You don't need an unbeaten run to be the champions.

I won't sulk over the fact I lost £5 betting that saints will win on Saturday. I won't defend myself for going over the top and saying Saints will put eighteen points past Leeds. But what I will say is that you cannot turn up to Old Trafford expecting to win just because you step on the pitch.

Saints did that on Saturday, and it cost them dear. They were outplayed by Leeds who let nothing get them down. A Saints try was immediately replied to. A few lucky bounces of the ball went Leeds' way as well as the character of the seventeen amber and blue players that was second to none all benefited the Yorkshire club. Saints - the best club in the competition? Don't make me laugh.
Championship winning sides don't gift their opponents easy ball possession, especially in their own half. What was Francis Meli thinking when he let that 40/20 find touch? Leeds killed off any Saints revival when they scored from that. Also a few individuals failed to perform, putting their England selection in doubt. I failed to see Leon Pryce all game, he simply let Long do all the hard work. James Graham, while he didn't have the worst of games, showed he is mortal being outplayed by Peacock.

Personally, I though the Saints game plan was all wrong. After listening to the team line up after placing another bet for Matt Gidley to be first try scorer (?) it was clear Leeds had shafted the inexperienced Hall and Ablett on the right wing. In my opinion, Meli and Talau should have took advantage, as Gardner and Gidley would have their hands full with Senior and Donald. As it was, they didn't and both Hall and Ablett had reasonable games with Hall scoring in the corner for Leed's other first half try.

Leeds didn't do anything special. There was no dramas, pieces of magic and no work of genius in attack. Simply, Leeds stuck to a simple game plan. The odd inside ball here, suck a defender in there and put the support player into the gap. Not tricky. Saints managed that only a few times and only scored off it once, which was in the first five minutes with Graham crossing under the posts.

As for a Leeds counter attack, Lee Smith, wheather you think he should be on the pitch or not (ie, not) he was the warrior that led it. A real contender for that left wing spot, I think he has edged Peter Fox for that number five jersey in England's first game. I also think Tony Smith may have a selection headache over the number six shirt as well. Danny McGuire performed his one game of the year, but he didn't half make an impact when he did it.

Saints may have gone twenty four games unbeaten, and many say they were the best side in the competition, but the same many are also forgetting Leeds' early season form. In fact, Leeds never left the top two all year. Are you sure Saints are the best side in the competition after twenty seven rounds? Yes, they won the League Leaders Shield, but by one point. So if anyone says Leeds don't deserve to win Super League XIII after a play off series, ignore them. Leeds have been consistantly at a high standard all year, wheras Saints had a poor beginning to the season. After ten rounds they wern't even in a play off spot. Its a long season, and I personally think their contribution to the competition was overhyped. Leon Pryce came out during the week leading up to the match and said the rest of the compatition is not at a high enough standard to compete with Saints. Leeds are now Super League champions for the second year running.

The moral, Leon, is to never underestimate a side that lead the competition for twenty consecutive rounds. No matter where they finished afterwards.

Which brings me onto Brian McClennan. This guy is an outstanding coach and gets the best out of his players on the day. The lucky few that witnessed New Zealand thrash Australia in Leeds on the 26th Novermber 2005 know he can pull the rabbit out of the hat when it matters. Which at the end of the day, is all that matters in Rugby League. Twenty four consecutive wins does not guarentee you championship success.

Not in this sport it doesn't.

NRL Grand Final.

There is more at stake than just a trophy for Billy Slater of Melbourne and Brett Stewart of Manly. Both players have been instrumental in getting their sides to the Grand Final on Sunday and now one must be ranked higher than the other with the best performer getting to wear that Australian jersey in Sydney on 26th October against New Zealand.

Quite often, selectors have chosen the more experienced player at international level, often believing that if they've done it once before then they can do it again. But in this case both players have been inseparable in terms of playing ability. Both can score tries, both can save tries and both have stood out time and time again.

However, the grand final does not rely on one man to win it for a club. It takes seventeen players each pulling their weight. Many seem to be in form at the moment with Matt Orford running the show. The Dally M winner hasn't let anything get in his way all year and is so influential to the Manly side. On top of that, Steve Menzies will say goodbye to the NRL after this game and will join Bradford for 2009. Hes a player who is as experienced as he is quality. Beating the club record, contraversially, for Manly most number of tries scored in a career last season, he will also hold the joint record for the number of apperances at first grade if he walks out onto the pitch on Sunday.

It will be a match that will be brutal, emotional and will provide plenty of drama. And will also give Manly another taste of success after twelve years waiting.

Super League XIII Grand Final.

St Helens and Leeds will contest the most important game of the domestic season at Old Trafford on Saturday. Saints will go into the game overwhelming favourites after their comfortable thrashing over Leeds in the qualifying semi two weeks ago at the GPW Recruitment Stadium. In that match Saints dominated every area of the game. They were the better at going forward, they were better with ball in hand and their kicking game was second to none.

However, Leeds will know that it is the Grand Final match that counts. They go into this game as defending champions after a shocking win over St Helens twelve months ago that left the Saints players, coaching staff and fans bewildered. With that thought in the back of their minds, I can only see a Saints victory on Saturday.

There are also other factors that swing it Saints' way. This game will be Daniel Anderson's last in charge of the Merseyside club as he heads back home to Australia. And if that wasn't enough motivation, the thought of last years defeat will no doubt spur them on.

Leeds go into this game on the back of a tight and entertaining game against Wigan. As a team, Leeds were the better side, however certain individuals failed to show for Wigan. Taking nothing away from Leeds or Wigan, but looking at Leeds' past two results shows the gap between Saints and the rest of Super League.

The players to watch on Saturday are without a doubt James Graham and Jamie Peacock. It could be a case of the apprentice beating the master. Graham, the newly crowned Man of Steel winner, is on top form and a dead certainty for going to the world cup. Peacock, as England captain, has a reputation to prove. Both players I respect enormously and appreciate the hard work they put in time and time again. But this is one battle within a war I cannot wait to see unfold.

So who will win? St Helens. By how many? I'd say by about eighteen, although the game will not swing further than twelve points in either direction until the final ten minutes where the side who concedes late on will lose out mentally.

Graham, Peacock or Pryce?

The Man of Steel awards is part of a traditional process with the week leading up to Grand Final day. Its similar to Good Friday before Easter Sunday, the boat race before the grand national and Sydney before South Sydney. But as ever, its generally full of contraversy, or full of agreement. Last year we saw contraversy as Trent Barrett had his Man of Steel award pickpocketed by James Roby. In fact, I wouldn't at all be surprised if Barrett stood up as last year's announcer said "And the winner is..."

A Saints player has won the award for the past three seasons. In fact the last player not to play for Saints and win it was Andy Farrell in 2004. He is one of three players to have won it more than once, with Farrell also securing the prize in 1996 while Paul Sculthorpe is the only player to have won it back to back in 2001 and 2002. Only Ellery Hanley has won it three times, 1985, 1987 and 1989, the last two he did playing for Wigan and Bradford before that.

So who will claim this year's award? Well if it were up to me I would pick James Graham. The ginger prop has had a never-back-down attitude similar to Jamie Peacock all year. In fact there are times I would say he has outplayed the England captain, especially last time the two sides met. As much as I respect Peacock, because he is an inspirational player and national captain, I do think Graham has excelled himself.

So where does this leave Leon Pryce? Well, the lads done good, but trying to compare him to a prop forward is like comparing Huddersfield Underbank to a football club. You can't do it because they are two different players. However, I do think Pryce has a very good case to win. His playing style is similar to McGuire, only much better. He is there when teammates make a break and he is there in support on the inside of Long or Cunningham everytime.

I think Graham will win, but either way the award is going to a Saints player...again.

Calderwood for the English left wing? I don’t think so.

Mark Calderwood had the game of his life on Friday. Watched on by Tony Smith, he kept Wigan in the game time and time again when Leeds seemed to have got one over them. Jamie Jones-Buchanan was denied in the corner thanks to Calderwood, as was Burrow, in a situation that has seen the little scrum half score from countless times before. And with Gareth Raynor out of the world cup with a toe injury, it seems the left wing shirt is up for grabs.

Peter Fox would seem the likely candidate. He made his international debut against France in this seasons international against France. However, despite Fox being the favourite Lee Smith is also a worthy candidate. But some pundits are now saying Calderwood should be within a shout. And in all fairness, they couldn’t be more wrong.

On Friday, Calderwood showed what he could do at the top of his game. In my opinion he was man of the match despite being on the losing side. No single player in a Leeds shirt outplayed him, but was let down by a second best forward pack in the cherry and white. But despite his heroics at Headingley, I don’t think he has shown enough of the same throughout the season to warrant himself a place in the starting seventeen against Papa New Guinea. Smith will no doubt feel the same. Smith, in his second year as the national team coach, has come across as a coach who is after quality and consistency in all of his players. Calderwood has not shown that this season.

All of this speculation is despite Calderwood being named in the Scotland squad via his grand parentage. Well good luck to him in the Scottish thistle, but if he were to be included in the England squad I have no doubt his selection would be a waste.

EDIT 29/9/08: Tony Smith has said previuously he will only pick players who are on form for the international side. However he has failed to mention if this is good form, bad form or previous season's form.

The End of Term Report - Part Four

Wigan
Fourth place finish is no mean feat after 27 rounds of the regular season. To finish third after the play offs is always an achievement worth celebrating. But to do so in the manner that they did yesterday against Leeds is a tough pill to swallow.

Last nights game is up there with some of the best I've seen this year. I'm talking about Saints V Warrington, Brisbane V Melbourne standards. It was full of drama, controversy, bone crunching tackles and moments of genius with a few good tries thrown in for good measure. Mark Calderwood stood up and was noticed last night, for the first time since he joined Wigan from Leeds way back in 2005. He was truly remarkable. However I've got a whole article lined up for him so I'll leave the praise until then.

Wigan's season has seen more up and down than Jodie Marsh, ranging from the highs in Perpignan to the lows in Cardiff. They were never lucky to have gained fourth place in the final round of the season. A certain other team had it in their back pockets only for Dick Turpin aided by his merry band of scoucers to pick poket it from them. Actually thays a lie, they were given it on a plate.

Wigan never seem to go throuh a season without contraversy. They seem to have a reputation for breaking the salary cap, which in fairness is rightly deserved. An example of this is the signing of Tim Smith from Parramatta. Speculation was rife they were once again over the cap despite the earlier but unknown loan release of a few younger players. And then theres the whole stadium fiasco a feww weeks back. I've never been a fan of Wheelan, in fact I hate the guy for they way he treats the club as second class citizens despite the fact they have just as much right to play at the JJB Stadium as much as the football club do.

So another tough year for Wigan players, staff and the fans. Thats all in a years work, isn't it?

Injury worries for Smith.

It seems many players eligible for England have been dropping like flies recently. The first to go was Sean O'Loughlin, no real loss but more of an inconvenience. Then Any Lynch decided to cry off sick, again with players like Peacock, Morley and Graham it would need a miracle if Lynch were to be selected anyway. Newton then "did a Cunningham" the way only hookers can, which was no real worry as Roby and Clarke can easily cover that role. Unfortunately, Clarke also decided to "do a Newton" away in France. Maybe a small concern for the newly adopted-Englishman Smith, but the loss of Sam Burgess was a huge blow. However, with a reasonable depth in the propping area it seems size up front has not been affected by the credit crunch or global warming. I even hear that the price for a barrell of props is coming down, which for one reason or another, is bad news for the oil industry.

However, the valuable backs have also been affected by HIV or even bird flu. Paul Deacon, who hasn't played internationally since he was knocked out by Nigel Vagana in 2005, is out. As cover for halfbacks goes, he was suitable if Burrow couldn't cope against Australia. And while Deacon may have been a stone, the sapphire in Tony Smith's avaliable wingers is no longer avaliable. Gareth Raynor has today came out and said he needs a toe operation.

This news might suit Peter Fox, who made his international debut against France mid season. Wingers are in short supply, so will someone please wrap Ade Gardner in bubble wrap for the Grand Final?

So overall, it seems our strength in depth think we're in the seventeenth century and we're sending them to Australia as convicts. This is not the case. While the starting seventeen seem to be in place and still alive (as far as I'm aware) the disease that is 'injury' seem to be eating this England side at the seems. With a maximum of two games left for those players still in season before England face Papa New Guinea in Townsville, the intensity will not let up and the risk of injury will be higher. Lets hope our star players can weather the storm and they can pull on that England shirt come the 25th October.