Totally out-coached there Pricey by the legend Sir Tony Smith. Not for the first time, but thankfully the last. What a mediocre 4 years that was. Onwards and upwards……#alwaysouryear

He's been out coached by far lesser coaches than Tony Smith. I don't blame Price for sticking around he's tried his best it's not a good fit and it's not been anything like good enogh, it's not been a happy union at all. He should have been put out of his misery ages ago but we have an inept CEO.

It's a good moment for TS.



He's reached that twilight zone of a former top coach's career, where the bigger clubs will always see him as yesterday's man when a job comes up and he will spend the rest of his time in the game trying to manage limited resources and keep an eye over his shoulder for relegation.



Guys like Shaun McRae, Brian Noble, Mal Reilly have all had to go through various humiliations at the end of their coaching careers.



In Smith's case, he's shown that he is still a good coach and the game has not passed him by. Players listen to him and respect him and he does improve players.

Vaguely condescending. Name me one better coach in SL in 2021, not based in history but based on getting the best out of his squad.

Powelly?

Very true. A lot of coaches would have been dicing with relegation with Hull KR.



I didn't mean to be vaguely condescending, perhaps I try to actively dial down my praise of TS so as not to come across as 'that guy' but if I'm honest I would take TS back as coach straight away, now he's had a break and both parties have moved on a bit I would like to see him return. I'd also happily get his brother Brian in either as coach or CEO like he was at Bradford in the early days of SL.

I’d take Maggie Smith over Price.

We should have snapped up Mr Agar when he became available

It would be a great story if he managed to get another result this weekend. Catalan have been incredible this year, but as 2011 would have taught him, it means nothing in these games.

What odds a Smith v Agar Grand Final?



In a perverse way (or is it) I think I'd prefer Agar winning it with Leeds than any other outcome. If it's a new name I want it to be us but hope it's not Saints if that makes any sense?

In order of Merit (and anyone but Saints) this is my ranked preference.



Catalans

Hull KR

Saints

Leeds



I'd really wouldn't like Leeds to win it after how abysmal they were at the start of the season. They'd be the lest deserving team to win it ever IMO, it would rankle that much that I would genuinely rather Saints win it, at least they've been good this year.

It will be refreshing if Catalan break the Leeds/Wigan/Saints GF monopoly next week. However, would it be a total 'one-off', or will it inspire other 'nearly-men' clubs that they can win it too, leading to some more new names on the trophy over the next decade? The monopoly has been waning over the last 10 years anyway, so hopefully it won't be long before it breaks anyway. From 1996 to 2010, only Bradford, Leeds, Wigan and Saints had finished in 1st place. From 2011-2021, we've seen Wire (x2), Huddersfield, Castleford and Catalan finish 1st. We've also seen many more teams make the GF in Wire (x4), Castleford, Salford and now Catalan. Thoughts?