They copped it from the likes of this columnist – and the Canadian Rugby League – for going to a training camp in Dubai last weekend, oblivious to the fact the United Arab Emirates Rugby League boss Sol Mokdad had been imprisoned there last year and self-governed rugby league remained illegal. Everyone seems out to get the chooks. Even Super League and a couple of its clubs. Coach Trent Robinson believes the decision to bar them playing Catalans last week should have copped more than a bit of scrutiny as well. But on the surface, it seems an open-and-shut case against the Roosters. Super League is already under way. Surely a warm-up match isn't more important than a comp game, even against a glamorous NRL team who want everything to stop for them?

However…. Two of this weekend's matches also have no title attached to them – the Roosters-St Helens game and Wigan v Brisbane. Technically, Huddersfield earned a game but weren't interested. The World Club Series is an arbitrary competition anyway. Last year two of the Aussie teams came just because they wanted to. So the line between the Roosters' proposed game against Catalans last week and the match they are playing at Langtree Park this Friday starts to look a bit blurry. And there is a precedent – Manly and Melbourne were allowed in-season warm-up games against Harlequins in 2009 and 2010. This is more about money and pettiness.

St Helens had to stump up $300,000 to bring the Bondi Boys to the northern hemisphere and, judging by Super League general manager Blake Solly's diplomatic quotes in the accompanying news story, they didn't just want Catalans profiting from their investment. One straight fixture swap was the only thing required – Catalans v Hull moved to this coming weekend. But, Solly says, because the fixtures had already been announced, Hull weren't keen on changing. Perhaps they had already chartered their private jet that took them to Perpignan on Saturday. It's fair to say St Helens could have been a bit more altruistic. A game in the south of France wasn't going to hurt their walk-up this Friday. For all we know, they could have asked Catalans to help defray the cost and Catalans may have refused. In any case, the game never happened and the Roosters will field a 20-year-old and 19-year-old in the halves this Friday.