14 replies to this topic

[Mark (Ferret)]

The England Academy got their Test series against the Australian Schoolboys off to the best possible start by coming from 12 points behind to seal an impressive 38-30 victory in the first Test at Leigh Sports Village.

England got off to a flying start with second row Danny Bridge scoring within the first few minutes and they continued to dominate the first half with winger Ryan King also getting on the score sheet. England could easily have had 20 points on the board at half time had they capitalised on some golden opportunities but some basic errors cost them dear, allowing the Australians to cross the white wash twice and take the sides into the interval level at 12-12.

The Australians took control in the opening stages of the second half, scoring two quick converted tries before the 50 minute mark to take the scores to 24-12. It could have been worse for England when Australian winger Jacob Gagan broke free in his own 20 with no one in front of him, but an heroic effort from Reece Lyne stopped Gagan two meters short of the line.

From then on England took charge with Academy captain Adam Milner seizing control and leading his side to victory. With the scores at 30-18 and only ten minutes left to go, Milner broke through the middle to set up Matthew Sarsfield who scored under the posts to make it 30-24 after England’s Sam Powell had his score cancelled out by Australian captain Paul Carter.

Milner broke through again moments later to create a platform for his Castleford Tigers teammate Jordan Thompson to score. Gareth O’Brien missed the conversion which kept the score at 30-28, but Milner earned his side a penalty seconds later which O’Brien slotted over with ease to bring the sides level.

In the dying minutes, England’s Sam Powell latched on to his own kick to make it 34-30 and O’Brien added the extras before scoring another penalty to give the England side a hard fought and well deserved 38-30 victory.

Speaking after the game, England Academy Head Coach Dave Elliott said, “I’m really proud of all the boys. They have really dug in deep today. At 30-18 down they could easily have caved in but they showed a lot of effort to come back.

“We wanted to prove some people wrong. There have been people saying that the Australian’s are much better than us and that they are a more talented side, but we’ve got some skill in our team and our boys wanted to show that.

“We withstood everything they threw at us and then some. There are some big units in their side but there are some big talented guys in our squad as well and I think that was a fantastic game for all the fans to watch.

“Adam Milner put in a real captains knock today and James Laithwaite got man of the match which I think four of five people could have won.

“We know the jobs only half done now though. We would love to win a test series against the Australians and the lads are all very focused on winning the series, not just this test.”

Tickets for the second Test between England Academy and Australian Schoolboys at The Jungle, Castleford on Friday, December 10, cost £3 Adult and £2 Concession.

[SRC]

A good win by England by all accounts. Just 734 bothered to turn up though which is shocking IMO. There were 400 at the Touch Rugby Comp at Craven Park a couple of weeks ago !!!

[charlie caroli]

Cracking game ,in a Superb Stadium, undersoil heating ,you see,take note all you pretenders ,Barra for SL ,DO ME A FAVOUR ,NO CHANCE.

[rod reddy]

the way the game was played had nothing to do with the empty, rented, fancy pants stadium it was played in. more credit to england than anything leigh had to do with it. go and troll somewhere else charlie you sad man.

[SRC]

Cracking game ,in a Superb Stadium,

With no atmosphere and even fewer fans. The England lads deserved better.

[Leyther_Matt]

A good win by England by all accounts. Just 734 bothered to turn up though which is shocking IMO. There were 400 at the Touch Rugby Comp at Craven Park a couple of weeks ago !!!

Over 700 on a freezing day with two days notice is a terrific effort, there's no way in the memory of man there'd have been as many there as that if it was at Barrow. Oh, wait, the game wouldn't have gone ahead anyway.

And, for what it's worth, I wasn't one of the 734 but hoping to be there on Friday when the game is switched to Leigh again because Super League Castleford can't match the facilities at Leyth.

Oh, and while I remember, don't forget Leigh hosted a Student international on Sunday as well.

[SRC]

Over 700 on a freezing day with two days notice is a terrific effort, there's no way in the memory of man there'd have been as many there as that if it was at Barrow. Oh, wait, the game wouldn't have gone ahead anyway.

And, for what it's worth, I wasn't one of the 734 but hoping to be there on Friday when the game is switched to Leigh again because Super League Castleford can't match the facilities at Leyth.

Oh, and while I remember, don't forget Leigh hosted a Student international on Sunday as well.

Why are you bragging about Leigh Sports Village being used for these games ? The Village has absolutely nothing to do with Leigh RL - it is a separate entity rented out the odd week. Leigh have to get about 1,000 through the gate every home game just to pay the rent and then get very little (if anything) from Bar/refreshment sales etc. Your club (like many other RL clubs I might add) have no assets. Nothing - beyond a squad of part-time players.

The game was switched on Nov 30th, so there was in fact 4 full days' notice. You clearly know nothing about the strength of RL tradition in this area if you think that we wouldn't have easily topped a measly 734 for a full youth international.

[Leyther_Matt]

Why are you bragging about Leigh Sports Village being used for these games ? The Village has absolutely nothing to do with Leigh RL - it is a separate entity rented out the odd week. Leigh have to get about 1,000 through the gate every home game just to pay the rent and then get very little (if anything) from Bar/refreshment sales etc. Your club (like many other RL clubs I might add) have no assets. Nothing - beyond a squad of part-time players.

The game was switched on Nov 30th, so there was in fact 4 full days' notice. You clearly know nothing about the strength of RL tradition in this area if you think that we wouldn't have easily topped a measly 734 for a full youth international.

Yeah, I suppose you're right that the stadium wouldn't have been built without the involvement of Leigh RL.

[rod reddy]

I don't think Leigh RL had much to do with the hosting of the Internationals, more likely the rfl were forced to look for somewhere with the undersoil heating as a result of unforeseen circumstance i.e. horrendous weather conditions. If Leigh Sports Village was such an amazing choice of venue, they'd have chosen it in the first place. Mull that over while you're saving up for your rent

Edited by rod reddy, 06 December 2010 - 08:51 PM.

[Leyther_Matt]

I don't think Leigh RL had much to do with the hosting of the Internationals, more likely the rfl were forced to look for somewhere with the undersoil heating as a result of unforeseen circumstance i.e. horrendous weather conditions. If Leigh Sports Village was such an amazing choice of venue, they'd have chosen it in the first place. Mull that over while you're saving up for your rent

To be fair, they probably wanted to share it out with other grounds. After all, we're the only ground in the northern hemisphere to have hosted a full England international in 2010.

[Keith Nutter]

To be fair, they probably wanted to share it out with other grounds. After all, we're the only ground in the northern hemisphere to have hosted a full England international in 2010.

Matt, you're posts are normally reasonable in content and I enjoy reading them but you are deluding yourself about LSV. To put it in plain English "It aint f***ing yours!!".I have enjoyed my visits to the LSV - excellent ground, excellent facilities, good craic with the Leigh fans (I always choose to stand behind the sticks). Everything about it is superb but "It aint f***ing yours!!"

In contrast to the LSV, Craven Park is undeniably a dump (only an idiot could argue otherwise) but "We own it!!"

When we sell a pie we get the profit. When we sell a pint we get the profit. In fact when we sell anything at CP we get the profit. In contrast Leigh RLFC get nowt from similar sales at LSV. In fact I have it on what I consider to be good authority that you pay £7k a match for the privilege of playing there. Add to that "lost" £7k the profits from refreshment sales, etc and it is likely costing your club in the region of £10k every time you run on the field. Now that is fine when attendances are at a level to sustain it, but if you fall on hard times then you will not be able to cover the rent.

What will happen then? Will the owners of LSV feel sorry for you and drop the rent accordingly or will they simply boot you out? You may very well have a long lease on the use of the stadium but the terms of that lease will demand that the rent of £7k (or thereabouts) is paid. Also I believe it is in your lease that if crowds rise then so does the rent!! I just hope for Leigh's sake that the same holds true in reverse if attendances fall appreciably.

Barrow on the other hand have a lifetime lease and don't pay anything like £7k to stage a match (I appreciate there are costs to owning but far less in the long term than being a tenant). If gates rise our costs stay (more or less the same).

I know from Barrow's figures that if a club have a crowd of lets say 1,500 then you can average out the income per person (with concessions, kids season tickets, feebies, etc) at around £6 to £8 per person. For arguments sake lets say it is £8 - a gate of 1,500 will therefore yield £9k. You don't have to be a maths genius to work out that Leigh RLFC must be sailing very close to the wind on this one.

I'd appreciate your opinion on all this Matt but my view is that all the clubs currently renting stadiums will one day rue the day that they sold their major asset (ground) for a short term fix. I may well be proved wrong in time but for now I am happy to play in a dump that we own. Yes, at the present time it is holding us back and is the major stumbling block to progression up the ranks. Longer term though, if we can bring it up to something like modern standards, it may well prove to be a goldmine simply because of the income Barrow RFC can generate from its use - something that Leigh and others cannot now do.

[Michael Ashton]

Well said Keith.

I've said on more than one occassion when I was more involved with the Club I mixed regularly with Directors of other Clubs and the same message came through loud and clear. 'Whatever you do on and off the field don't sell your own ground.'

[Leyther_Matt]

To be honest, I agree with a lot of what you're saying Keith, especially as I've found out first hand how the LSV deal with the money side of things. That said, they could afford to kick us out (us being Leigh Genesis) when they were charging us £5,000 a game rent (that is the 'commercial rate' by the way so unlikely to be what Leigh RL are paying) and we were getting 200 through the gate.

Although the profits from the refreshments don't go directly to the club, the club do get a share of the profits from selling the tender for the kiosks, and I think it isn't as big a loss as people first imagine when you think the club have zero costs for the catering operation, and therefore anything that comes in as a result of the tender is 100% profit.

I certainly appreciate that we're in quite a fortunate position in that the council assisted with the ground, though it certainly wasn't an easy slog when I was stood in the rain at Hilton Park eight years ago collecting signatures in support of the project. Given what has happened since, it was ironically at a Leigh vs Tamworth football game. I think that position is strengthened by the fact that, now the football club have washed our hands of dealing with the LSV, the council can't afford to lose Leigh RL from the project as they'd simply be left with a white elephant of the stadium playing hosts to half a dozen Blackburn Reserve games a year. There is of course the possibility of other lodgers, but it seems Sale Sharks are no longer considering a move to the LSV and instead awaiting Salford's new ground.

Apologies for the above trolling, but it does get on my wick when people say that the stadium isn't 'ours'. The club are a 'partner' of the stadium company and therefore at least part-owners in that sense, and it's as simple as the stadium (and indeed possibly the LSV project as a whole) would not have happened without the involvement of Leigh RLFC.

[Keith Nutter]

To be honest, I agree with a lot of what you're saying Keith, especially as I've found out first hand how the LSV deal with the money side of things. That said, they could afford to kick us out (us being Leigh Genesis) when they were charging us £5,000 a game rent (that is the 'commercial rate' by the way so unlikely to be what Leigh RL are paying) and we were getting 200 through the gate.

Although the profits from the refreshments don't go directly to the club, the club do get a share of the profits from selling the tender for the kiosks, and I think it isn't as big a loss as people first imagine when you think the club have zero costs for the catering operation, and therefore anything that comes in as a result of the tender is 100% profit.

I certainly appreciate that we're in quite a fortunate position in that the council assisted with the ground, though it certainly wasn't an easy slog when I was stood in the rain at Hilton Park eight years ago collecting signatures in support of the project. Given what has happened since, it was ironically at a Leigh vs Tamworth football game. I think that position is strengthened by the fact that, now the football club have washed our hands of dealing with the LSV, the council can't afford to lose Leigh RL from the project as they'd simply be left with a white elephant of the stadium playing hosts to half a dozen Blackburn Reserve games a year. There is of course the possibility of other lodgers, but it seems Sale Sharks are no longer considering a move to the LSV and instead awaiting Salford's new ground.

Apologies for the above trolling, but it does get on my wick when people say that the stadium isn't 'ours'. The club are a 'partner' of the stadium company and therefore at least part-owners in that sense, and it's as simple as the stadium (and indeed possibly the LSV project as a whole) would not have happened without the involvement of Leigh RLFC.

You are not trolling Matt, you have valid points to make on a very serious subject. Do the LSV have to publish accounts as these should clear up exactly what the costs / benefits to Leigh are.
I certainly think it is great for clubs like Leigh to have such marvelous stadiums (and yours with terracing is the ideal) but I still think the long term impact of such council or privately owned (as with Wigan) stadiums could be horendous.
You say that they need you to make it pay its way (which is great) but what happens when the stadium maintenance needs carrying out - who pays for that, etc, etc. I am sure you understand what I am trying to say.
Basically the question is "Rent or Own" - which is best long term? I think the latter of course, but being a Barrow fan i would wouldn't I LOL.

[Leyther_Matt]

You are not trolling Matt, you have valid points to make on a very serious subject. Do the LSV have to publish accounts as these should clear up exactly what the costs / benefits to Leigh are.
I certainly think it is great for clubs like Leigh to have such marvelous stadiums (and yours with terracing is the ideal) but I still think the long term impact of such council or privately owned (as with Wigan) stadiums could be horendous.
You say that they need you to make it pay its way (which is great) but what happens when the stadium maintenance needs carrying out - who pays for that, etc, etc. I am sure you understand what I am trying to say.
Basically the question is "Rent or Own" - which is best long term? I think the latter of course, but being a Barrow fan i would wouldn't I LOL.

LSV Co. are a private limited company as far as I know so would presumably have to publish their accounts via Companies House, though I don't know of anyone going as far to obtain them. I'm sure they would make good reading though - I work with someone who is a youth leader and they've hired the concourse (yes, the concourse, not one of the suites) and have been told that they aren't to bring their own refreshments and that one of the kiosks will have to be opened for them!

I think any council or privately-owned stadium should continue to remain viable, if only because the age of selling off your stadium to a housing company seems to have passed with the collapse in the economy. I think there's certainly a discernable difference between the likes of Leigh and Widnes (ie who are renting stadiums built for the purpose of housing those clubs) and Swinton, Crusaders etc (even Oldham until they got the Whitebank) who are, to all intents and purposes, lodging at someone else's ground until something better comes along.

Friday's test has been switched to the LSV by the way so here's hoping they chuck Cas out of Super League as a result