The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Super League Round 22

The Good

Wakefield’s great 2017 gathers pace with a comfortable 36-8 victory over Widnes on Friday night. Trinity have had their share of adversity to face this season, including a fair few injuries, but have showed resolve to keep battling away and picking up wins. Chris Chester and John Kear deserve plenty of credit. Bill Tupou has also come of age of late, the big centre bagging a brace and two try assists at the Select Security Stadium. Wakefield are right in the fight for a top four spot and have every chance of snagging it.

You can book in Castleford for the League Leader’s Shield. They accounted for Salford at the Jungle without too much trouble, winning by 24 points. The Tigers’ depth is being tested but it’s been so far, so good for the West Yorkshire side.

One of the movers and shakers in recent weeks has been St Helens. While the Red V hasn’t been setting the world on fire, they are quietly getting results and yesterday knocked off Catalans. Mark Percival has been in fantastic form for them and they are likely to have Matty Smith back from injury soon. Justin Holbrook’s record since he landed is six wins and three losses. They sit in sixth spot, only three points behind Wakefield, so are well-placed to potentially climb into the top four in the coming weeks.

The Bad

Terrible news for Castleford on Friday with their in-form winger Greg Eden expected to miss the rest of the season. Eden hurt his shoulder when diving for his second try against Salford, a signature move that he has done plenty of times this year without issue. But he injured his AC joint in his shoulder, and is likely not to play again in 2017. Eden will also miss the World Cup, with his try-scoring exploits putting him in the frame for Wayne Bennett’s squad. It’s a hammer blow for Cas, who direct most of their attack down that left-hand side, but they do have a handy replacement in veteran Joel Monaghan. He came off the bench against the Red Devils and scored two tries in the second half, showing that even at 35 there is still some life in those old legs.

The Ugly

A worrying sight following the Castleford vs Salford match was crowd trouble in the away supporters end at the Jungle. More than 50 people were fighting after full-time in an ugly end to the match.

Castleford are investigating and life bans are set to be given out. Enough is enough when it comes to crowd violence at Super League games. It has to end and the RFL needs to come in and sort it out quickly. Crowd trouble, previously on isolated occasions, appears to becoming a growing problem.

There were several incidents at various matches last year and little appears to have been done. Stewarding needs to improve and clubs must make sure their security measures are up to scratch. There should be zero tolerance for the troublemakers involved. Rugby league prides itself on being ‘the family game’, but it is anything but when parents can no longer feel safe bringing their children to matches.