38 replies to this topic

[Barnie]

Seeing as I got it right last round, I thought i'd give it a go at getting Swintons next round tie right.

I want us to get Oldham at 'home'.

Whats your thoughts?

[The Art of Hand and Foot]

Seeing as I got it right last round, I thought i'd give it a go at getting Swintons next round tie right.

I want us to get Oldham at 'home'.

Whats your thoughts?

Home???? Hmmm! I hope we get either you at Whitebank or a Superlague team away. However seeing as I live in Atherton I wouldn't mind you at L S V.

[Barnie]

If you notice the word HOME is in inverted commas. Hence, I am saying its not our 'home', but its where we play our home games.

[kitey]

Leigh at home

[Blue Monkey]

Does anyone know when and what time the draw is due to take place?

[Barnie]

3pm tomorrow live on GMR or whatever it is called this week.

[Blue Monkey]

3pm tomorrow live on GMR or whatever it is called this week.

Thanks Barnie, it's usually later than 3.00pm isn't it? Last time it was more like 7.00pm-8.00pm wasn't it?

[RIGGY]

The draw will take place on Monday at 3-10pm live on BBC Radio Manchester

95.1 FM

Cheers
Riggy

[marshy1]

Barnie is right, straight after the 3pm news to be drawn by two paraolympians i believe.

[RIGGY]

Some really poor crowd figures around today. 652 at London Broncos v Dewsbury and just over 4000 i believe at Wigan v North Wales.
Not many money spinners about today.

[duffymoon]

Lets hope we dont get London! Saints or Leeds away would probably be best financially but with the obvious risk of conceding a lot of points!

[Blue Monkey]

On the club's website is Riggy's customary well penned match report. In his report for yesterday's victory at LSV over Gateshead, Riggy states that the Lions - "ran in twelve tries to power into the next round and hopefully get themselves a plumb draw."

A "plum" draw? By this I take it he means one of the big boys, like last season's "plum" tie at Warrington or North Wales Crusaders' "plum" tie at Wigan today - going down in real style (like us at Warrington ) 98-4 courtesy of 18 Wigan tries including half a dozen (6) from Tompkins alone.

It is when this kind of "plum" tie happens, with its highly predictable result, that many people must seriously question the integrity of that historic rugby league knockout competition, the RL Challenge Cup.
As in earlier times, the CC competition is, in theory at least, INclusive to all entrants, which ever league/level they find themselves in. "In theory" maybe, but anyone with even half a brain between their ears knows that today’s CC is, IN REALITY, an annual jaunt EXclusively for fully professional clubs, i.e. that not-so-super Super League. This fact became all too apparent to some of us at last season's grossly ridiculous and utterly one-sided CC miss-match with our great lads going down undeservingly by well in excess of a hundred points without even having the “consolation” of a one point drop goal.
Unless the powers-that-be do something drastic to address this annual fiasco at the expense of RL's lower tier clubs (non SL), I can only suggest a rethink by our "inferior" clubs if it is really worth it by suffering further humiliation, OR, to strike out "1895 style” and launch our own competition. Just a thought!
“The powers-that-be”, the RFL - those “jokers” (polite term) who mismanage the sport on our behalf.

[Blue Monkey]

..."half a dozen (6) from Tompkins alone."

Sorry folks! should be "Tomkins". I'm not really familiar with the names of these "superior" players as I only support the Super Lions and don't have Sky TV or whatever it takes to watch our sport at its "top level", i.e. "super league dross"

[marshy1]

On the club's website is Riggy's customary well penned match report. In his report for yesterday's victory at LSV over Gateshead, Riggy states that the Lions - "ran in twelve tries to power into the next round and hopefully get themselves a plumb draw."

A "plum" draw? By this I take it he means one of the big boys, like last season's "plum" tie at Warrington or North Wales Crusaders' "plum" tie at Wigan today - going down in real style (like us at Warrington ) 98-4 courtesy of 18 Wigan tries including half a dozen (6) from Tompkins alone.

It is when this kind of "plum" tie happens, with its highly predictable result, that many people must seriously question the integrity of that historic rugby league knockout competition, the RL Challenge Cup.
As in earlier times, the CC competition is, in theory at least, INclusive to all entrants, which ever league/level they find themselves in. "In theory" maybe, but anyone with even half a brain between their ears knows that today’s CC is, IN REALITY, an annual jaunt EXclusively for fully professional clubs, i.e. that not-so-super Super League. This fact became all too apparent to some of us at last season's grossly ridiculous and utterly one-sided CC miss-match with our great lads going down undeservingly by well in excess of a hundred points without even having the “consolation” of a one point drop goal.
Unless the powers-that-be do something drastic to address this annual fiasco at the expense of RL's lower tier clubs (non SL), I can only suggest a rethink by our "inferior" clubs if it is really worth it by suffering further humiliation, OR, to strike out "1895 style” and launch our own competition. Just a thought!
“The powers-that-be”, the RFL - those “jokers” (polite term) who mismanage the sport on our behalf.

Keith, I fully understand where your comming from but then you look at the rsult from Featherstone yesterday and the magic of the cup was fully evident.

[PhillH]

Its a very difficult task to achieve a cup upset in Rugby League, due to the inherent nature of the sport - its a totally different kettle of fish to football in this respect - a point that a lot of peripheral observers of the game (most importantly in the media) don't fully appreciate. So the cup upset remains an engrained part of the culture of the game and the administrators have towed this line, even though achieving such a feat is much harder and they happen a lot less regularly than in football.

A few years ago there would have been general uproar at any proposal to further restrict access to the Challenge Cup to the non-Super League teams as being too elitest and killing the game at grass roots level etc. Perhaps what we now see is a dawning of a new era when the full time sides are in general so far ahead, results on the pitch are changing the perception of fans of the lower tier sides and such a move would now be more palatable to them.

Non Super League teams already DO have their own competition by the way - the Northern Rail Cup.

You still get the odd upset between sides at different levels. Well done Featherstone. Ask Steve McCormack if he enjoyed coaching Barrow to a victory at Castleford a couple of years back. Lower down the Lions did it only last season. Go back a little further and the Lions were on the wrong end of a defeat from an amateur side, plus a near miss against Siddall.

What you need to produce competitive games is the BEST sides from the lower tier to face the WORST sides from the one above. There are ways this could be manipulated, via seeding and/or making the lower tier sides pre-qualify. To some extent this already happens with amateurs only to start with, then part time sides enter in a later round, with the Super League sides after them. Perhaps this needs taking further and say have the last 16 of the Cup as the Super League sides by right plus 2 others?

As for the low attendances - this problem led to the concept of season ticket holders being given free admission to the opening cup games. Evidence suggests that hasn't worked. At the end of the day there is no substitute for competitive action on the pitch.

Can't help but think if the boyhood Lions fan David Hughes had poured his millions into Swinton Lions (particularly a new ground!) rather than the various incarnations of professional RL in London, his reward by now would be far greater gates than the Broncos are still achieving!

[Barnie]

I'll be honest Phil that guy grinds my gears. he has seen what his boyhood club has been thru and pumped loads of money into other clubs. To me it means he must have never been a true Swinton fan. if i was ever in a position to take Swinton on to the next level id do it. you wouldnt find me jobbing round the country ####### money up the walls of other clubs.

[wberry]

Very true barnie, he's just tredding water at London and its costing millions, he could have done alot more for alot less with the lions!

Wayne

[Jonty]

For me the Challenge Cup should have the same overseas allowance for SL clubs as Championship clubs. The chances of an upset would be greater, plus it levels the playing field. This rule should also be applied to the French entrants and any other clubs with overseas dispensation.

[PhillH]

I'll be honest Phil that guy grinds my gears. he has seen what his boyhood club has been thru and pumped loads of money into other clubs. To me it means he must have never been a true Swinton fan. if i was ever in a position to take Swinton on to the next level id do it. you wouldnt find me jobbing round the country ####### money up the walls of other clubs.

I would have sympathy with David Hughes if he was deterred from doing business with several less-than-straight characters that have been involved in the ownership / running of Swinton Lions over the years. Right now though, an injection of cash to help facilitate a new ground would make a tangible and long lasting difference.

Or perhaps its simpler than that and he never really developed any affection for the town, therefore made it his first real goal in life to get out and never look back.

None of us are close enough to him to know, but we can be certain that he's spent many a few quid in pursuit of the expansionist agenda, with very limited success at best.

[Blue Monkey]

Keith, I fully understand where your comming from but then you look at the rsult from Featherstone yesterday and the magic of the cup was fully evident.

Alan, yes Featherstone's great cup victory over their Super League neighbours and local rivals Castleford is just the type of tonic both Rovers and the game in general needs.
However, this kind of David beating Goliath scenario very rarely happens due to obvious reasons. Historically in the Cup, Post Office Road has always tended to be a graveyard for so many so-called top sides thinking they'll have little trouble sweeping aside Rovers, who were, after all, "just a pit village team of miners etc."
Featherstone Rovers have an enviable Challenge Cup record considering the size of their "pit village". Featherstone's population is barely ⅓ (c. 14,000) the size of Swinton & Pendlebury's.
Going back to my youth, the Lions triumphed at Post Office Road in the cup in 1965, prop Ken Halliwell scoring the only try of the day. I remember after the final whistle, you could feel the home fans’ aggression towards us as we made our way to the coaches after daring to do the unthinkable, coming across the Pennines and returning with Rovers' cup scalp.

And talking about predictability, for 8 (EIGHT) consecutives seasons (1987-88 - 1994-95) Wigan held the trophy largely because of their full time status. It's unthinkable nowadays, but when our dear friends and neighbours, the Pinks, knocked Wigan out of the Cup at the Willows in 1996, I rejoiced to see the end of the sheer monotony of Wigan RLFC as cup holders.