Chris22

For Saints: Regan Grace Danny Richardson Morgan Knowles Matty Lees (not in the first 17 in terms of squad number, but 19 appearances last year and expected to be a regular started this year). Jack Ashworth and Aaron Smith are likely to receive more game time this year at the expense of Kyle Amor and possibly Theo Fages/James Roby.

A very interesting debate and one I'm not sure which side I fall on. On the one hand, Wembley is the national stadium and if we don't play the Cup Final there regularly, we lose our only match at the national stadium. This may sound spurious, but it also looks a bit silly having a statue of 5 legends outside the stadium and us never playing there. Sometimes having tradition is a good thing. And losing tradition could be dangerous. We have a routine now. We know where the Cup Final will be played and on what weekend. It's something you can account for every year. Having us move around creates that uncertainty where more people may think "let's not bother". This year was a bit of an anomaly and we would have had empty seats in any reasonably sized ground. I would worry if that final was held at, say Cardiff, and still looked empty and in our panic, we decided we had to reduce to an Elland Road/Ricoh Arena/Bramall Lane sized venue. We would have to be careful not to go down a slippery slop. The design of Wembley doesn't help us. It is a purpose built 90,000 seater stadium, with bright red seats. When sections are empty, it sticks out like a sore thumb. We had 10,000 empty seats at Old Trafford this year, but as that stadium was initially a smaller capacity and built upwards, it's less obvious. Wembley also has the design flaw if it's sunny, which doesn't look great. I don't think we do a great job covering empty seats either, when Tottenham do it (i.e. from the back), the stadium looks a lot more full On balance, my view is that we should stick at Wembley, assess the impact of the move to July and the 1895 Cup and assess then. If we did move, it's not something that should be done lightly.

Reported to be out for the season. A huge blow for Castleford and also for the competition. This year, of all years, we need our biggest stars playing. Here's hoping it isn't as serious as first thought. http://www.totalrl.com/luke-gale-suffers-suspected-season-ending-injury/

Rochdale are also running an initiative to get more young people to matches. It does seem that rugby league's appeal, especially at lower league level, seems to be mainly the older generation. Good to see clubs making efforts to bring in younger attendees.

I think it's fair to say that not all elements of our of support base have been too welcoming towards the likes of Catalans, Toulouse and Toronto in to the English game. The almost universal condemnation of the RFL's stance highlights just how unfair this is. I have to say, when Ralph Rimmer spoke about "plan b" in case Catalans got to the final, rather naively, I assumed that this would involve a significant upturn in marketing and promotion as opposed to charging them £500,000 to enter. The principle of the bond is bad enough, but the amount is eye watering. It's around 1/4 of Catalans annual salary cap. That money could pay for 1 global superstar or a couple of very talented players. Yet the RFL propose to spend the money covering their potential losses for failing to sell out, or even make profitable, their most historic and prestigious event. It is almost an admission of defeat, which will be off-putting to both fans and sponsors. I have little doubt that the RFL will back down now they are faced with the prospect of the holders not defending their title. But whether they do or not, their embarrassment will remain. It would be very difficult for Catalans to decline to defend their title, but I agree completely with their decision. It would be both financially and reputationally damaging to pay the bond. The RFL have made positive moves by switching the final to July from next year and introducing the 1895 Cup, both of which should boost the Challenge Cup, and should be credited for them. But to think that charging non-English clubs is lazy. It is not the answer. It ignores the reasons why the final crowd is dropping and does nothing to attempt to address the decline. To be polite, it fails to inspire confidence. To be stronger, it shows that the governing body has a dirge of leadership and foresight. No matter what happens now, this a hugely embarrassing episode for the RFL, one of the most strategically backward proposals I can recall from them.

The BBC have penned an article about sporting events to look forward to in 2019. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/46608285 No mention of rugby league in it. I would usually be critical, but it's a problem of our own making. What could we put? "The GB Lions are touring for the first time in x years, but we don't know when, where, or the opponents". Our lack of organisation harms our ambitions of growth.

1. Warrington 2. St Helens 3. Wigan 4. Castleford 5. Leeds 6. Catalans 7. Wakefield 8. Hull FC 9. Huddersfield 10. Hull KR 11. Salford 12. London

An unfortunately placed sponsor indeed!

I've just had a search and yes that is correct. My memory must be playing tricks on me!

From memory I think we had the red band in the 1961 Cup Final, but by the 1966 Cup Final we had the redvee. Not sure of the answer to your question, but the website below should help. Alex Service is the club's historian and his email address is on the website, if you can't find the answer. http://www.saints.org.uk/

There is very little information available via the internet, sadly. This is all I can find: http://forums.redvee.net/showthread.php?30071-A-bit-of-nostalgia-for-the-oldies https://thesportsdragon.com/2015/01/27/john-warlow-from-stradey-to-st-helens/ https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=RweAAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA155&lpg=PA155&dq=minnie+cotton+st+helens&source=bl&ots=e_UwnTGxUJ&sig=r7-WOWrkldeb59O45l6do2nHGPA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjuo-OkvLPfAhVoShUIHVjLDQwQ6AEwDnoECAAQAQ#v=onepage&q=minnie cotton st helens&f=false

I see one of the Sky Sports channels is rebranding as "Sky Sports Darts" for the upcoming championships. Hopefully, we can push for something similar during the Magic Weekend as there will be six games, plus some NRL in the mornings.

Eden was the top try scorer in 2017 and scored a lot in 2018 relative to the number of games he played. He's got to be one of the favourites again. Edit: Sky Bet are offering 80/1 on Austin for MOS and Charnley for top try scorer, seems decent odds to me!

I've had a go, and it was harder than I thought! Probably plenty that I've missed out. I've tried to keep it chronological (broadly). 1. Coventry hosting Leeds in a pre-season friendly. 2. Bradford's close victory over York in round 1 of League 1. 3. Ben Barba's performance in round 1 vs Castleford. 4. The first ever Super League game in Australia. 5. Leigh's poor start to the season and Neil Jukes' departure. 6. York vs Catalans in the Challenge Cup. 7. The start of the Women's Super League. 8. Catalans terrible start to the season and their signing of Josh Drinkwater. 9. Leeds' fightback against Castleford at Elland Road, where Castleford just hung on. 10. London's defeat of Toronto on Good Friday. 11. Castleford vs Warrington's modern-day watersplash on Easter Monday. 12. Leeds' losing run from April onwards, culminating in Brian McDermott's sacking. 13. West Wales Raiders' fiasco and various other teams not being able to field a 17. 14. Newcastle vs Bradford on the Friday before Magic and Newcastle's season generally with increasing crowds. 15. Magic Weekend - especially hosting a championship match for the first time. 16. Toronto vs Leigh at the Summer Bash. 17. Round 18 of Super League, which included one draw, two games where the sides were separated by a point, one game with a two point margin of victory and one with a four point margin of victory (settle by a last minute try). 18. Shaun Wane's departure from Wigan and appointment of Lam/Edwards. 19. Super League restructure (again). 20. Samoa vs Tonga in Sydney. 21. The Denver test. 22. NSW's origin win. 23. Hull FC's mid-season collapse. 24. The final few rounds of the Championship season with Halifax and London securing a place in the Super 8's. 25. The cup semi-final double header at Bolton, especially Catalans victory. 26. London's victory of Widnes to open the Super 8's. 27. The Challenge Cup Final. 28. The Women's Challenge Cup final between Castleford and Leeds. 29. St Helens winning the LLS. 30. Toulouse beating Widnes and Hull KR at home. 31. Toronto beating Toulouse in the middle 8's by a point. 32. Widnes' relegation. 33. Rochdale's miracle escape. 34. York securing the League 1 title. 35. Toronto beating Leeds at Headingley and then Hull KR beating Widnes to survive. 36. The Million Pound Game. 37. Bradford's promotion. 38. The farcical Swinton vs Workington play-off. 39. Sydney's magnificent play off series - Sydney vs Melbourne's preliminary semi-final, Sydney vs St George and Sydney vs Souths 40. The St Helens vs Warrington play-off semi final. 41. (through gritted teeth) Wigan's fairytale title win. 42. Cooper Cronk and Luke Keary's performance in the NRL Grand Final. 43. Tonga vs Australia. 44. The Anfield test. 45. The emergence of new talent in the England team, especially Tommy Makinson. 46. Jamaica's qualification for the World Cup. 47. Wayne Bennett/Anthony Seibold's job swap. 48. The emergence of PDRL/LDRL 49. Announcement of Catalans vs Wigan at Nou Camp next year. 50. Brian McDemott's appointment at Toronto for 2019.