Super League top claims when Leeds, Hull FC etc. they were slammed

VaselineJuly 18, 2024

0 5 minutes read

Super League top claims when Leeds, Hull FC etc. they were slammed

Rugby League fans will be more than used to settling down in front of the TV on Thursday and Friday nights to watch Super League on Sky Sports. The competition has made its own TV slots and this season, more games have been shown on the platform than ever before.

Every Super League match will be shown on Sky Sports this season, allowing fans to catch every pass, tackle and try, from the first game of the campaign to the Grand Final in October. With six games a week to cover, there’s plenty of work for Sky’s panel of pundits and pundits, with the likes of Jon Wilkin, Sam Tomkins, Jon Wells and Barrie McDermott appearing on a weekly basis.

With that in mind, here’s a look at some of the best quotes those pundits have come up with this season.

“Differing like an empty packet of crisps”

Hull FC’s season hasn’t exactly gone to plan, one might say. The Black and Whites are currently 11th in the table, having won just two games all season. Their form at the start of the season has seen changes at the club, with Tony Smith being sacked and Wilkin offering a rather damning verdict on where the East Yorkshire club find themselves.

Speaking in April, Wilkin said: “There is a mismatch between how Hull FC supporters and rugby league fans generally see them as a big club – and how Hull FC actually perceive themselves. I wouldn’t say they perceive themselves as a big club anymore. Financially, that is reflected in the player list and for Hull FC it is not necessarily a managerial problem.

“It’s more about having a substantial backer and a serious level of support behind them to fund a team that is decent enough to go on and win something. Tony Smith’s record speaks for itself – he was one of the most successful coaches of the modern era. A change of managers might get a slightly better performance from the team, but there is a bigger problem at Hull FC.

“They can cover it by sacking the coach, but they have to decide if they want to be competitive or not. Until Hull FC give a manager the resources to compete, I don’t think they will.”

He added: “They float like an empty packet, crispy, over a car park.”

“How sad is that?”

Leeds Rhinos’ season hasn’t been quite as bad as Hull’s, but the West Yorkshire outfit have still been disappointed and Wilkin felt the need to dump his pack after seeing them lose to Hull FC in June.

“One of the issues for me, I look at the pack and it was soft,” he said. “People will throw that accusation at me that I was a soft player or whatever people want to call me, but I’d lick my lips playing against the Leeds pack,” Wilkin said.

“I would fly off the line and try to put Mik Oledzki just because I know nothing is coming back to me. And how sad is it to say that?

“I had tough guys on my team that just blew them away.”

“He didn’t watch the Super League”

Leeds appointed Brad Arthur last week after making the decision to part ways with Rohan Smith, and the Australian will take charge of his first game at Headingley this weekend. Tomkins, however, does not believe he can drag the Rhinos into the top six with 10 games remaining.

“That team is underperforming,” he said. “That’s given a team that, if you look at it, when it was the beginning of the year, we said they were going to be in the top four. They put together a great group, they just didn’t perform on the field. I think they’re underperforming in terms of quality players, they’re just not doing their jobs.

“They have the team to do it, but I just don’t think they can do it. I don’t think they will be able to play against any of the top sides. I just don’t see them getting there, getting into the top six, no matter how good Brad Arthur is. It’s too short for the window.

“Brad Arthur doesn’t know this team. He did not watch the Super League in the first half of this season. He won’t know half of his own team. Everyone has a blank slate.”

“He doesn’t want to play”

One of the big disappointments this season has been the form of Jake Connor, who has struggled to find form with Huddersfield Giants. Speaking after watching the Giants lose to Warrington earlier this month, Wilkin agreed with Brian Carney that Connor was “not trying”.

“Yeah, sure,” Wilkin said. “Or, he doesn’t understand what his job is, but to me, he’s played quarterback long enough to absolutely know what his job is.

“Jake Connor doesn’t want to play. He doesn’t want to be there. It’s playing, but it’s not there. It’s the only time I’ve ever heard a coach say, “What I want to see from Jake is areas of effort and a team-first mentality.” So why is he on the team?”

“Chosen Man of Steel”

Marc Sneyd has been one of the stars of the season and his performances in a Salford Red Devils shirt currently have him at the top of the Man of Steel charts alongside Matt Dufty. Jon Wells believes the England international is getting better with age.

“The 2024 season has also seen some players in career best form,” he said. “Marc Sneyd, at the age of 33, looks like the Man of Steel-elect these days – and his performances continue to really impress.”

“He’s like a circus clown”

Wilkin was highly critical of Leigh Leopards’ John Asiata earlier in the season after he was booked after just 41 seconds for a dangerous tackle. The Asian came under fire last season after injuring two St Helens players using the same technique, prompting a rule change.

“I can’t believe he came into this game and did that,” Wilkin said in March. “After what happened, I can’t believe he went into the game and it even occurred to him to try to make a tackle like that, whether he thinks it’s legal or not the rules have changed.

“It’s almost identical to the tackles that ended two players’ seasons last year. My question is if you come on this field today against the team that you did this to do this, you try to incite a reaction an aggressive reaction and he tries to chase people off, he walks off the field waving to the fans, it’s like a circus clown, so he was like a pantomime villain.”

“In a holding pattern”

To say Jon Wilkin was less than enthusiastic about Castleford Tigers’ off-season recruitment would be an understatement. Here’s what he had to say about the work at Wheldon Road leading up to the 2024 campaign.

“I could be disingenuous and sit here and say I’m excited about what they signed, but I’m not,” Wilkin said. “I’m also not too worried about what they’ve lost, Gareth Widdop and Greg Eden have moved to Halifax.

“I think Cas are in a holding pattern under Craig Lingard. The only bright light for them is Danny McGuire. It amazes me that he left Hull KR for Castleford. There is a story there that no one knows. That’s the key piece of recruiting there and maybe it can develop some of those younger players.”

VaselineJuly 18, 2024

0 5 minutes read