NickyKiss wrote:Yeah, there is just no way a Saints fan could claim they’d butcher either side on Saturday. Maybe they’d have scraped past either side, who knows but that attack was dealt with pretty comfortably by Catalans the week before and we broke them up a good few times.
You can never say for sure (see Ben Flower final) but, on form alone, I can say for certain that they wouldn't have come close. They were a spent force even without losing the extra players for the final.
Their fans keep going on about "joint top" and "finishing on the same points" but that's a glossing over the reality of what really happened. While we were busy nilling Catalans on their own pitch, running riot putting big scores on teams and restricting the opposition to an average of less than a try a game, they were limping past opponents with abject displays and appalling attack. Even their much vaunted defence, although still good, wasn't on a par with ours.
Their semi final display was a perfect illustration of their season. They had nothing else to offer and the final, had they got there, would have been more of the same.
Phuzzy wrote:You can never say for sure (see Ben Flower final) but, on form alone, I can say for certain that they wouldn't have come close. They were a spent force even without losing the extra players for the final.
Their fans keep going on about "joint top" and "finishing on the same points" but that's a glossing over the reality of what really happened. While we were busy nilling Catalans on their own pitch, running riot putting big scores on teams and restricting the opposition to an average of less than a try a game, they were limping past opponents with abject displays and appalling attack. Even their much vaunted defence, although still good, wasn't on a par with ours.
Their semi final display was a perfect illustration of their season. They had nothing else to offer and the final, had they got there, would have been more of the same.
Believe Percival would’ve missed the final with injury, so him and Matautia would’ve sat on the sidelines with Batchelor. Guys like Walmsley and Sironen looked half fit as well. They’d have had to bring Hurrell back in, who would’ve faced Wardle in that form, with that footwork.
I’d have been far more nervous for a Saints final but I said in the week leading up that Catalans was the harder fixture because of those circumstances.
NickyKiss wrote:Believe Percival would’ve missed the final with injury, so him and Matautia would’ve sat on the sidelines with Batchelor. Guys like Walmsley and Sironen looked half fit as well. They’d have had to bring Hurrell back in, who would’ve faced Wardle in that form, with that footwork.
I’d have been far more nervous for a Saints final but I said in the week leading up that Catalans was the harder fixture because of those circumstances.
More nervous in the sense that the consequences of something going wrong (a la Ben Flower as said earlier) would have been worse but I'd have gone into the final more confident of a win. Catalans, as it turned out, were similarly blunt in attack but we absolutely knew Saints were.
A lot of my Saints supporting mates said the same as me pre-Catalan. It looked like one game too far and I think even had we sneaked through you would have had too much strike and pace for us particularly as NK alludes to with players missing.
What I was trying to say was that Saturdays game was more of an arm wrestle rather than Wigan being free flowing in attack. Yes they made the odd clean break but French was very quiet, Field in flashes showed his class but it was Wigan's defence that stood out. That type of game would've suited Saints better, set for set, kick to the corners etc. No one that I know is categorically saying we would've won at all.
Our attack has been our Achilles heel all season, most Saints fans will admit that.
However just to add- Wigan's points for has been largely inflated by playing a HKR reserve team at home and a Leeds side that had given up the season.
Stu M wrote:I think there's a touch of artistic licence here.
A lot of my Saints supporting mates said the same as me pre-Catalan. It looked like one game too far and I think even had we sneaked through you would have had too much strike and pace for us particularly as NK alludes to with players missing.
What I was trying to say was that Saturdays game was more of an arm wrestle rather than Wigan being free flowing in attack. Yes they made the odd clean break but French was very quiet, Field in flashes showed his class but it was Wigan's defence that stood out. That type of game would've suited Saints better, set for set, kick to the corners etc. No one that I know is categorically saying we would've won at all.
Our attack has been our Achilles heel all season, most Saints fans will admit that.
However just to add- Wigan's points for has been largely inflated by playing a HKR reserve team at home and a Leeds side that had given up the season.
The HKR one I can go with (Saints wouldn't have come close to putting that many on them mind) but that Leeds team had beaten Hull FC 28-12 the week before and were playing to keep their season alive. Their heads went when the game started to get away from them but that wasn't a team already on their holidays in the first part of the game.
NickyKiss wrote:The HKR one I can go with (Saints wouldn't have come close to putting that many on them mind) but that Leeds team had beaten Hull FC 28-12 the week before and were playing to keep their season alive. Their heads went when the game started to get away from them but that wasn't a team already on their holidays in the first part of the game.
Our points difference was "inflated" by nilling Catalans on their own pitch. Now let me just check how Saints went against Catalans this season....
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