Just watched a re run of the game this morning and picked up on a comment made in commentary that we have conceded the most penalties in Super League this year. To be fair this did not surprise me one bit as we seem to lose momentum by giving away needless penalties each and every game and in my view this has been the case for many years regardless of who are the playing personnel or who is the coach.

My question is why is this the case and why can't a succession of coaches get this ironed out?

Personally I don't subscribe to the bent refs, small time club not wanted in Super league brigade, more that we are one if not the lowest spending and resourced clubs in the league and as such have to push the boundaries of play to secure any advantage we can during the game to level out the playing field as a result of being at the bottom end of the super league hierarchy.



Finally, just have to say awesome day yesterday, thank you To all involved, long may it continue.

I think it's a wee bit more complicated don't you, and not sure why you needed to bring it up.



Yesterday was a case in point, we actually got less penalties than Catalan - but - and here is the rub, they should have got twice as many penalties against then than they did.



In other words Wakey = easy target



Catalan + most other SL teams = sacred cow



Dave Taylor was twice in a row in our attacking line BEFORE we's played the ball - I know he's quick for a big lad but that simply isn't possible. We didn't even get an offside but for me he should have got ten for a professional foul. Would Kirmond have got away with it?

Personally, I think it's to do with smartness and knowing how to play the system - which tends to be a finessing skill that good teams add to their skillset, after they've got the basics right. We're in that process now, so I would fully expect to see us playing a bit more cannily next season. For example, did anyone notice how Les Cats were able to hang on endlessly in the ruck? We're just not clever enough to do that at the moment, so when we try, it tends to be clumsy and obvious, and it gets penalised.

I suspect they practice it.



Also suspect the ref gets confused and intimidated being moaned to endlessly in both English and French.

Lower teams give penalties away because they are trying to slow the play, or need to make a big tackle they are not capable of. That's why we have always been that team.

We have never really been a dirty side. But we are an indisciplined side in terms of technicalities of the game.



We are better than we have been, because we are on the front foot more.

Off sides and holding down penalties are killers, but equally, off side and holding down is the one way to get on top of the opposition if you get it right.

I'm 100% certain that they do; I also know that players are coached to know when it's ok to give away a penalty - such as when a line break occurs and the rest of the team are scrambling to get back in defence.

I've always maintained that half of that problem is that other teams tend to flap about like a fish out of water when held as if they are trying to get a quick play the ball (even if they're not) whereas our guys tend to get tackled and just lay there waiting for someone to move off them.

Ref's are always going to give penalties quicker if a player looks like he is trying to get up and play the ball as opposed to happily lying there waiting for the tackler to move away.

Agreed - and it's very definitely coached; observe Sam Tomkins, who is a master of the dark art of milking a penalty - regardless of what position he ends up in when tackled, he always thrashes around like he's having a fit, in the hope of creating the impression that he's being impeded. He also added the extra incentive to the ref, of trapping an arm or leg with one of his own, to prevent the tackler from getting up. It's grubby and infuriating - but it works.

I agree with all the penalty comments on here yet I'm still shaking my head about Mika ripping the ball out blatantly on the last tackle within penalty range with a couple of minutes left. Scruton looked less than impressed

Having seen all our games this year and also a good amount of other televised games, i honestly dont think our discipline is any worse than any other super league side.



One other thing about penalties I will say is that listening to Phil Clarke he seems to like his match stats and often says those sides that concede more penalties and have a lower completion rate are those likely to be at the bottom of the league. I would agree with this.



Leeds are bottom of the league but yet have conceded the 2nd least amount of penalties

Marginal penalties for either side are also going to raise issues. Think we gave away three obvious 100% crazy ones yesterday.



Kirmonds head shot on last tackle of set that led to Catalans 2nd try.

Sio 2nd leg lift tackle.

Simons ball strip.



These leave you scratching your head and wondering what goes through the players minds.

Nothing - that is the answer by the way

Simons ball steal was so dumb. I was fuming - well, until Miller got him out of it minutes later

Pat Richrds crap goal kicking got him out of it and Annakin being alert enough to take the rebound.

Very true. Any of the 3 got him out of it really, he was bloody lucky though!

Personally, I think Pelissier should have got ten minutes for faking injury, or at the very least made to go off for a compulsory concussion check. Kirmond reached out but there was minimal contact with him, but he faked immediate concussion in a way that I haven't seen since the last time someone brushed past Danny Maguire. If he'd reacted to the contact he actually had, as opposed to going immediately limp, with eyes closed, I'm not even sure a penalty would have been given. They scored from the next set.



Pelissier is one of the most irritating players in Super League. Would love to see him in a Wakefield shirt.

Yet again dave Taylor lifted someone's legs in the tackle, wonder if something will be done about it this time?

No.

The problem with the lifting is that it's the alternative to attacking the legs for the third man, both equally bad. It seems like the choice for the third man is to break a leg or break a neck. Perhaps nothing below the waist for the third man is the answer.

The technique should be to clamp the legs together. They will just stop moving then and be taken down.



Third men who hit the legs rather than clamping them risk injuring the player. Those that drive down when they hit the leg, pretty much guarantee injuring the player.

Lifting for me is not so bad as long at they are managed down. Lifting with no control risks serious injury.

Agree, don't believe he made contact at all. But in the lead up to the resulting try, (2nd, Cat try) a Catalan player runs straight at Hall and takes him out, so hard and direct Hall had to tackle him as part of his defence. Should have been no try, obstruction.

Next time we play take note of who makes an attempt to get up out of our side and the only one I see do it is Miller when he has been tackled the rest appear to just wait until the opposition get off them

When we play away from home and are placed behind the sticks where we don't see forward passes, offsides and knock ons as well as the home fans.

When we play at home we choose to go behind the sticks and benefit the away fans with a better view of what is happening, allowing them to 'help' the referee.

So the home advantage thing does not apply for us. Our share of 50:50 decisions just doesn't happen.

I'm not too sure about that tbh. Look at the much vaunted Rhinos home record this season - even with their noisy side stand.



In terms of penalties, it's only really the offsides but if the ref pinged every single offside, RL games would become very dull, very quickly. I trust them in the main to ensure that neither team has an advantage over another with offsides tbh.

Sorry to disagree.....but the number of times the sky team commented o how we were unlucky to be penalised or unfortunate not to get a penalty in the game yesterday speaks for itself. E.g. Carney holding down about 30 seconds before Simon's stupid strip,2 blatant strips by Catalan not penalised,their try that was a knock on, tackling Matty without the ball,Taylor not square and dumping bjb in the in goal(then again he could standard he wanted all game). just a few I can think of off the top of my head. You go on thinking there is no agenda against us but how often do you think the 6th placed team would be the most penalised, I would say it was usually a team near the bottom......where the rfl would like us to be