gogledd

Excellent documentary. A must watch for anyone who thinks refereeing is a breeze! I referee at Masters RL level and try to appreciate what match officials do at the games I go to watch. I think this video gives a much broader perspective and an even greater appreciation.

I'm guessing hes been signed. He has been given a squad number!

Reports of a good pre-season game for North Wales Crusaders yesterday with Junior Westwood putting in a crowd-pleasing performance. NWC play away at Barrow on 28th before playing Wigan Warriors on 10th January.

All paid now according to the latest news from Crusaders

London, Oldham, Widnes and Halifax

I'll make a prediction that North Wales Crusaders will finish in the top 10....and maybe even the top 6.

I've only seen social media posts from The Game Changer on this. According to the Club its an accounting error; according to ex-employees there are outstanding payments! Our current Directors don't really communicate directly with fans anymore so its difficult to know what is going on. Hopefully everything will get resolved. It will be interesting to see if fans boycott the Clubhouse the owners want to set up - basically this is an additional charge of £10 to go into a bar area pre-and post game....commercial suicide if you ask me!

The was far more support for North Wales Crusaders when we were based in Wrexham and had good crowd numbers in the early days when we were based at the Racecourse. There definitely isn't enough support/ appetite for two clubs in the area. If there was to be a successful bid to get RL back at the Racecourse it would have to be North Wales Crusaders returning there. As @fearnowt has pointed our the recent redevelopment of the Racecourse attracted funding from a number of sources including the Welsh Government. The bid included playing 'rugby' at the stadium and I'm told that rugby post holders have been placed in the redeveloped pitch. It would be great to get back there, but I just cant see it happening, especially since Wrexham FC are now playing to regularly to a full stadium in the Championship of the EFL.

Owlerton was a pretty poor experience. When Crusaders played there we bought beer from a hatch and weren't allowed into the bar as it was 'members only'. I got a b*llocking of a steward for standing in a yellow hatched walkway when there were about 50 people in the stadium as 'it was a fire hazard (??)' I'll put a bid in for our own venue too - Queensway Stadium in Wrexham when we played there for a few seasons...the stands were miles from the pitch and at an angle designed to watch the field and athletics the stadium is set up for. The running track meant the atmosphere evaporated before it even got to the pitch....and we had a marquee (which the fans bought in fairness) to host our pre-and post-game 'hospitality' which meant moving tables and chairs, the bar etc out of a shipping container then returning everything after the game. From a players perspective - the dressing rooms were tiny and the toilets leaked. It was awful.

That's the plan...but splitting the 3 World Cups (mens, womens and wheelchair) is a mistake IMHO

Sadly thats true...any open age competitions up here have been disrupted by teams folding, players changing codes and using RL to improve fitness, tackling and handling before going back to RU and lack of direction. North Wales Crusaders are trying hard with a reserve team and a womens team, but players with any significant RL talent will get snapped up by teams in the North West of England.

Both Wales v Ireland games played on the same day as the Ashes...and not announced until after Ashes tickets had gone on sale!! You couldn't make it up!

Just another bit of info to add: Liverpool FC play at home on 1st November with a 20:00 kick off. I'd expect it to be pretty busy in the city centre after the Ashes game finishes.

From Everton FCs website "In the post-match period, when Sandhills becomes busy, some supporters may prefer to use Bank Hall, James Street or Moorfields, depending on final destination. These are 25/30 minutes’ walk from the stadium."

Last season we played 2 1895 Cup games and 2 Challenge Cup games...with your format that would be 30 games with the 26 League games you propose. That's not going to fit within the playing window let alone give any consideration for semi-pro players and their families.