After watching the game today i thought Billy Slater was playing the way the embarrassing commentary team went on and on. Saints fans take the mickey out of how much Jai Field is mentioned (and so he should, he is twice the player) but every game now Welsby is being spoken about in prime Inglis terms. They did the same with Trueman. Making half decent players sound like world beaters because they are English. If they are that good then where are the queues of NRL clubs?

Wilkin could get on the US Supreme Court he’s so biased. Some temper tantrum’s from the golden baby today the ref will probably get banned for child neglect

He’s a really good player Welsby but I always think back to how opposition fans used to get eat up about the praise Sam Tomkins would get from the Sky team early in his career and they would say he was overrated. This was around the time in 2012 when Tomkins scored 28 try’s and made 33 assists in a season. Welsby for my money gets the most praise of any individual since then and he’s got 6 try’s and 17 assists so far this season. As I say he’s a really good player but there’s no doubt his billing from the Sky team outweighs his actual level of talent. He was a real mixed bag tonight, some top stuff but some really messy stuff as well.

It was a sick-fest, to be honest.

Welsby's a good player, but he isn't worthy of all this adulation.

We had years of Eddie and Stevo toadying to Keiron Cunningham and Paul Wellens (again, good players, but massively overrated by the Sky Sports commentators, despite never making any notable impression on the Aussies), and now we've got it with Wilkin and whoever the other fella is, and Jack Welsby.

That was really embarrassing, this evening. Welsby did good things, but made errors too, none of which they bothered to comment on. I wonder how long it'll be before we have another appalling "he is the best player in the world" moment?

On a side note, if we can get the win tomorrow, it’s set up lovely for next week in Newcastle. They’ll be sore, not only from tonight but from that semi final and we’ll need to be extremely good to take the points.

If there was any doubt, tonight shows how important it is to finish above Catalan's. Any team going there in the playoffs will be right up against it.

True that. In the grand scheme of things tonight wasn’t a great result for us. The LLS is a none event and it’s all about finishing top 2 IMO. We could’ve done with Saints getting the win and then if we do the business tomorrow, it would’ve opened a nice cushion.

I don’t mind the praise for Welsby, cracking player so deserves it. Sky talk up French and Field just as much.

I really like Wilkin in studio but he was a disaster in the commentary box, he made Phil Clarke look impartial!

A win tomorrow and a win next week we’ll be joint top despite taking 2 weeks off pre Spurs.

Like NK says Saints will be a wounded animal next week and I expect Percival and Hurrell to return so will be stronger. They gave it a good go tonight.

Outside of seeing Saints get beat, I couldn't help thinking it was a bad result for us. With Hudds dropping points last night, we could have done with a Cat's loss too.

Absolutely no doubt he can play but he always looks on the verge of really losing it with the ref if a decision goes against him, Woolf needs to have a word with him before it happens

Hopoate too possibly which will allow Bennison to go on the wing. Makinson going off killed us tonight. They scored all bar one try down our right side with Bell and Davies centre/wing. Percival plays tonight and we win that game, Matautia showing he’s not a centre when he put Grace in for the disallowed try.

I also think Napa and Micky Mc will cop bans too which won’t help us tonight but will benefit Warrington next week.

Welsby deserved praise tonight, he was outstanding. 2 assists and the steal from Kasiano, he was everywhere. Yes he made a couple of bad decisions but he’s still only 21. He’s a brilliant player and to say Field is twice the player is laughable.

The disruption cost us tonight no doubt. It’s always worse when you lose players during the game but our backline had too many changes tonight and it cost us. In the grand scheme of things it’s not the end of the world and if we get Percival and Hurrell back next week we won’t be far off. I doubt Percival will play though and it looks like Makinson could be out for a few weeks.

I’ve said for a while goalkicking will cost us in a big game and it did tonight. 4 tries each but ultimately they kicked an extra goal.

If we get players fit and in their rightful positions it will still take an extremely good performance to beat us in a big game.

Really like watching Bennison. I look at him and don’t expect a lot for some reason but he has a great instinct for finding space and making ground. He’s been cleaned out by Powell and now McIlorum and just cracks on with it.

Welsby is quality, no two ways about it but there’s no doubt he’s overrated IMO. As I said earlier, I don’t think a player has been talked up as much since the days of a prime Sam Tomkins around 2010-2013 and in comparison, he’s a bit off that level. That ain’t his fault mind and doesn’t alter the fact he’s one of the better backs in the league.

Welsby is a very good player but he is nowhere near the level of Tomkins at his peak. In time he may be, we shall have to wait and see. His aggression comes from being a bully at school, until he got decked that is! What I do like about him is his desire to win at all costs.

The World Cup will tell us more about him.

Was it 5 mins we played for according to redvee in the semi?

Welsby is a good player, but I feel like he is one of those players that is aided by playing in a side that is trampling over 99% of its opponents.

Easy to look good in that side 9/10 I would say.

Not doubting his ability, but he could be seen to be better than he is based on things going his way all the time.

I think the praise is well deserved to be honest I think he is a fantastic player and one we as English fans should get excited about.

He is fantastic in defence freakishly strong and great pace, but above all that he is positionally excellent and has a habit of coming up with a big play when it’s needed, as well we know.

He isn’t the complete player but he has the potential to be regarded as World Class if he continues developing as he is and tests himself in the NRL, which I’m sure he will have the opportunity to do. If he has a good World Cup and he has the ambition he will be off sooner rather than later regardless of contract status.

The only thing I see potentially going against him is his versatility, whilst it’s often a useful trait to have players that have that utility value rarely become World class in 1 position.

Think he and Farnworth are 2 young British players we should rightly be excited about.

In regards the commentators I’m glad they talk the game and players up, it used to bother me, but over the last few years it’s become evident most stakeholders in the game especially the fans are only too eager to talk it down.

Great player and getting better all the time. Some really good try assists - he probably needs to be in the England spine somewhere.

I disagree, his defence isn’t great when he is defending in the line. Sam rinsed him tonight and Bibby did the same in the semi-final. He is better at fullback.

Some praise is very well deserved but ‘the praise’ he gets is OTT. I like him, I really do but he seems to be talked about as some sort of generational talent and he isn’t that. In my time watching the game, certain players make you sit back and go ‘wow’ and to me, he just doesn’t do that.

The way the Sky team talk about him is exactly how an Ellery Hanley or Sam Tomkins would be spoke about when they were in their prime and he is nowhere near that level at the moment. Will he get there? I doubt it personally. I said before Tomkins got 28 try’s and 33 assists in his 3rd full season in first team in 2012 and still had people questioning him. Welsby has an incredible knack for being in the right place, at the right time but there are too many weaknesses to hit that level.

But surely Sam will be full-back? i can't see Wane playing Welsby at full-back and Sam in the halves, can you?

I think you are exaggerating this to be honest. Personally I don’t think he gets as much love in as Tomkins in his prime, nowhere near. Last night there was a lot of praise for him but only because Wilkin was co-commentator and has rated him for years.

Welsby gets mentioned more for the drama of his GF winning try and the fact that his family and friends are all Wigan fans and he’s a Wigan lad. I don’t feel that the Sky team go over the top about him, indeed I actually feel Field gets more attention.

Great post. You are spot on with the utility point too. I feel he has suffered this season from constantly changing from 1 to 6 and vice versa plus a different backline every week. His stats would’ve been even more impressive with a settled position and a settled backline.

No Welsby gets mentioned because the Sky commentary team have some weird habit of completely overhyping somebody and this season it seems to be Welsby. He is a decent player but nowhere near the level of adulation he is getting from the (unbiased) commentary, the same kind of unbiased commentary we had for years when Eddie Hemmings used to lower his tone when Wigan scored but then soiled himself when Saints did. Like i say, good player, nowhere near the level he is talked about and nowhere near the level of Field, thats why he is almost double the points behind him in the man of steel rankings. He doesn't do half the things Field can do and there seems to be a myth with the Saints fans that he can't tackle. Field has scored about 10 world class try's this season and set up about another dozen, Welsby has done none of that but is talked about like Inglis, just look at the MOS rankings. As i have already said, where are all these NRL clubs ready to snap up this super talent? Nowhere to be seen, as soon as they get a sniff of a good player in England they are in and whisk them away. None of them want Welsby, not even to develop, i wonder why.

How do you know there has been no NRL interest in him? There’s a reason we gave him a new contract so soon after his last one.

And let’s be honest if Field had the chance to go back he would’ve done. Clearly there was no NRL interest in him otherwise he’d have been back like a shot. He also couldn’t nail down a first team place over there prior to coming to Wigan.

Was Regan Grace last year when Barrie Mac compared him to Martin Offiah. They must have turned everyone else's mic down because I didn't hear much laughing.