Gutted

Had we won I would have had French on the shortlist for MOM.

Yeah, honestly I said at the time, I thought it was a fair and legal try. But sometimes (obstruction), they seem to try so hard to find a reason not to award a try...

And yes to French close to MoM.

I had French as mom

Superb game, defences in top, lots of 50/50s that could have gone either way. Our lack of punch in the pack meant we were camped in our own half for too long, if it had gone to extra time we don’t have the kicking range. Going for 2 was the right decision, but only if you can kick it dead if you miss. The Conversion off the cross bar was the killer, the conversion travels 6 inches further it’s over and were 4 clear.

We need more grunt in the pack.

French isn't to blame there - he couldnt commit to the ball until it had bounced and it happened to bounce perfectly for Welsby.

Hardaker not to blame either and I personally would have gone for the 2.

Thought the penalty against Hastings was harsh but I will also say I thought their disallowed try should have been given.

They had the better of possession and territory but we had the better chances - we cut them open when we had the chance to go out wide.

Horrible feeling but congrats to Saints. Remember we're still 7 championships ahead of anyone else

Whoever decided to go for the two wants shooting. Hardaker isn’t guaranteed to kick those on the training ground never mind after 78 minutes of a game like that. In fact after that sort of match Pat Richards wouldn’t have been odds on to kick it. Inexplicable decision when all that is needed is a drop goal and if you miss that you still have extra time sudden death.

Im pretty sure it was offside, i thought the actual try was a tighter decision. Why can’t they get the lines out like they do for offsides in football?

I have to agree

No, he had to go for it. Danny McGuire who played alongside Hardaker expected him to kick it.

I never said French had a bad game , I thought he played well but tonight I feel he should have moved out wide to be more effective. Hardaker is stronger running the ball out from fullback . French thrives on the smallest of gaps in defence when bringing the ball out from fullback. There weren’t any gaps tonight

Firstly Ben Flower ruled out of the GF after getting injured last week

THEN Hardaker being a complete bottle job and costing his team the GF.

Karma at its finest and dont you just you love to see it.
Couldnt have happened to 2 nicer blokes

It was hardly a simple kick.

I'd say most players would back Frano Botica but he still missed occasionally including against us for Cas at Central Park.

We shouldn''t have put him in that position IMO.

What a war that was.

Gutted to lose especially like that but we had a chances to win the game and didn’t take them.

Very proud of the effort though, some performance.

Wigan and Saints are so far ahead of the pack it’s unreal.

Chin up lads, we’ll pick that trophy up again in the next couple of years. Saints are a great side too, respect.

Anyone who thinks he shouldn’t have gone for that kick is a whopper who has never played the game.

Absolutely the correct decision and was just unlucky

His kicking success rate this year is not good enough to be going for those never mind after an an exhausting game like that. Especially when the alternative takes you half way to the sticks (minimum) for a drop goal.

The point in his career when Hardaker wasn't a primary kicker? Hardaker bottles kicks in big games, it's known and it was a terrible decision.

It wasn't a simple kick, but it was a kick to win the game. He had to have a go IMO.
We should have defended it better though, they came over sixty metres from the catch.

You missed The Messiah’s last game and Lamb’s tears........

Our chase was terrible

Pride, that’s what I feel tonight. The side has come a long way in 12 months. I want to credit both sides tonight, they were immense and went to places I’ve not seen rugby players have to go to before. One or two things could’ve dropped the other way for us tonight but that’s rugby and that’s life and you can’t win them all. It’s been a tough period for everyone this last 8 months but tonight I felt alive watching that.

Well done to St Helens. I think we’d have beat any team in superleague by 20+ points tonight playing at that intensity but they, like us, refused to break. It feels like the first of a number of upcoming battles tonight between the two clubs.

Sat on the sideline is a marquee signing who if it was anyone else would’ve tipped that war in the middle in our favour. It’s been disappointing at times this last 6 months but to have the uncompromising my aggression back leaves me with a lot of hope for the future. It’s going to be difficult with an arthritic Burgess sucking the salary cap dry though.

It's ok to blame Hardaker for taking on a match winning penalty but shouldn't we also be looking at the Smithies tackle on half time? Had he just wrapped his arms around then there would have been no penalty!!

It’s not a night for talk of George Burgess IMO. Until you mentioned his name I forgot he existed. They had a half crippled Walmsley trying to play, so it wasn’t perfect for anyone.

In an ideal world we’ll manage to part ways but it’s likely he’ll just sit in his deal.

Yep.

3 key moments and we came out the wrong side of them all