Hmm
You obviously have knowledge that others don't.
If Saints don't win another game then will they make the top four?
Don't know if you're a Saints follower but if you are, were you one of those baying for Cunninghams blood at the beginning of the season?
Saints are starting to click but it hasn't all fitted yet. That's why I am a realist. Perhaps my years of following the game and how teams develop is far inferior, who knows but I see a good team coming together and a better team when everyone is up to speed. It isn't this year.
Sadly I can't look at things though home and away different coloured glasses and be totally biased. I just call it as I see it. If you have a problem with that, then tough, it's your problem, deal with it however you choose

Can anyone stop them?

Perhaps the RFL [url=http://www.rugby-league.com/the_rfl/disciplinaryDisciplinary[/url

They are trying.

Not only are we having to deal with ex-wiganers hyping it up on the commentary, looks like we have them on the panel deciding our fate too.

Can someone tell me how this is a grade C shoulder charge?

A still picture won't but watching it numerous times shows it was. He led with his shoulder to begin

As the still shows, regardless of what he led with, he wrapped the arm, meaning by definition, it couldn't be a shoulder charge. Virtually every tackle "leads with the shoulder" it's how your taught to tackle!

I strongly suspect both will be downgraded to B grade and they both "only" get 1 game

They boo'd him when he came on the screen at the end of he first half against Wire at their ground.

At the moment Cas or Catalan could pip St Helens for 4th spot but looking at the remaining fixtures for each team it's unlikely.

Saints will most probably finish 4th or maybe even 3rd either way that will give them an away semi to either Hull or Wire. That will most likely be the end of their run but who knows injuries can hit any team so anything can happen.

IG

Just seen one of the judges is ill so they are postponing it until Wednesday, as opposed to finding a replacement ASAP.m

All tackles lead with the shoulder!!!!

Never seen a player running to tackle first.
The arms out in front is a favourite with zombies, but generally most humans tend to stick with hit the front with the shoulder and then wrap the arms around.

Exactly, its very rare to see a tackle executed with one or two arms out, the problem was the clash of heads on impact then the ankle injury. Thompson didn't run in with much momentum to define it as a shoulder charge.

i think you know what i meant, but seeing as saints fan boo anything that doesnt go there way, im not surprised your all claiming there was nothing in it apart from thompsons shoulder hitting horos' head!

I see the Wigan mafia on SKY have got the result they wanted.
Nicely stacking the deck in the favour of.......... erm Wigan this Friday.

Dunno mate 2 matches each seems about right......in Walsh's case it could have been a lot worse.
Ig

Hang on, so Sky control the disciplinary now, do they?

What paranoid garbage is this?

No but they're in a very impressionable position. They speak on live TV on one of the countries biggest sports channels turning over multi millions of pounds each year. They have a huge audience which includes those who chair & sit on the disciplinary panel.
If you realistically use this platform to have a 5 minute chat about one tackle at the end of the game and speak directly at the camera at half time making a passionate plea to 'rid this type of incident from our game' then your making an impassioned plea to the appropriate body (RFL disciplinary) to act as such.
When you view incidents such as Wllie ISA's spear tackle this season which leaves with a warning only, you see clear flaws in the system. If you have a sky overreaction to that tackle during the game, I'd say you get a different outcome

Its Sky who come up with the garbage trying to dramatise everything to suit there own agenda. Last weekend SKY reported Smith signing a 4 year deal with Saints, the club have confirmed it as rubbish.

He's signed a five year deal instead

I've heard Fielden and Sculthorpe are the touch judges tomorrow night. Any truth to this?

Doubt it, Danny Sculthorpe struggled to run 80 metres when he played the game

No, Fielden and Sculthorpe have got a SKY invite to sit either side of the video ref and both to be wired up for a direct link with the field ref to put stuff on report.

You heard it here first.

#PrayForSaints

Nickles Forearm and Judder Man:

I don't disagree with your more nuanced responses. The Sky coverage is cheap, contoversy-seeking (and making!) garbage. They should learn from the much larger more measured attitudes of most of the Aussie. TV commentators. But they won't, of course.

But it goes without saying that the disciplinary process shouldn't be influenced by them, any more than they should by the complaints of club coaches. If we truly believe they are, we might as well give up on the sport altogether.

The review process tolerance is too wide that it creates inconsistency and makes the disciplinary appear corrupt. I remember a lot of team coaches over 10 years ago asking for clarity and transparency, we are no further on as our current coaches descriptive to the disciplinary as "Not Fit for Purpose".

It's conveniently "not fit for purpose" whenever a decision is made that you don't agree with.

And I wonder what would be said on here if Shaun Wane had said what Cunningham had said. No doubt he'd be guilty of trying to influence the panel while Cunningham is a poor victim.

St.Helens Chairman Eamonn McManus stated:

"We very much wished to appeal both decisions but the appeal hearing was set for a Thursday evening, being the night before our game, instead of the normal Wednesday evening. Clearly our coach had to choose and train with his final team today and not on match day. Also it is ridiculous to expect two players to do another five hour round trip to Red Hall the night before a crucial game in which they may be playing. We effectively had no choice but to not exercise our right to appeal. I cannot ever recall such a set of circumstances and it is totally unsatisfactory.

We consider the Luke Walsh punishment of a yellow card plus a two match ban for a dangerous throw to be completely at odds with directly comparable or worse instances in recent weeks. Yet again we are faced with inexplicable inconsistency which is eroding trust and respect for the system to breaking point.

The Luke Thompson two week ban for "secondary contact", albeit accidental, has left the entire game perplexed. The "primary contact" was actually an illegal leading elbow from Justin Horo who was then unfortunately accidentally injured, as was Luke Thompson. Most importantly, this new concept of secondary contact (which was wrongly applied in this instance) will undoubtedly open up a Pandora's Box of collateral incident which, if applied consistently, will result in a whole slew of match bans from accidental contact.

We have now lost two of our key and form players to the biggest games of the season against Wigan and Hull in the Super Eights.

Conversely, clear attempts at eye gouging on our players in consecutive weeks have been ignored by the authorities.

I have been a lifetime avid supporter of rugby league due mainly to the clarity and simplicity of its rules and the resultant speed, intensity and skill which that framework produces on the field of play. That is what has always positively differentiated rugby league from other competitor sports. However, the guidelines and interpretations of those rules have become incomprehensible to most, and the game resultantly less enjoyable to view. The problem is accentuated by a dysfunctional and erratic disciplinary system. I have made too many representations to this effect to the governing body but to absolutely no avail."

Saints have amended their 19 man squad for Friday's game to include both Theo Fages and Oliver Davies.