Shithouse! It's rugby league 2018!

[doppelkorn]

Catalans? Fresh start! Is he under investigation by UKADA then? I was on their website earlier and noticed Rangi Chase was on the sanctions list. That's a big deal - if this were cycling there would be hang-wringing a-plenty. I guess RL's problems don't include the fact that in 2017 three former men of steel/Dally Ms served coke bans...

[doppelkorn]

Just realised Frank-Paul Nuuasala got released by Wigan as well. Shame. Let's remember the good times https://twitter.com/RLBP_/status/866024857175302146

[mikeyg27]

Dom Crosby's reaction to Liam Watt's headbutt was highlight of the week.

[Old Thrashbarg]

I really don't understand what goes on in Liam Watts's brain sometimes. He was unlucky with a couple of his red cards last year (the Wigan one in particular being a blatantly incorrect decision, as the disciplinary tribunal admitted in a back-handed way), but even some of the normal penalities he gives away are just stupid. And he'll have the occasional brain-fart with an offload too. Think tonight's effort probably rules him out of any international honours for the remainder of his career, which is a shame because he is probably the best prop in the league when he manages to avoid this sort of thing.

[doppelkorn]

Fucks sake Wire. I went to bed after Patton got canned (we're night weaning my son so I need all the sleep I can get) and I at least had the solace of Wigan getting dicked at home. Imagine my horror when I checked my phone at 3:30...

Really need to sort out Kodi as well. BBC commentary is OK but I would have liked to see both cardings.

[dr beat]

I at least had the solace of Wigan getting dicked at home. Imagine my horror when I checked my phone at 3:30...

Aye, in the midst of watching Egg Wallace's latest buffoonery last night I was checking the Widnes score.  When we were still 16-14 to the good I thought we would lose.

[doppelkorn]

How has Dec Patton got five games for a badly timed high tackle while Liam Watts gets three for a headbutt?

Still tho:

[Gulftastic]

If it had been a full on head butt, I'd agree. The high shot was awful and knocked out the victim.

[doppelkorn]

I agree with Gary Schofield on this one, much as I hate to admit it. Patton's chasing him from behind and he'd be expecting to make one of those over the shoulder tackles, then Faraimo is slowed down, so Patton changes his angle of attack so he's coming in from the side, which makes the over the shoulder tackle much more dangerous.

There's a bad outcome, but no intent. If you wanted to hurt someone, you wouldn't do it like that.

[mikeyg27]

In that picture something is making it look like Patton has managed to knock Faraimo's entire mouth off his face. It's been weirding me out ever since I first saw it.

[Gulftastic]

Warrington's openjng five minutes of the second half was truly abysmal and they never really recovered. So many unforced errors.

[Deanjam]

Saints should've wrapped that up by half time. Still, always funny to see them lose. Should calm the hype a bit.

[Gulftastic]

Damn glad we won, obviously, but double glad as losing would have made the three hour crawl back over the Pennines unbearable.

True grit from my Rhinos.

[doppelkorn]

On some RL podcast I was listening to they all tipped Catalans last night. HA! Even the legend got it wrong.

I'm now addicted to listening to Gary because he reminds me of my dad at his worst, building tiny straw men and then dismantling them with bluster. "If you think Ratchford is good enough to get in the England side, I tell you what, you're MAD! You're pathetic. Never in a million years!"

[doppelkorn]

Was about to put a little wager on CASWIG when the option just disappeared off the William Hill page because it's been postponed.

[doppelkorn]

Alright I had this weird flawed idea to completely restructure the top level of rugby league in the UK.

OK.

Right.

You split RL into two brands or conferences like they did with Raw and Smackdown. Stay with me. One is like the "heartlands" conference with like Leeds in, Wigan, Saints etc. The other is the "expansion" conference with Toronto, London, New York in. Maybe a Manchester team. Catalans. For some reason I feel like Warrington would be up for joining it as well. The two conferences play out their own league in the regular season, then the top four go into playoffs and the winners of each conference plays each other in the Grand Final.

Magic Weekend is a special weekend of inter-league play.

The gimmick is that the heartlands conference has the tradition, the fans, the original talent. The new conference has money, branding, bit more flashiness. Keep P+R but only one team goes down from each conf per season, replaced by two teams from the championship. Champ winners get to decide which conference they go in, runners up automatically go in the other one.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG?

[doppelkorn]

Oh and the money comes from an injection of cash from Batchelor's Mushy Peas and Specsavers.

[dr beat]

Big win tonight. Lose and we would have been W2L5, but we got the win. Not pretty but we've had too many noble defeats over the last couple of seasons, we need to win ugly more often.

[Gulftastic]

Weird one.When we let in 24 points, I thought another record drubbing was on the cards, but they regrouped and fought back, eventually outscoring Cas in tries. Only goal kicking cost us the match in the end.

Sad to lose, but I'll take a lot from the match.

[mikeyg27]

Only goal kicking cost us the match in the end.

Why IS Kallum Watkins the kicker? He always strikes me as shaky at best.

[Gulftastic]

Pissed it down all day in Leeds which ruled any chance of a good game between two sides playing for the second time in four days but I'll take 20-0.

I was stood about a metre and a half away from Helen Skelton before the game. She's even prettier in person.

[Old Thrashbarg]

Marc Sneyd kicked a 51m drop goal (i.e. from inside his own half) in the last minute to win the game for Hull today. Pretty remarkable in any conditions, but especially in that rain with a soaking wet pitch and slippery ball.

http://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/rugby-league/11314429/marc-sneyd-50m-dg

[Gulftastic]

Something to cheer you up further, Old. It pissed it down non stop yesterday as I mentioned, and reports from  new South Stand suggest those in the lower tier got fucking soaked. The higher roof offers little or no protection.

I'm sure any away fan who has stood on our western terrace during a wet game will have a ton of sympathy.

[Old Thrashbarg]

It does seem to rain in Leeds unreasonably often when Hull are playing there. And the new roof did look to be more decorative than practical when we were there a few weeks ago.

It's quite impressive that they're actually managing to hold games at Headingley still though, despite the extent of the work being done.

[doppelkorn]

I'm liking Steve Price's tactic of playing three or four games more than anyone else to really boost our league position. People talk about employing young English managers from the champ or League 1, but they don't have this level of nous.

[Gulftastic]

Flat as flip first half, framed themselves in the second. Glad to get 5 out of 6 points over Easter.

[Gulftastic]

Game fucking management! ARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!

[doppelkorn]

Did Sam Tomkins do a "ssshhhhhhh" to the Leeds fans?

[Gulftastic]

Did Sam Tomkins do a "ssshhhhhhh" to the Leeds fans?

if he did, it might have been in my direction because I was screaming blue murder at the stupidity of Leeds' play in thefinal ten minutes. What the fuck they were thinking going for an onside kick at 8-8 is neyond me.

[Deanjam]

Hardaker banned for 14 months, backdated to 8 September 2017. They chose that date as it was the date of the test despite him playing after then.