It was in the 79th minute when LMS did exactly the same thing, and the red gave exactly the same decision. The rules have been the same all year.

The strip you can feel aggrieved about, but the back to 6 before the try was baffling as Grace got no where near it. Swings and roundabouts. That’s what happens every game. There weren’t any moments like the Knowles “try”, Grace “knock on”, or Makinson “offside” all in the space of 20 minutes like a certain other game that’s already been referenced enough in this thread ...

Having watched (and subsequently rewatched after reading all the vitriol about the reffing performance) I honestly can say I don’t see it, Kendall let the game flow, he made decisions when they were needed and neither team seemed to be favoured one way or the other...

I agree, I'm a Hull FC fan and wanted Salford to win, but St Helens were the better side on the night, as they have been all season. Kendall got a few calls wrong, but I don't think he favoured Saints. I wish FC could move as quickly in defence and at the play the ball.

Well done to Saints for the win, and massive congratulations to Salford for making it to the Grand Final.

Nobody's bitter (well, one or two maybe) but the truth is:
Saints were the better team and deserved to win,
Salford played with heart and their players and fans should be very proud,
Kendall didn't win the game for Saints but his refereeing was very poor and actually spoiled the game (we're all talking about him and not the rugby),
One or two Saints fans on here are a bit pathetic.
Enjoy your off season.

There’s a word for people like you. See you next Tuesday.

I think we will just have to excuse the "Lemmings Behaviour" when the media have hyped up Salford to the eyeballs and then we have the Sky Commentary bias as well, Salford really deserved their chance to be in the final but it ended there with the amount of pressure Saints applied in the game.

I've just watched some of the game this morning from SKY and if I was a newcomer viewer to the sport it was all about Salford pre game and Saints were insignificant because they really wanted a fairy tale ending. Thought Carney had his own biased agenda but Morley (ex Salford Lad) was more balanced, Clarke was looking for an excuse to disallow most of Saints scoring and chances.
With 70+ minutes gone and 18 pts to make up and 95 metres away from the Saints try line I think it was Connor who said this is when Salford are at there most dangerous, the SKY commentary team needs a good culling next year.

Kendall didn't really make any major gaffs that were controversial we had the rub of the green on two occasions but usually thats what happens when you apply pressure in a game to go your way.

Congratulations on winning the GF.

Were Sintellins the best team in super league this season?
Are Sintellins the best team ever seen in England?
Would this Sentellins team win the NRL Gf?
Would they win SOO?
Are Sentellins about to create a new super dynasty?
Is Justin Holbrook the greatest coach and human being the world has ever seen?

No. But his mentor, Trent Robinson, is on the verge of becoming that.

Haven't seen anyone mention the clear headbutt in the tackle. Saints should have been down to twelve for the second half.

Yep. It’s not exactly a bad one so I would have been happy with a sin binning but we’ve seen players sent off for similar. Especially as it was after an elbow he got away with too.

The point for me is not that Salford would necessarily have won with a better refereeing performance - chances are Saints would - but that they didn't get a level playing field and the game was ruined for the neutral.

Big games are often decided on small moments. When the ref repeatedly hands possession and territory to a team like Saints in error and then doesn't do the same for Salford, he's influencing the result. This is one of top officiating teams, they simply shouldn't be missing shoulder charges, offside at the scrum, heads in the tackle, etc. The Dudson call was ridiculous. Yes, ball strips/knock-ons can be very hard to officiate, but somehow these decisions mostly went against Salford.

Salford fans have (mostly) been fine because 99% were at the game, probably happily drunk, and you simply don't see these small things live. A few I know were loving life last night but have watched the game today and are feeling rightly hard done to.

On current form they had a real chance of winning - as demonstrated when they eventually got some possession and territory. Saints struggled to handle them. All we wanted was the ref to be invisible and a fair shot for both sides, and that did not happen.

BTW whingeing about the ref isn't being disparaging to Saints - they've been simply outstanding all year and deserved to end the year as champions.

Your club would never do this and Jackson Hastings is definitely in the saints mould. I know this because of the exemplorary way that saints as an entire club conducted themselves after the challenge Cup defeat.

You won fair and square and you deserved it after a fantastic season, but to denounce 5 or 6 terrible calls as faux controversy after the challenge Cup fallout is laughable and quite frankly further embarrassment on your fanbase. Chris kendall stank last night but overall Hastings is right, the calls wouldn't have affected the the result. They would however have improved the spectacle massively and contest as a whole. Salford deserved better and so did the neutrals. The first half was fantastic to watch, from both sides, the second half for me was completely ruined by the referee.

I said at the start of the season we would win SL purely because the coach of the year amassed a fit and athletic pack who can all play for 80 minutes with no drop In line speed.

There is no room in SL for props like Flower these days who can only manage a couple of drives a game. You need players with stamina and high work rate

Can't believe some are trying to question the try from the scrum.

You can't obstruct if you have the ball in your hand.

It was a great piece of creativity.

The fault I have with the try from the scrum is that the scrum shouldn’t have been given! Percival stole the ball from Inu and then dropped it.

No you are wrong the man in possession always has responsibility to hold the ball. Percival competed but inu dropped it.

Loose Head and Put-in 5. (d) The player putting the ball in shall not hesitate or dummy [iand after putting it in he shall immediately retire behind his own pack of forwards[/i.

It's nit-picking but we either follow the laws or we don't. Lomax never retired behind the pack and was therefore offside. His presence and movement drags Lolohea away from the scrum in defence. We've seen tries disallowed for offside players being within 10m after a kick - even players who had zero influence on events but who are offside nevertheless. The same applies here.

Lomax was no were near the scrum.

Congratulations to St's, they have been head & shoulders above the rest of the league this year.

Commiserations to Salford, but what a fantastic year they've had.

I'm a little disappointed the cartel continues to rule the roost, but at least two new teams have made the final in the last couple of years.

I don't know how I'd feel as a Salford supporter today, obviously brimming with pride for their achievement, but tempered with the possibility it may be a hell of a long time before they get another crack at it.

That's not strictly true though is it Steph, you weren't posting on here at the beginning of the season were you, perhaps you'd have been better posting as leeBron or Ruin I'm not quite sure which without checking, but either of them would have more credibility than the little porky you would have us believe as Steph

First miss by the ref was the high shot on grace, the second was 43 minutes into the game. Ashworth putting his head in on the player on the ground.

Should have been a penalty

He fed the ball and moved wide, taking Lolohea with him. He was a clear foil for the inside ball back to Taia. Yes, a nice move.

But he did not retire behind the pack at any point. So he is offside.

It's indisputable.

Are you going to penalise every scrum I'm watching the final as we speak and every scrum half never goes behind the pack.

Also I think you mean fages not Lomax

Whatever, the dude with the headguard. Presumed it was Lomax.

Anyway, not the point. Do we adhere to the rules or not? Especially when his presence influences the defender and helps a try be scored? He was offside, simple as that.

Follow the laws of the game, you must be joking.

We can't even have players using their foot @ the PTB. The most basic rule in the damn game and we just ignore it.