As others have said, it wasn't just the loss of Sam that cost us, the spine of the team wasn't there. At the end of the day, we gave Saints a massive fright last night. We can talk about having the mental strength to close out big games etc. but ultimately, this wasn't a big game in the grand scheme of things. Of course beating the enemy is always nice, an perhaps we've had it a bit easy the past few years, but I'd have taken a defeat tonight if it meant we win on Saturday.
Finals and trophies are where it's at now. Yes, the league table has become a bit of a side show now and that's down to the RFL, but if we put a trophy in the cabinet (or two hopefully
) the season will be considered a success and this game will be forgotten about.
Could you imagine though, if the RFL said that whoever finishes top is champions? We would now have a 3-way fight to decide the winners and I really couldn't call it. One thing is for sure if that was case: Sam, Lockers and HH would certainly have played.
On a positive note, how good was Pat's drop goal?