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Leeds Rhinos: precedent

You can only applaud they way Leeds are performing now. They are playing the game at an extremely high tempo and setting a precedent which, if it continues, might well shape the way Super League heads over the coming seasons.

Phil Clarke
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SUPER LEAGUE LIVE ON SKY
St Helens v Leeds
7.30pm, Friday, Sky Sports 1
Warrington v Harlequins
6pm, Saturday, Sky Sports 2

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• Bradford Bulls
• Castleford Tigers
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If we learned anything from the Easter weekend double headers it is that Leeds Rhinos are currently a class above everyone else in Super League.

In both games on Sky Sports, against Bradford and then Hull, they simply came out and blitzed the opposition.

You can only applaud they way they are performing now. They are playing the game at an extremely high tempo and setting a precedent which, if it continues, might well shape the way Super League heads over the coming seasons.

I've been looking at the Rhinos this season and trying to assess where they are better, what has brought about this formidable start and the one thing that struck me is patience.

Not necessarily out on the field, but off it. This Leeds side now is a group of young men who are all hitting peak form at the same time.

Credit must go to the club for that, for keeping faith with the same set of players over the past few seasons. Look at Jamie Jones-Buchanan. He is playing as well as we've ever seen him, but was he performing like that three or four years ago? No.

Remember when Rob Burrow was missing tackles and everyone said he was too small to make it in Super League? Well Leeds stuck with him and are now reaping the rewards.

There was a point last season when there was talk of switching Kevin Sinfield to hooker, but they refused to panic.

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The hooker himself, Matt Diskin, has struggled at times as did young Danny McGuire. Leeds realised they needed to give these young men time and now you only have to look at the way they destroyed Bradford and Hull to see the wisdom in those decisions.

They go to St Helens this Friday and according to the early odds I've seen, are the favourites - as Daniel Anderson has admitted.

I know St Helens have a lot of injury problems but when was the last time a visiting side were the bookmakers' fancy at Knowsley Road? That says it all.

As good as they have been though, there is one statistic that is worth bearing in mind. Last season Leeds never won more than four games in a row.

This season they won their first four and then went to Castleford and got beaten. St Helens this Friday will be their fourth game since they were rumbled at The Jungle, so might not tell us anything new.

And nor might the league table. Can anyone out there tell me who was top of Super League after round eight last year? Leeds have won nothing yet and can they keep this up all the way through to October?

If they do, then we are in for a fantastic season. The one thing the Super League table does tell us is that the teams that play the most exciting rugby are the ones enjoying the most success.

Leeds, Warrington and St Helens are, in my opinion, playing the sort of rugby we all want to see and it's great that if the table after eight games can reflect anything, it's the performances are being matched by points.

Now to this week's questions...

Email Phil Clarke: mailto:skysportsclub@bskyb.com or click here to send him a question...

LOCAL VOCAL
Hi Phil, I was wondering if the rugby league had any plans to try and protect teams from losing young talent because of the salary cap restrictions. We have seen over the last few seasons young British talent offloaded by teams - especially Leeds and Wigan. We at Hull have benefited with the likes of Briscoe, Raynor, Carvell and Dowes to name a few. It doesn't seem right that the teams with the best youth policies should be penalised by losing these players because they don't have the money available to pay them. Do you think that these homegrown stars of the future should have all or some of their wages taken off the cap as long as the clubs involved can afford it? Mick Dale
PHIL SAYS: The fundamental principle of a salary cap Mick, contradicts a market economy which is shaped by supply and demand. The central authority controls, to a certain extent, the recruitment and retention of players at each club by restricting the amount of money that they can spend. Your suggestion would mean that the central authority - the RFL - would have an even greater influence on teams because of further regulations, eg; homegrown players being offered salary cap exemptions. I'm not sure this is a good thing. I appreciate your thinking that clubs should be rewarded and protected from the loss of players they have developed but how far would you go with this protectionism?

In reality clubs don't always lose their homegrown players because of the salary cap, it is often an excuse used to appease supporters' discontent for the loss of a local lad. In many instances the club could have kept that player had they chosen to spend less on an overseas player. It comes down to your priorities Mick - how do you want to spend the £1.6million that you are allowed for your first-team squad?

We also have to remember that sometimes players want to leave for either more money, better coaching, family reasons etc, and although it is quite rare in rugby league, some men might like the challenge and excitement of living in London and playing for Harlequins. It appears as though the salary cap is slowly bringing the teams closer together and the competition is more exciting as a result. Your proposal would widen that gap between the bottom and top because its the richer clubs like Leeds, St Helens and Wigan who have the greatest number of talented youngsters. It would mean they could spend more money on other first-teamers if they received dispensation for their local talent. There is already a system to encourage the development of local players with the regulations through club-trained, federation and non-federation players and this system promotes and rewards youth development. In 10 years' time when all the teams can afford to spend the same amount and have seriously invested in junior development and high-quality coaching we might re-visit your suggestion to reward the best, but for now, it's not for me!

VIDEO BLUES
Hi Phil, every week I always make a point of reading your column as I believe you always offer a sound and reasoned response to all the questions put to you. There always seems to be a question on the standard of refereeing and on the whole I think that the officials do a good job. However what irritates me most is the video ref. The introduction of the video ref was a step in the right direction but now I feel he scrutinises the referral too much. How many times do we see decisions that are referred for him to take numerous looks at all angles and from real-time to slow motion to super slow motion? I would hazard a guess that we see probably in excess of 15 views/replays. To me it looks as though the video ref is looking for a reason not to award the try rather than giving benefit of the doubt to the attacking player. My suggestion would be that the video ref be allowed to view a replay from each available camera angle at real-time and slow motion and then make a decision. If there is no clear view then the benefit of doubt should always be given to the attacking side. This would also keep the momentum of the game going instead of the clock being stopped for two to three minutes while a decision is being reached. Andy Burgess
PHIL SAYS: I agree that the officials do a good job and one that I am not prepared to do. In fact, the recruitment of new officials is vital to the on-going growth and development of rugby league, so I hope that I never come across as too strong a critic. From what I see and hear the referees work as hard at improving their performances as the players do (and for considerably less rewards). I respect your opinion Andy, but have to disagree with your point about the video ref: he is simply looking to give the correct decision. One of my colleagues here at Sky Sports has gone back to review all of the video referees' decisions that we've seen so far this season at the 16 matches we've covered. In total the video ref has been asked to look at 44 decisions, almost three times per game on average, and the average time taken over each decision was 67 seconds, from the moment the referee blows his whistle to stop the clock to the time when the decision is displayed on the big screen. In my opinion that is an acceptable delay in the flow of the game, which I believe is enjoyed by the majority of the crowd who can see the big screen. It heightens the tension and drama within a stadium and in the case of the majority of decisions, helps the officials to call it correctly. The video ref does give the benefit of doubt to the attacking team when has given all the angles the appropriate consideration. I would be interested to hear your thoughts Andy, on the comments made by Daniel Anderson recently in which he called for video referee facilities to be available at all Super League games. Are you in favour of this, or not?

SHORN OF A LEADER?
Hi Phil, just a quick email to see what your thoughts are on Sean O'Loughlin as Wigan captain. I know he is a local lad and all that but I do not think he is a born natural leader, and I think if the captaincy was taken away from him it would lighten the burden on his young shoulders and help him concentrate on his game more. I would give the armband to Barrett. And as for Good Friday, it was a bloody embarrassment! We never had a better chance of beating you-know-who. I am gutted, and as I also live in St Helens it makes the pill harder to swallow. Hope you find time to reply, Tommo (one upset Wigan supporter)
PHIL SAYS: Well Tommo, I'm not a big believer in the captain's armband. I don't see its importance in modern-day rugby league. You don't even see him toss the coin at the start of a match because it's done in the tunnel before the teams come out. I do agree though that Sean O'Loughlin has not played as well for Wigan this year as he did for Great Britain last autumn in the Test series against New Zealand. But the Wigan attack hasn't really got going yet this year and as a result O'Loughlin, along with the majority of the Wigan team, hasn't played to his full potential. I am not sure what difference it would make to Trent Barrett if you made him captain either. I don't really think he'd try any harder or radically change Wigan's game. As for Good Friday, for the last few years St Helens have been able to lift themselves more for the derby game and have also been the much better team over the course of a season. But don't be too despondant , your team are still joint-third without really getting going yet.

What do you think about Leeds Rhinos' form? What about compensating clubs for losing homegrown talent or the video ref? And if you know who topped Super League XII after round eight, let Phil know by filling in the feedback form below...