St Helens can still be a force without Kyle Eastmond
Coming back from 16-0 down to take a point from Wigan was a remarkable effort from Saints, and they did it with the rugby union-bound scrum half playing a peripheral role. The club have a couple of other exciting young back-line talents on the way through in Jonny Lomax and Gary Wheeler, each of whom made more of an impact against the champions, but it is their consistently astonishing hooker James Roby who would be the toughest to replace.
Crusaders can still be a force without Brian Noble
While their former coach enjoyed a night out in Cardiff with Mickey Rourke in his new role as rugby advisor for the film the Hollywood star is planning on the life of Gareth Thomas, his old club made a stunning start to life under Iestyn Harris with a 42-12 demolition of Salford. Perhaps most encouragingly, they did it with four Welshmen in the starting 13, although it was the dazzling midfield combination of four Australians - Lincoln Withers, Jarrod Sammut, Clinton Schifcofske and Michael Witt – that ripped the City Reds to shreds.
Steve Ganson gets a bad press
Super League's most colourful referee was involved in the most dramatic and controversial finish of the weekend's seven matches, but it was his video assistant Richard Silverwood who awarded the penalty try to the Leeds wing Ben Jones-Bishop which snatched a 32-28 win against unlucky Bradford. Otherwise, Ganson's empathetic performance allowed the game to flow, in stark contrast to the 37 penalties whistled by Super League's youngest referee, James Child, which ruined the other Yorkshire derby between Castleford and Wakefield the previous day.
Harlequins have a half-back to watch
Each of Saturday's first three games including a match-winning performance by a playmaker. It was no great surprise that the maverick Danny Brough should dazzle for Huddersfield, and likewise Rangi Chase for Castleford. But they were matched by Luke Gale, a previously low-profile Yorkshire lad who was taken to the capital by Brian McDermott a couple of years ago, and scored two terrific tries in the first six minutes of Quins' otherwise dour win against the Catalans Dragons.
The Magic Weekend works better in May than February
Even among the supporters who had travelled to Cardiff, never mind the thousands who stayed behind in the north, the general consensus was that it's much more fun in the spring, which lends itself better to al fresco boozing in rugby shirts – and when there is no clash with the Six Nations, and most importantly Bank Holiday Mondays reduce the rush to get home. A couple of derby double headers in the north – maybe Wigan, Saints, Widnes and Warrington at Goodison, and Leeds, Bradford and the Hull clubs in Newcastle – would work better as the launch to the season.
