Daniel Anderson's Plea for Attention

This week's 20 man squads are in and to be perfectly honest, it's not usually an announcement that excites me. Apart from looking for the odd injury here and there, it's pretty much par for the course.




But it's nice to see that St Helens coach Daniel Anderson has picked up a few habits from his predecessor Ian Millward.
For this weekend's match with Les Catalans in Canet, Anderson could hand senior debuts to no less than nine junior players.
Craig Ashall, 19, Steven Bannister, 18, Gareth Langley, 21, Paul Leyland, 20, Craig Littler, 20, Dean McGilivray, 18, Neil Rigby, 20, Sam Thompson, 19, and Ian Webster, 19 are all named in Anderson's 20 man squad as well as 36-year-old hooker Tommy Hodgkinson.

In Anderson's defence, this isn't as 'Millward-esque' as first appears. After all, this is a nothing game between a side all but assured of top spot and a side exempt from relegation. Granted, it might be interperated as a lack of respect towards the Dragons but with a Powergen Challenge Cup around the corner, Anderson has got to prioritise.


On another note, last week Daniel Anderson claimed that his sides achievements weren't getting the recognition they felt they deserved.
Instead, the whole of Rugby League Land seems more bothered about what's going on in the lower regions of the table with Wakefield, Castleford, Harlequins, Huddersfield and of course, the no longer so mighty Wigan. Even Sky TV admitted as much during their coverage of Wakefield vs Catalans.

You can see where he's coming from, but the fact is that the top of Super League has been boring. In fact, it's been about as interesting as a 24hr Big Brother feed on E4.
Saints will finish top. Hull will most likely finish second, Leeds have just been handed third place on a plate by virtue of Bradford's points deduction and the Bulls will enter the play-offs from 4th.

It looks like Anderson needs to learn that success is over-rated. Mediocrity is where it's it. (That, and breaching salary cap regulations).