21-man squad to face Castleford

[moto748]

I'd settle for just making sure the vast majority of their talk is about what's actually going on on the pitch.

[josie andrews]

I'd settle for just making sure the vast majority of their talk is about what's actually going on on the pitch.

Said it for years! It’s like a bunch of old men in the tap room of a pub, chunnering on all the time

[EagleEyePie]

No it us not!!!

I'm sure you must have seen some of the NRL games this year. Do there commentators constantly refer to errors/mistakes/foul play either clear or not? No they do not

They call the game as they see it and highlight the positives and good things. If a try is scored is is because of skill not shit defence - that is the problem with the SKY team. Over lockdown seen loads of old games on the Rugby Leagues Cares page on Facebook and it comes to something when Ray French and Alex Murphy are better commentators than the biased clowns currently offering verbal diarrhea for SKY

What NRL games have you been watching? If there's an incident of foul play then the commentators give their opinions on it and discuss it and they give it further coverage at half time or after the game. That's what they have to do as part of their jobs. If they didn't mention it then people would be asking why they weren't paying any attention to it. Just look at the Proctor/Johnson incident. That blew up more than any incident ever would over here.

The Sky commentary team is far from perfect. It's debatable whether it's even good, but they are supposed to comment on foul play or anything that might be contentious and give it some focus.

If anything like that happened against us fans would be complaining if the commentators weren't mentioning it and discussing it at half time. There's plenty of reasons to criticise the Sky coverage but actually talking about foul play is hardly one of them.

[wall_of_voodoo]

No it us not!!!

I'm sure you must have seen some of the NRL games this year. Do there commentators constantly refer to errors/mistakes/foul play either clear or not? No they do not

They call the game as they see it and highlight the positives and good things. If a try is scored is is because of skill not shit defence - that is the problem with the SKY team. Over lockdown seen loads of old games on the Rugby Leagues Cares page on Facebook and it comes to something when Ray French and Alex Murphy are better commentators than the biased clowns currently offering verbal diarrhea for SKY

What NRL games have you been watching? If there's an incident of foul play then the commentators give their opinions on it and discuss it and they give it further coverage at half time or after the game. That's what they have to do as part of their jobs. If they didn't mention it then people would be asking why they weren't paying any attention to it. Just look at the Proctor/Johnson incident. That blew up more than any incident ever would over here.

The Sky commentary team is far from perfect. It's debatable whether it's even good, but they are supposed to comment on foul play or anything that might be contentious and give it some focus.

If anything like that happened against us fans would be complaining if the commentators weren't mentioning it and discussing it at half time. There's plenty of reasons to criticise the Sky coverage but actually talking about foul play is hardly one of them.

Highlighted my point exactly yet you seem unable or unwilling to grasp.

Was the Clare incident foul play??????? I will make it easy for you - yes or no

SKY had decided - no matter what the camera showed - that the only way Clare went down and was stretchered off was due to foul play, Did you see it (foul play)? Did the Castleford players react to it? Did it become a flashpoint? Are you willing to castigate Smithies and demand his removal from the team permanently like those that hounded Flower after the Grand Final? If not why not? One punched an unconscious player - the other SKY had already decided attempted to cause deliberate serious injury by Smithies

I would surmise that was trial by commentators and that Daryl Powell was then "led" by the post match questioning into "foul play caused the incident" without even asking his players or medical staff. So what we now have all over media platforms is Smithies "guilty" before the end of the match credits have finished

BTW did I ever say that if a player made a particular bad foul that the Aussies wouldn't mention or debate it? They just wouldn't spend the entire remaining time droning on about the merits or not of the referees decision and the disciplinary committee. They let the judiciary decide if there are cases to answer

[wall_of_voodoo]

Do you know what, I am going to suggest that the Halliwell Jones pitch was not "up to standard" for rugby

How many players picked up serious leg injuries in the fixtures played on the pitch this weekend? Could be bad luck but the number of times a player slipped appeared to suggest the ground was a little too firm for studs and the rain on the Saturday made is extra "greasy"

[Mike]

Was the Clare incident foul play??????? I will make it easy for you - yes or no

Yes.

[EagleEyePie]

Highlighted my point exactly yet you seem unable or unwilling to grasp.

Was the Clare incident foul play??????? I will make it easy for you - yes or no

SKY had decided - no matter what the camera showed - that the only way Clare went down and was stretchered off was due to foul play, Did you see it (foul play)? Did the Castleford players react to it? Did it become a flashpoint? Are you willing to castigate Smithies and demand his removal from the team permanently like those that hounded Flower after the Grand Final? If not why not? One punched an unconscious player - the other SKY had already decided attempted to cause deliberate serious injury by Smithies

I would surmise that was trial by commentators and that Daryl Powell was then "led" by the post match questioning into "foul play caused the incident" without even asking his players or medical staff. So what we now have all over media platforms is Smithies "guilty" before the end of the match credits have finished

BTW did I ever say that if a player made a particular bad foul that the Aussies wouldn't mention or debate it? They just wouldn't spend the entire remaining time droning on about the merits or not of the referees decision and the disciplinary committee. They let the judiciary decide if there are cases to answer

I'm not unable or willing to grasp anything. God knows what you're going on about mentioning the Flower incident and hounding Smithies out of the team? Relax.

In answer to your yes or no question, I'd say yes. The match review committee also think yes and view it as a Grade D offence which is pretty high severity. Do I think it's the worst challenge in the world? No, of course not. There's mitigating circumstances. By the current interpretations though it's obvious why it's being treated by the MRP as foul play and why the commentators and many others see it as such. Not every incident of possible foul play is black or white though. He'll get the chance to argue his case at the disciplinary. He may get away without punishment. He may get a reduced ban. They may throw the book at him. It's not going to matter what Barrie McDermott said about it on commentary though.

The Sky team didn't spend the remaining time going on about it did they? They mentioned it at the time and then they commented on the rest of the game. They obviously talked about it when Clare was down. They are entitled to do so. They are entitled to provide their opinion and that's basically what they did.