what i have seen of Saints so far i would be shocked to see them make the playoffs, top 8 could be tough to achieve if Roby is missing for a fair few of the games.

No it shouldn't have been a yellow.

As an exercise in preventing an embarrassing blowout scoreline, it ought to be a success.

Yeah fair enough IMO. One of those that if the ref did nothing then people would cry foul for a card. Definatley not a red but a yellow was spot on.

Skybet were offering a combined handicap of 26 points for all three of the uk teams in the world club series.
They've covered it already in just the first match

who mentioned Huddersfield?
whoever represents us, for casual fans to see a big name club like St Helens get embarrassed every year isn't good for the game, but if it was a club other than the favourites it wouldn't be as bad.

Yeah no one mentioned Hudds.....but you're a well know Hudds supporter on this site and your team was the team to miss out.....hardly takes Einstien to work what you were digging at.

I don't think Wilkin was particularly at fault for that try. They were short on that side because of a late retreat by a Saints tackler and possibly a numbering fault by Owens, Wilkin isn't that quick so he shouldn't be left in that much space by his inside defenders.

The yellow card was fine in my opinion. Good use of the sin bin by Thaler.

Personally I think Saints mentality was the major issue. They looked like many British teams do v Aussie teams. They looked as if they were trying to score every set of 6 instead of playing the game and grinding the opposition down.

Saints made far too many errors, didn't kick well enough and didn't control their own play anything like well enough to beat a top Aussie side. Things like Walsh kicking the ball away when there's no free play sort of typifies their mentality for me, not composed enough.

I'm also questioning whether Keiran Cunningham was watching the same game as I was. If he thought they scored loads of tries against the run of play he's kidding himself.

Looks like tackling is going to be scrutinised every week now thanks to Powells dummy spit and the RFLs mind boggling ban of the Hull KR hooker. Towards the end of the game the Roosters no 7 tackled the saints player Vea around the legs - Rod Studd and Stuart Cummins immediately said "horrendous...such a controversial tackle" NO IT FLIPPING WELL ISNT!!! Sadly this looks like it will be the "trend" Sky have this year.

We missed out, exactly, no qualms over that, but surely seeing one of our flagship clubs get spanked every year is not good for the series?

would it not be better to rotate the clubs getting spanked

On the flip side, i was very impressed with the new look Roosters team. Show a depth of talent that isn't seen over here. Think they will do alright this year. I'll be considering a few of that lot for my fantasy team

That's what a £3.3M salary cap will buy you.

Saints reached both domestic semi-finals last year. I'm really not sure who else but your own team did enough to earn a place, in your view? Hull KR????

We are a funny bunch us British RL fans.

We win 5 times in a row, it's a joke of a competition the aussies don't take it seriously! Suddenly then win a couple and it shows just how much of an ameatuer outfit the SL is.

Let's just enjoy it for what it is, the build up has been great and hopefully the next two games will be more competitive.

We can still say there has been more British WCC champs than Australians but that doesn't suit certain people's argument.

Unfortunately SOME British RL "fans" will have wanted this extended series just so the British could lose more games.......that's just the mentality of some fans who wet themselves at any mention of NRL.

Great effort from the Chooks, it was like men versus boys.

They’ve come halfway across the world, still in pre-season, & blew away one of the best teams in S.L. Sure St’s have been poor so far this season, but they’ll be there or there about come the end of the year.

The speed at which they played makes our game look laboured. I just hope that Wigan & Leeds can put up a better show, because that was not a good advertisement for the British game.

I'd scrap the series altogether.

I don't see what anyone gets out of it.

Couldn*t agree with you more,but hard they even want to expand it more!!
Yet more humiliation.....

I thought it was a nasty one. Whether deliberate or not it was potentially a dangerous tackle and could easily have been avoided.

pfff roosters were naff couldn't even get into the forties



Joking aside there's no point playing these games while the Aussie clubs are taking them at least semi seriously, we should just revert back to the old days of them not giving a toss and our lot winning.

It's just largely about strength in depth, isn't it? The likes of the Roosters can lose Pearce and Maloney, and bring in brilliant youngsters like Mitchell and Nikorima. If English sides are at full strength (unlikely), they have a chance, If not beatings like tonight can be expected.

whoever wanted to stump up the cash to pay for it?
or maybe a random draw?

On a more serious note, the difference in class is astounding, saints were poor yes,but they didn't give in and certainly out the effort in, but the roosters looked to have 2 or 3 more gears to use, it was almost like watching professionals v amateurs at times.

And Saints did, so what's the problem?

As for the random draw, sheesh... I look forward to Wakefield vs South Sydney next year.

Heavens forbid, the thought of my Whipping boy rabble taking on the likes of the Roosters doesn’t bear thinking about.

I don’t think we can judge the series until Sunday night, St’s were pretty poor, but they’re still one of the best teams in S.L.

On a lighter note, did anyone catch Keiron’s post-match assessment?

Yep. I'm hoping it was a cack-handed attempt at keeping his players from getting too down about it. For he really believes what he said then Saints really do have problems. If it was an attempt at managing emotions he needs to get a lot better at it.