Great first post - Lets hope your future post are as accurate and informed





I was there tonight and booed every player except those who play their domestic football at Headingley.



I'm really glad that the only point scorers tonight were Leeds players - don't know what I'd have done if the likes of Graham, Roby or Chase would have scored - I'd have just had to leave the ground there and then in total disgust.

It's stlll the same old story at the end of the day.

We can just about live with them for 60 minutes then the superior skill, power and fitness take over.

We are still several years behind them in all aspects of the game and the lack of talent in the English game will do nothing to alter that.

Chase should have had the respect and loyality to his own country and demonstrated this buy refusing steve Macs request to pull an england shirt on he will end up in no mans land.

Chase went to McNamara, not the other way around.

What a surprise

Years ahead,,and they beat us without the best fullback on the planet...Phew...

Billy slater may have been missing but they had Darren Lockyer the best true loyal Australian half back in the world who does not have an Identity problem you cut him in half and hes green and gold all the way through. Its time the R F L reconised and develop true red and white and if you like blue. Sort it or you will always fail.

Consider yourself lucky. We had the Rangi Chase fan club behind us, doing their very best to confirm every worst prejudice ever written on these boards about the genteel country folk of Castleford.

Brian Carney is the best commentator on Sky and he always gives an informed & unbiased opinion.



Saying that I much prefer the BBC commentary !

One thing I hope results from last night is that Sky will stop trying to build all the hype surrounding certain players that they seem to favour.

As for the game itself, although we were in touching distance with 60 minutes gone we were lucky to be so and never really troubled Oz.

What really dissapointed me were the some of the shocking errors in our own 20 which came from just complete lack of concentration.

Australia were (and are) better than us in every department of the team - full back, three quarters, half back, front row, back row and bench, with the biggest differences in the half backs and three quarters (and full back last night). Even though we have some quality players in some positions - Graham, Roby, Peacock, Ellis, Hall, Tomkins (thought not last night), they have players who are at least as good, if not better. They did every facet of the game better than England last night - running, tackling, kicking, chasing, passing, ball movement, exit sets, applying pressure, creating chances etc. Only some good last-ditch defending to deny chances to Uate, Yow Yeh, Williams, and a very iffy video ref call to deny Lawrence a try meant that we were still in the game at half time - 8-6 flattered us! Australia could have run in 40-50 yesterday - they were that dominant - had Lockyer got the final kick, Lawrence's try being given and converted that's another 8 points just like that.



So, yet again, we are outplayed by Australia when it matters and we now have the inquest into why and what can we do to catch up. To misquote Sean Connery in the Untouchables: "Do we really want to catch up? What are we prepared to do?". Are we prepared to reduce the size of Super League to 12 or even 10? Are we prepared to play fewer games if that will help? To put proper measures in place to encourage or demand all clubs to nurture and promote young talent rather than imports (which franchising was supposed to do but hasn't) by doing something bold like reducing the salary cap but excluding Club Trained players from it? Will the powers that be force clubs to have the quota of Club Trained players which Harlequins, Huddersfield, Hull KR, Salford and Wakefield didn't meet last year (according to Rugby League World) as clubs are allowed to count 'Club Trained Whilst There' players - basically someone you signed whilst still academy age (e.g. Jay Pitts)? We shall see but I have my doubts.



Finally, the worst part of last night was the booing of Johnathan Thurston. His high tackle on Hall was not malicious and not a sending off offence and we got the penalty try for it. He is a great player, up there with the best scrum halves I have seen (along with Sterling and Johns) and in my opinion the best player in the world (although I'd have given Sam Thaiday last night's MOTM). It's a shame he isn't appreciated.

Agree with much of your post, and Thurston is indeed a very, very special talent, but I can't remember a game where a player guilty of a foul that leaves a player dazed on the ground or seriously injured hasn't been booed for most of the rest of the game. It adds enormously to the atmosphere and is a great part of the excitement of being in a large partisan crowd.

I was certainly a 'booer' when it happened, as were most of the people around me, but that didn't in any way detract from my appreciation of the extraordinary skill and quickness of mind he displayed for most of the game.