gogledd

North Wales have played in the Friday Night Lights game twice...and won. So we are hoping our friends from South Wales can keep up this tradition!!. Its a brilliant atmosphere at FNL and I am rather sorry I'm not going this year.

Looking like the League 1 Shield is now between Hunslet, London Skolars and North Wales Crusaders afte All Golds loss yesterday. Skolars and Crusaders on the same points but London have a far better points difference, giving them a virtual extra point, and a game in hand which they play at their Friday Night Lights pre-Challenge Cup event (well worth going if your down for the Challenge Cup). Hunslet and Skolars still have to play each other but the run in still favours both teams to make the Shield final.

Look out for a Wales RL shirt - that'll be me!

I think it depends which Catalan UK games you attend. Theres a few of us from North Wales who go along to support Catalans Dragons and the game at Warrington is usually popular with travelling Catalan fans as is the Leeds fixture. This year Leigh seemed to attract a fair few probably because they had not been to the Leigh Sports Village before. I'd say its usually 30 at the most and I've seen quite a few of the same faces that make the trips from France. North Wales Crusaders supporters club arrange our away travel and w always used to fill a coach - particularly when we used to play Rochdale, Oldham and Swinton - only 60-odd miles away. This season our nearest away fixtures were Keighley, Gloucestershire All Golds (we've been to the Prince of Wales Stadium 4 times this season!!) and Coventry Bears - all around the 100 mile mark. We've struggled to fill the coach this year but the big problem is the split to the 8's - in July nobody know who we are playing or when we play them - so making arrangements is more of a problem. But for a League 1 Club we do pretty well for away support.

I'm going!! I will be following Wales through the pool stages and have tickets for Port Moresby PNG, Townsville and Perth. I'm then heading for the QF in Wellington NZ - I know Wales won't be at the QF but I have friends there and wanted to visit NZ on this trip. Then I'm heading for Brisbane for the SF and Final. I am really looking forward to it - a trip of a lifetime.

Wolfpack will beat Thunder but I hope they run them close. Hunslet v All Golds a very difficult one to call. I think All Golds could win it by 2 points. Barrow will pull out all the stops to keep the pressure on Toronto. Haven v Keighley - another tight game; Haven to win with home advantage Doncaster will just beat Workington Can Coventry pull off a shock result and beat Skolars? They were unlucky to lose last week by all accounts. I'm going to back the Bears. Oxford seem in disarray so I'll back Ironmen to win Crusaders should beat Hemel, but they pushed us all the way on our last visit. If we turn up like we did against Hunslet last week we will win.

I know it won't be Wales if they get to a quarter final as they will be in either the Darwin or Melbourne QF but I wanted to go to NZ as well as Australia and PNG. I have a family friend in Wellington so it seemed like the best choice - I suppose Aukland would have been the better choice for Rugby League but the trip is to meet friends and family too.

A long away day to Hemel Stags on Sunday 20th August. Note that the kick off time is 2pm. We need to take our best game to Hemel - last time out we let Hemel get a head of steam and took ages to get going and Hemel posted one of their best results of this season. We cant afford to take this game lightly and need to pile on the points as London Skolars have a better points difference than us. The Supporters Club are organising travel once again. Places are available £18 for Suporters Club members, £20 for non-members. We leave the Turf at 09:30. Book you place now by emailing crufans@gmail.com

Diolch yn Fawr/ Thank you to all the Hunslet fans who made the trip to Queensway Stadium yesterday. You were certainly one of the better supported teams we hosted this season and it definitely added to the atmosphere and boosted our bar profits! Good to chat to you all near the bar and ,you never know, we may still meet each other in the Shield Final. Hwyl Gogledd

Good game at the Queensway stadium. Thanks to all the volunteers who turned out to get the game on. It was a tense affair with both sides under pressure to win the game and keep their Shield final hopes alive - more of a must win for Crusaders who've already lost to London Skolars (less said about that game the better) and All Golds. Pre-game we had a minutes applause for our number 35, 6 year old Jaxon Langford who sadly died - the club are retiring the shirt number in his honour. Jaxon must have inspired the lads and coach Mike Grady dedicated the win to Jaxon. ...and thanks to the Hunslet fans for travelling in numbers and adding to the atmosphere.... and taking us by surprise arriving at 12:40 ready for the bar to open!! I hope ou all had a safe journey home

Wherabouts in NZ are you Ray - I'm coming over to Wellington to watch the Rugby League World Cup Quarter final in November!

Wales Wheelchair RL have put all 5 of their World Cup game on YouTube. You can find them by putting Wales WhRL in the YouTube search bar. You can even post the link to Adam Hills and he can watch the Australian Wheelaroos playing against us!

All the Wales Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup games are now available to view on YouTube. Just type in Wales WhRL in the YouTube Search bar and that will take you to the videos.

On the face of it it seems to be a trivial issue as we've ended up at home anyway but I am aware of how much effort has gone into getting the game at Queensway. Initially Welsh Athletics and Freedom Leisure did not want the game at Queensway. They have athletics track and field events booked for Saturday and Monday and didn't want the stadium marking changed for rugby league on Sunday. It was definitely off at one point. The Clubs General Manager and Directors with help from some supporters have been ringing round local venues to get the game on. When they found a venue willing to accept the game the RFL then had to approve the venue. Some were not available, some were found and not up to RFL standards. Its taken some skillful negotiation and a lot of work just to play at home. But I am very happy that this was the outcome. It will be the first time in a long time that we have played all our games in one home stadium and not had to move venues. Moving would have meant loss of support, loss of revenue and a fixture which was not truely a home fixture and potentially putting us out of contention for the League 1 Shield. So all Cru fans, go up and shake hands with those who made it happen.

Some massive negotiations, dozens of telephone calls to surrounding venues from Welshpool to Warrington, a huge headache for our General Manager and the Directors but the right result in the end. Lets hope our players are inspired by the tenacity of the off-field team and play to their potential. A warm welcome to our friends from Hunslet RLFC - i think I am correct in saying Hunslet have never played in North Wales, we've either played you away or we've been in different leagues. Have a safe trip down and bring plenty of money to spend on food and drink!