Episode 17 Super League Show

The sun has been out and the big guns in Super League have been out.

It's round 17, and time to put some markers down

# I got this feeling inside my bones # It goes electric wavey when I turn

it on # All through my city, all through my home,

# We're flying up, no ceiling, when we in our zone.

# I can't stop the feeling So just dance, dance,

Eorl Crabtree is alongside Hull Kingston Rovers captain

Terry Campese to spread some sunshine over

St Helens against Warrington was the hot match of round 17.

It was second against fifth, and Stuart Pike was there.

COMMENTATOR: The Saints will need to defend well

against Super League's most potent attack.

But Chris Sandow, a little dummy, held the pass up beautifully.

Saints have been dominant with a lot of the possession, a lot

of the ball, but don't really look like scoring.

Clear and present danger, and now it's Sandow again.

No wonder he is right up there for Man of Steel.

St Helens just cannot get a foothold in this game.

Every time Warrington get close, they are dangerous.

Again, they tacked this side, this right side, and Atkins...!

Well, is that a try to celebrate his 300th career appearance?

And I'm sure the video referee will think so too.

300 career appearances, much to muse about for

Ben Currie, just trying something different, and Atkins

Ratchford, they cannot stop Stefan Ratchford.

Straight out of the traps at the start of the second half.

That could be game, set and match, if it isn't already,

but the vision of Daryl Clark and Stefan Ratchford,

at one of the best supporting players

And it's been another miserable night for the Saints,

but you cannot take anything away from Warrington.

They really do look like they're going to score every time

Still early stages of this second half, Gidley with the kick forward,

Rhys Evans won't score many more simple tries this season.

Another disaster, defensively, for St Helens.

It's over 30 years since St Helens were nailed at home

Saints have been outfought and outplayed, but they have a try.

This, though, is Warrington's night, again.

STUDIO: Earl, for you, was that result ever in any doubt?

Going into the game, I actually thought St Helens might

actually pressure them, put them under a bit of pressure

and make sure they had to work for it, but it didn't seem

I think there were too many mistakes by St Helens, and Warrington...

They just looked like that team that could win something.

And they were playing with that confidence as well,

In the end, it was just reward, but for St Helens,

Interestingly, Tony Smith saying afterwards they had barely trained

all week because of the injuries and he was worried

Did that reflect the way they played in terms of just trying to get those

points on and then you can take a couple of your players off?

I thought Chris Sandow and Currie were outstanding, their combination

I think clubs will come knocking for Currie in the coming months.

It's an interesting relationship, isn't it, the amount

of points they score down that left-hand side.

You can just tell that they are happy.

Here's a picture of Chris Sandow with a smile on his face,

and that just shows how they come out and play on the weekend.

And if you watch his style of play, does he look like a player who needs

that kind of confidence and happiness?

I think when he got over here last year, he wasn't playing the kind

of football he is, but he had a pre-season with Warrington,

and this just shows what he can do, and he has been one

of their best players all year, and scored some class tries.

And a fabulous kick as well from Ben Currie.

Yes, the sort of thing you wouldn't really recognise him for as well,

but everything he touches turns to gold, the same as Sandow.

No matter what they do, they seem to score points and seem

to be enjoying themselves as well, so it's a combination

that we will probably need to watch for the rest of the season.

He looked a bit of a shadow of himself, at times last season,

but he looks like the player we all know he can be.

That team was a shadow of themselves as well,

because they weren't making the yardage, they weren't getting

It's no coincidence that this year, when they are playing really well,

they're standing up and making those metres again, making those breaks,

off-loading in the right positions on what looks

They have a good team this year and they're playing again,

I keep talking about confidence but it makes such

Keiron Cunningham's side clearly lacking confidence.

He was talking about anxiety from his side.

Where do you see it going wrong at St Helens at the moment?

Like I said before, if you dig a hole, sometimes it's

hard to get out of it, and I think that's what they did

on the weekend, they probably thought in their heads,

the first 20 minutes could be very important, they got out there,

it didn't go to plan, and everything they did,

it seemed like they didn't have the confidence.

Here we can see on the TV what they would normally do,

but if things aren't going to plan, this seems to happen.

And they were being booed, Keiron Cunningham was being booed.

It is tough times when that is happening to you at home.

They are making simple mistakes, you can talk about tactics

and getting in the right position, but if the final ball is not good

enough and someone just makes a dropped pass, you will

But the fans booing off the back of it...

And the body language of the players at times?

It seems to be all around the club, doesn't it, when the fans

are booing, the players have negative body language,

Cunningham, as well, has been negative in

It seems like there's a vicious circle there,

and it's something they need to snap out of it.

Errors happen, mistakes happen, and you get over them.

Well, a dozen rounds ago, Hull FC lost by 40 points at Widnes,

and Lee Radford stayed out of the dressing room whilst

the players thrashed out their problems.

The two teams have gone in different directions since.

It was Widnes who scored first when they met on Friday.

After that, though, it was pretty much Hull FC all the way.

Yes, they've been the class team in my eyes this year.

They've won 12 from 13, and they have the whole squad

to pick from, they have had hardly any injuries all year

and it shows on the field, they've all got confidence

And how important that they did thrash out those problems

when they lost to Widnes all those rounds ago?

It seems strange, because at the time,

people were questioning it, and it's something I didn't

see an issue with it, where the players got together

They have obviously solved something.

They used to be a Jekyll Hyde team, and this year,

They are a team that's absolutely flying, everything they're doing

is working really well, but they're playing

You can tell even by videos of them in the changing rooms after games,

they are absolutely enjoying themselves and loving every moment

of winning games, and they work hard for each one.

They are a team that's hard to beat this year, and even there,

there's just so many numbers around the ball,

five white shirts, and there's just no shirts there from the opposition.

And Jamie Shaul having a fantastic season, but do you look

at the Widnes defence when you look at this one,

I think Scott Taylor is probably the number one front row

This just suppose, great support play by Shaul, as he always does.

This is just what confident football does for you.

Would you have kept up with Shaul there?

Yes, I would probably just have gone all the way

He obviously fancied a break, but at the top of it,

Scott Taylor there, he's been absolutely brilliant, but again,

this is a player at Wigan who couldn't get in the team

at times, who was lacking confidence, wasn't happy,

This is what the difference being in a good team

And for Widnes, they used up a lot of energy,

As you say, Hull are the form team, is this one they just

Yes, I think it will be a tough loss.

They have lost a few now over the last couple of months,

and they just have to regroup and go back to the drawing board and come

It all changes after one win, and that's what they've got

You talked about the two confidence teams, two teams playing well,

First of all, it's a massive game, I am absolutely looking forward

to this one, and I think it's going to be a classic.

I hope it is, anyway, I hope it's one of those

games where Warrington, in recent times, in recent weeks,

months, they've had those slip-ups, whereas Hull FC have

I'm going with Hull, I honestly think Hull could win this one.

With the form that they're in, they will deserve to go on and win

it, but anything could happen, especially on the left edge

Well, Leave or Remain is the big questions surrounding Leeds Rhinos

at the moment, five straight Super League defeats left

the champions at the foot of the table, and they are likely

to face a fight for Super League survival in the qualifiers.

Their latest match was against Catalans on Friday,

and the commentator for this one was Richard Stead.

COMMENTATOR: Here is Lilley to McGuire.

Moon is running, moves to the left of the ruck, he's away,

Ferris is over for the opener, Leeds lead.

Dragons' pressure, Carney again, kicks for a try, Horo,

Bit of a scruffy play-the-ball there.

Fast hands here from the Dragons again, an opportunity,

this will be a try, just by the uprights,

Leeds go again, maybe an opportunity, maybe a try,

and Leeds have scored, and that is Josh Walters

A robust run here from Casty, but he's dropped it.

Oh, terrible stuff, and Pelissier is away.

And this will seal it for the Catalan Dragons.

Cruel for Leeds there, they could have snatched

Very proud, especially with French players in my Catalan team,

You know, Albert is 18, Yaha is 19.

Navarrete has got one game, one Super League game's experience,

Some people are going out, some people are going in,

and they work out for each other, and stand up for each other,

and that's always pleasing, and come here and win the two points

against Leeds, we are desperate to win points, and it's

We all made plans at the start of the year,

and some of these plans are dashed, aren't they?

When you talk about what might happen, I don't think anybody

envisions this might be happening to us in anybody's wildest dreams.

But you'd hope you're going to get something from it,

and you hope that we can all conduct ourselves

and operate in such a fashion where there are still

Justin Turner and the club has been brilliant.

The players have been great, the staff...

Working more hours than God sends, and the fans, they have been

absolutely sensational in their perseverance

STUDIO: Laurent Frayssinous making a point there about the 12 French

They've been accused at some times of being an NRL team, if you like,

but it is really good, isn't it, for the development

of French rugby league, to see these players coming

through and to see them in a team that can travel,

Well, that's the whole point of them being in Super League,

it was to expand the game as far as France, and we would like to see

more French players playing in Super League,

and there is actually more within the Super League

as it is in different teams, so it's fantastic that we are

getting these players over playing for the English sides over here.

And he makes a good point, having more players in,

I'd like to see even more players, but they are a great team.

They are definitely competitors for the end of the season.

That competition is going to be livened up by this Catalan side.

Leeds are pretty much now writing off making the top eight

How do you think they will approach the next six weeks

Well, they have to start finding some form.

You don't want to be going into those middle eights

with the form they've been showing on the footy field,

they have to go out there and try and prove each and every week,

and put all the field dramas behind them and start some football,

because they need form going into that last section.

Amongst the big news of the week, Zak Hardaker being transfer listed

for ?300,000, looking to go to the NRL.

I'm surprised that he would be going, if I'm being honest,

but with his form this year, I can see why he'd want to go.

I think it would be a fresh start for him, a fresh start for the club

as well, because his performances this season have probably...

He's a shadow of himself from last year, and I think there's probably

more to it than that, because he's a player that deserves

to be playing well in a good team, but he's got to earn that

I think it's a fresh chance for him to go over there and do something

with his career now and to step up again and become that

superstar that he is, and what he's not showing this year.

The Leeds players have been saying they were surprised to hear this.

The timing is not ideal, is it, for Leeds?

I'm not going into that, as I said, but for him, it's...

You know, great experience for him, to go over there and play

He showed last year that he was a menace still,

and he was the best player in the Super League,

so why not go over there and challenge yourself,

and obviously been linked to the Raiders as well,

where I'm from, I think that would be a great place

It's a great team down there, and they've got English

players as well down there, so it would be a great place

And from Leeds' point of view, it's one thing to lose people

who retire at the end of their career, as we had

with Peacock, Sinfield and Leuluai, but they would have been building

around someone like Zak Hardaker, wouldn't they?

That is a big blow, presumably, for their future plans.

In my opinion, it's only a massive loss to Leeds if he's playing well,

because if he's not playing the best he can, then he's in that team

and they're building around someone who's not on fire.

The only way he is useful to that team if he's not playing

That's how ruthless the sport is and the game is.

And it may be beneficial to both parties, and if that's the case,

Now, if he's playing absolutely fantastically well

and they are building around him and then he still wants to go,

then there's probably even more issues, but they've got

to get the most out of him and what they can out

of Zak Hardaker, whether it be money or the fact that he's playing.

Now, we've discovred discovered quite a few secrets

about the players over the course of the season,

This week it's the turn of the Super League match

I think I'd be a lion, and that's because I like to be a leader.

Probably an owl?

I just like having a view, looking over things.

A meerkat, cos I'm really nosy, I like popping my head up

A zebra, cos most things are black and white.

The one I've got, I quite like the job I've got.

I quite enjoy the job that I do actually, I'll

I always wanted to be a pilot, commercial airline pilot,

I'd probably have to go back a little while to the '80s

and Dallas, I absolutely loved it.

It would have to be either Toy Story 1 or Monsters Inc.

Cos he wanted every decision to go his way.

He's always got a joke up his sleeve.

He's always having a bit of banter, asking us if we'd seen

He generally thought that he was the refereeign

I'd say Ben, Ben Thaler likes the sound of his whistle.

But he likes the sound of his own voice a bit more.

I have a reputation for not blowing mine very much.

Likes the sound of his own whistle or voice?

If it's his voice, it's Ben Thaler.

I'm not sure about the sound of his own whistle,

but Ben Thaler loves the sound of his own voice.

Whistle, not sure, but if you'd said voice, I'd have said Ben.

But if I'm going to go with whistle, erm...

Nice to know they've got a sense of humour, isn't it?

Ben Thaler comes in for a bit of stick there.

And so he should, he deserves a bit of stick.

He always seems to talk more when he's on Sky as well,

He's always talking to me in games, but not when the Sky

camera is out there, it is strange.

Nice to see neither of you are the cheekiest players.

Lee Briers, that was a no-brainer, wasn't it, that one?

Gareth Hewer was the man in the middle for Wigan's trip

to Salford on Friday night, and our man behind

COMMENTATOR: Smith in to dummy half for Wigan.

Moves it wide, they are going to push it through hands.

Pokes a little kick through to the corner.

Tomkins up against his former club and his brother, of

Salford will move the ball inside, it is Lui on the last.

Looking to kick up high towards his left hand side,

He pokes a little kick through, Wigan will deal with this.

Tautai and Isa both clear, and Lui puts up another

Tomkins's run towards it, it will bounce short of his run,

and Salford will come up with the ball here,

And Dobson slides under, and Salford take the lead.

He has been a really good signing for Wigan,

arrived from Widnes in the autumn, and here goes Powell to Williams.

He is dancing across the line, he has put another kick through,

Wigan right at the end of the half here.

Can they find a try to go in ahead of the break

Smith will land the drop goal, and on the hooter, Wigan

Smith, flat ball onto Tautai, and Salford

Dummy half, options left and right, and it will come

Smith, and they are like clockwork here, great hands,

They have got a seven-point buffer at the moment, Wigan.

Powell will move it to Smith, who moves it out to the right-hand

side, a little short ball into the hands,

and he is streaking clear, Salford will just about make

the tackle but they have got it away through Smith again.

That left edge combination, and Wigan edged further ahead.

Continuing to batter away at this Wigan line.

Tautai and Crosby peel away from the ruck.

It is to Lui now, a little short ball into the hands of Josh Jones,

and he touches down under the sticks.

So much probing from dummy half by Tomkins.

To Lui, and it is a familiar to look to this one,

as Hauraki is snared on this left-hand side.

Kopczak, barrelled out the back to Lui.

Strides along the line, a cutout to this right-hand

He has wrapped up the drama, but it could be too little,

STUDIO: An arm-wrestle of a game, that, three wins out

How important for them to keep in touch with the top?

STUDIO: An arm-wrestle of a game, that, three wins out

How important for them to keep in touch with the top?

Obviously they are in the top four, but I think therefore

Nothing special, but consistent, and we have seen that left edge,

and Charnley, we have to watch over him on Friday night,

and we have Wigan, we can just see Sarginson playing well

And what about the game controllers well of Matty Smith?

I think Matty is consistent, and Williams is finding some form.

He has been out injured, but he adds some dimension to that team,

and I think with Tomkins getting some confidence back

from his injury, I think they will be challenging

They have had their issues off the pitch, Wigan,

an internal investigation going on there, John

How tough is that when something like that is going on in

I think it is something that is tough, but it is also

something you have to get over as well, because you have to think

about next week and whether he comes back in the next few weeks or not,

it makes no difference, because that team that Wigan

They work really hard for each other, very aggressive in the style

of play that they have, and they always get to the final.

This is one of those teams, semis, finals,

But this year, it has been a little bit tough.

I think all the other teams have stepped up around them as well,

so they are doing it tough and they have done throughout

the season, but I think they are used to that, in a way,

and they still find a way to battle through and win games.

And Salford very much going toe to toe with them,

but Ian Watson saying we did some dumb things.

Is that the difference, that they just have to learn

in games like that not to do those dumb things?

I think so, especially against the top four teams.

Wigan is a team that you can't let your foot off the throat,

as they say, in any part of the game, or they can hurt you.

I think that is where Salford, if they learn, they can challenge.

They should be in the top eight, they have had some points deducted,

but they have been a class competitor last year.

So, it is Hull FC who lead the way after 17 rounds, and with Leigh top

of the championship, we thought we would take a look

at their meetings in the semifinals of the 1979 floodlit trophy.

The first Floodlit semifinal comes from a windy Boulevard in Hull.

It is Hull against Leigh, it is in fact our first visit

to the Boulevard where Hull have been in commanding form

since they were promoted to the first decision.

It should be a very close and a very exciting semifinal,

so with the commentary, here is Eddie Waring.

EDDIE WARING: It goes forward to Alan Rathbone,

Dennison with the chance to get the first point on the board.

And it was well taken, because it was a flapper.

Woods looks to go, seven tries this season.

Coming into the play, has been for most of this match.

The winner, Charlie Stone, and inside, Evans.

And a penalty for Vince Farrar, the captain talking.

Talking to Charlie, the referees do make clear why they give penalties.

And there goes the official hooter, and on, the crowd.

I will hand you back to Richard Duckinfield.

I hope the rest don't get any ideas from that!

Away from the rugby league, what about Dick

I was wondering where he got it from, do they still do them and do

they do them in a big man-size, because in winter up near my house,

I look forward to you sporting that particular colour combination.

There were five games on a busy Friday night.

We've seen four of them, the final one put Eorl Crabtree

and Huddersfield up against Castleford,

and it was Super League's top try-scorer who was first over

Yes, a disappointing day for us, and again, Denny Solomona

is just absolutely on fire, scoring tries,

We made it very difficult for ourselves, but we got back

Jamie Ellis with a pass wide to Leroy Cudjoe, who raced for

the line with Jermaine McGillvary, just a bit of composure to pass

the ball back inside, and great support.

But for us, we just didn't click, and as the game went on,

it was sloppy defence, one-on-one missed tackles

and knock-on is, which really cost us dearly in the end.

You were shaking your head watching that earlier.

Because it's just not what we expect from ourselves.

We get ourselves into a position where we should make tackles.

We get the numbers there, but off the back of it,

we slip out of those tackles, and we just seem to be scoring easy

tries rather than working really hard for them.

Don't get me wrong, Castleford's attack is sensational,

We kept getting ourselves back into the game, but I think

we were 30-10 down at one point, and we didn't deserve to get back

We scored a couple of tries to make it a little bit closer at the end,

but this is just off the back of a scrum, and there is no way it

should be scoring the corner off the back of a scrum like that.

What did you make of Castleford overall?

Their attack was fantastic again, they scored some great tries

like that off the floor, pass it up to Jake Webster.

But I think they will want to improve as well.

I don't think they were fantastic, they made a few errors themselves,

and if we were attacking better, we had about four or five sets back

If we could attack and throw the ball around and score points,

it would have been a different sort of game, but they worked hard,

the defence on the line was brilliant, their attack

was brilliant, but they made a few errors that which they will probably

How tough are you guys finding it at the moment?

It is a dogfight down at the bottom, in the basement, and it is something

we have not been used to in the past few seasons for me personally,

I have been there before, I know how hard it is,

but something needs to change mentally and physically.

Our final match tonight is at Bellevue.

Wakefield took on Hull Kingston Rovers and Stuart Pyke was watching.

Of course, the tale of two coaches here at Bellevue, James Webster

appointed coach in March, replacing Chris Chester,

Kelly and Campese could be so influential for Hull Kingston Rovers

Kieran Dixon opens the scoring for Hull Kingston Rovers.

And Campese involved in everything at the moment.

Lunt plays the ball quickly, and Kelly, that is a great offload.

What a start for Hull Kingston Rovers.

Brave with ball in hand, and getting the rewards.

As dominant an opening quarter as you could possibly imagine here.

Wakefield just powerless at the moment to stop this

Hull Kingston Rovers attack, and this could be another one

And again, they have come to this left-hand side.

Campese, Dixon away, and Shaun Lunt, they won't stop him.

Incredible, four tries in 20 minutes, and Shaun Lunt

We haven't seen this very often in this first half.

Wakefield inside Hull Kingston Rovers' territory.

They have got space out wide, and Bill Tupou will score.

Finally, something for Wakefield and Chris Chester to shout about.

Well, this is as good as we have seen from

It really has been an exceptional performance.

They haven't finished yet, have they?

They are keeping the ball alive, and here's Walker.

Walker finds a little bit of space, the ball inside for

Green, another marvellous Hull Kingston Rovers try.

The ball goes inside, and this could be another try for Wakefield.

They will have to be a whole lot better in the second half, that's

What have Wakefield got in the locker?

The break down the middle from Ashurst again.

They have got space inside for a Finn, a lovely little

We had to score first in the second half, and they have, through Craig

Kelly again involved in everything Rovers are doing.

Lunt, and here is that man Kelly, and Campese, they have got

Well, has the Wakefield comeback been snuffed out very

It is a tall order now for Wakefield to get

The break from Blair on the far side.

Brilliant hat-trick for Kieran Dixon.

Two tries in two minute for Hull Kingston Rovers.

Campese, Mulhern, a lovely off-load the Kelly.

Well, they are ripping Wakefield apart down the middle.

Well, Chris Kendall, the referee, will send this one

That could be an awful error from Wakefield.

No problem with the onside, again, Kelly

For Rovers and James Greenwood. Everything has gone right for Hull

Well, desperation here for Wakefield.

Kelly has got the space, and I don't think anybody

What a performance this has been from Albert Kelly, and he rounds it

It is becoming a rout, it is becoming embarrassing

They just seem to be able to score at will.

Campese, fantastic, what a great try.

Campese, vision, excellence, Blair with the try.

It is 50 points, it is ten tries for Hull Kingston Rovers.

What a night for them, for James Webster.

We saved the best till last for you, Terry.

How desperate were you lot for that one?

Where we sit on the table, Wakefield just above us,

going into a tough period for us, six games and probably

for them in the top eight, so it is going to be a tough

run for us, and just get some confidence,

Kieran Dixon, confidence for him, three tries in a game

that he wasn't supposed to play, we had a young player pull out

crook, so he got his chance and took it with both hands.

We will grab some confidence from that and go forward.

It is one of those undiscernable things, but could you feel

very quickly in that you were in the ascendancy?

I was thinking, what can I do to get us out of this already,

it was only a minute into the game, but from then on, we just completed,

got down there and, and that is what happens when you

You score points, and they tired out quite quickly after that.

Albert Kelly talked about you post match and how important

you were to him, but how important is he when he is playing

He is so strong, and you have just seen some of those clips there,

some of the tries that he set up, and some of the tries

that he did score, he is quick, he is strong and he is just one

And is he one of those players to defend against, that you just

Yes, he does have that power and pace as well,

because like you say, he is a strong person,

but he has great skills as well, that kick around the back door.

They did get a helping hand at times, or a helping backheel

in that case, but it is his pace, and he has shown this before,

but then he got injured, and he really struggled

And now he seems to be a different person.

He seems a lot fitter, a lot faster, and he looks

And how importamt to keep you fit, keep Albert Kelly fit,

and Shaun Lunt, to have that triumvate in the middle?

What every team wants is their key roles fit.

Ben is injured, and the young kid has done a great

job filling in there, it is a new role to him,

And for Wakefield, this is really the first proper hiccup, two defeats

Is this where he starts to get tested as a coach?

Yes, I believe so, because this is his first test, really,

because things in that game didn't go Wakefield's way,

it is the bounce of the ball, and they fell off a few tackles that

It is a big week this week as well, so I would expect a response

from the back of that, but they have to do something

about it as well, they can't just think that they will remain positive

They have got to change something now because it has gone wrong,

but at the same time, they are good team,

and you know that when they get back at their table.

It could be an interesting couple of weeks.

A big win for the Hull Kingston Rovers coach, James Webster,

let's see where that has left him and everyone else in the First

Rovers' win at Belle Vue moves them above Salford. Castleford go back

above Wakefield, but there is no change at the top, where the first

four teams all won. Warrington against Hull is the standout match

of around 18 on Friday night, when Wigan go to Hull KR, and Leeds face

Salford. It all kicks off again with Castleford against Widnes on

Thursday. That is just about it for this week. My thanks to Terry and to