicholson uh cap baseball i mean john bateman's
47:17had quite a good season i know he's if you're looking for the future generations maybe not where
47:21you go but sean wayne trusts him so i think that a lot of that pack will come from the nrl i think
47:27radley certainly would have been there so he's a big loss in that sense but i think it's a decision
47:31that makes sense i think he's missus is 32 weeks pregnant uh obviously you factor in a six-week tour
47:38oh if he was to set off now you're looking at she's coming up to judy and we've seen obviously with
47:43my lease this weekend that some things are more important in the rugby league so um i think it's
47:48the right decision for him and potentially for england but um i do think it'd be a big miss but
47:53morgan knolls and then also smithies are probably your candidates to
47:57to factor in there elia minchella might be a shout but i think he might get edged out just because
48:03this season form has maybe just dipped off a little bit
48:08yeah all right that will do us then thank you very much for watching another reminder if you could
48:12like this video and subscribe to the channel that would be much appreciated we'll have everything
48:17happening this week on on on serious work with the league and obviously new yorkshire news coming
48:22through p on new yorkshire evening post so stay across those channels and um yeah thank you very much
48:29thanks for joining us please like and share and we'll see you next week
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