I think that’s harsh and incorrect. What it showed is that it’s difficult to shine behind a lightweight pack. I don’t think anybody looked out of their depth to be honest, and that we’d have run them much closer had we had a fully fit pack. The first half gave me great optimism for the season ahead.

Did it really?
Cuthbertson had a pretty long career in the NRL did he not?
Parcell will play regular 1st team games in the NRL if & when he decides to return home.

If you only watched Melbourne games in 2017 and no other NRL games then I'm sure you'd think plenty of opposition players including proven NRL players were just average or worst and wouldn't make it in the NRL.

I haven’t read all of the posts. I hope someone else has congratulated your fans on educating the Melbourne fans how to support your team. Your fans were outstanding. Most Australian teams only have one song, and it’s the same song, plus they have to be revved up to make any noise. Your lot sang throughout and even drowned out the few Melbourne chants. The result didn’t go the right way but you gave the Aussies a lesson in how to get behind your team.

Who's the real snowflake here? The derogatory term is for people who are prone to take offence or are too emotionally vulnerable to cope with views different to their own. But it's YOU who is getting incredibly offended by someone not singing a song



It's a classic form of projection by someone who clearly isn't capable of independent thought.

I remember Tommie Smith and also the other US athlete on the podium John Carlos. Not forgetting the Aussie silver medalist Peter Norman who wore an anti racist badge with them. Norman was for years pilloried back in Aus but was finally vindicated by a Government apology. At his funeral Smith and Carlos came from the US to be pallbearers.

It is a good job Melbourne didn't have a full strength side out - if both sides were at full strength do you think the result would have been closer?

I would agree with that - how many of those players are now trotting around in SL in 2018

Perhaps he was waiting for Deutschland Deutschland Uber alles to ring out.

Who was missing for them exactly?

Good effort first half but the lack of props was a problem. That's before we mention the salary cap.

Just a shame it's one game a season.

yesbI read about that and saw it on TV

The only player they had missing was Kasiano, and there's no guarantee he'll make it into their 17 regularly anyway (he'll need to maintain high standards on gameday and in training consistently, which he's not famed for) , so yes, I'd say it would have been much closer, but they would still have had enough to win relatively comfortably.

Hardly any as very few have moved from the NRL to here in the off season so the point you tried to make about Parcell and Cuthbertson based on one single game is still rather silly.

Also Melbourne were only missing one player so near as dammit full strength.

Great post.

Leedsowl is a total right wing snowflake.

Even at full strength Melbourne are far better' than leeds. without garbutt, Mullally and 3 other big forwards it was always going to be one way traffic up front. Thought they showed plenty of effort. Need some bodies back, in particular Garbutt for the go forward.
Prince William and Harry don't sing the national anthem either, perhaps Jimmy as A German is related to the royal family and therefore does not want to sing great auntie's song, or maybe does not know the words. Whatever I could not give a monkey's.

Yeah, most definitely. The pack lays the platform

Leeds were missing two forwards Garbutt and Mullally even if Galloway was fit it is unlikely he would play ahead of Cuthbertson, Darbutt, Singleton and Mullally and Ferres would never get in ahead of Ward, JJB and Ablett. If Melbourne had played Kasiano and Kaufusi they would added as much as Garbutt and Mullally. The idea that Mullally/Ferres etc. would have had a big influence on the game is grasping at straws IMO. Yes Leeds lost Walker but Melbourne also lost Slater and even at this stage of his career Slater is still in a different world to Walker as a player.

Leeds will not be far off winning the GF this year but the gulf in class between the 2 competitions should not be ignored.

Kasiano? The 3 good games a season lummox? He's another Mase Masoe looks like tarzen plays like jane & i've been watching him for years.
Absolutely Garbutt & Mullally would make a difference maybe not to the result but our efforts 100%.

"Maybe not the result"



Of course having two mediocre props in Garbutt and Mullally on wouldn't have turned around a 7 tries to 1 victory against a far more talented, and drilled outfit in Melbourne.

You're more delusional than Mcdermott who in his post game interview said gives his players 8-10 games and they would be at Melbourne level.

The difference between the competitions is night and day, its like the gulf between super league teams, and championship.

Kasiano at the Storm will be a different player - if he isn't he wont be there long.

The idea that two very average players would have made such a massive difference against the best club side in the world defies any kind of logic. It also suggets that the only side that could have improved its performance was Leeds - again grasping at straws is duly noted

Galloway probably wouldn't get in if Garbutt and Mullally were fit, but he and Peteru would both be ahead in the pecking order of what we ended up having on the bench

These players missing probably wouldn't have a big influence in terms of anything special ball in hand but it's about sharing the workload in the forwards and working as a unit. The likes of Cuthbertson could've done more had he had some bigger and better teammates in the prop position. Not every player in a 17 is there to do something special, some are there to do a role that allows others to be match winners.

By the time Melbourne lost Slater at HT the damage had already been done.

And I don't see anybody saying that Leeds would have won, or denying the size of the gap between NRL and SL, but to say Leeds missing players wouldn't have made any difference is ridiculous and sensationalist.

Printer put it very well - there were some of our better players absolutely gassed from having to do the majority of the graft. Cuthbo, Watkins, Hall, Briscoe, Singo, JJB, Sutcliffe appeared to do a ton of donkey work. With some more able back up forwards, this wouldn't have been so much of a necessity. Melbourne would still have won, comfortably, but we'd have been in the contest for longer. Our 20 mins good spell at the beginning of the game showed we could hang with them, but we tired, and they were efficient, effective and ruthless, as Melbourne always are. They'll beat a number of NRL sides more convincingly throughout the season, that I guarantee. Doesn't alter the fact that NRL is lightyears ahead of SL, but the lads did themselves proud. And put them in the NRL, with the benefit of getting used to being happy required to play high intensity and quality week on week and they'd hold their own - they'd get spanked some weeks, but they'd compete most weeks. There's probably only 3 or 4 teams in SL at best that could do that - the majority would Ben slaughtered week in, week out.

A very good summary of the game Superted

It's very difficult to be critical of Leeds in my opinion. A depleted team, under some unfamiliar rules, against a team that are way better than most NRL teams - let alone SL teams. Yet we made sure they knew they had been in a game. McDermott is right - given a similar salary cap & playing a similar number of games per season as an NRL team - SL teams would easily compete.

What a truly memorable experience, could do without 21 hours in the air to get home though!