The Blues Ox

FRIDAY 18th JULY Bradford Bulls v Oldham Oldham by 8 SATURDAY 19th JULY Toulouse Olympique v Featherstone Rovers Toulouse by 6 SUNDAY 20th JULY Batley Bulldogs v Halifax Panthers Fax by 12 Sheffield Eagles v London Broncos London by 6 Widnes Vikings v Doncaster Widnes by 8 York Knights v Barrow Raiders York by 26

The meltdown from Halifax Town fans over this is something to behold.

If Salford 1st team players are refusing to play then surely that game will have to be called off as I hear the RFL are big on player welfare and putting lads in to play against Leeds who are nowhere near ready to play first team would not be in their best interests......

I agree with a lot of what you said but its worth pointing out that Wakefield did not go back to SL on the back of a P&R system. They had the benefit of knowing that under IMG criteria they were pretty much certain to regain their spot in SL. Now Im not saying it would have been any different if they needed to win promotion but theres still a chance they might not have won the most important game at the end of the season.

I know a few of the lasses at Huddersfield and I am inrigued to see if any of the older end currently playing for the 19's can get a look in for the first team squad by the end of the season. I think maybe 6/7 of this weekends team that Hudds will have to make a decision on at the back end of the year.

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1166657625498538&set=a.623522049812101 Lots of negative comments on there, mainly from people who don't have a clue what they are talking about. I do have a bit of sympathy for the Bulls, they are in a really tough position. They still have the reputation that they were one of the first SL champions but other teams have passed them by. They are now in a position where none of the best talent will consider them with there been so many more clubs around the area in better positions, experienced players who know the score more are not going to go there and get beat every week but they still have that big draw reputation likely for parents of younger kids. A lot of talk on there about the squad mainly been 16/17/18 but those kids are not going to get better by been hammered every week by other teams in the Championship who also have kids around the same age playing for them. The harsh reality is that most of their players would not stand out in League 1 but been thrust in to such a tough league like the Championship simply can't have a good effect on them. As mentioned before, as a club the top 6 in League 1 would all comfortably do better than the Bulls and Cas in the Championship but the RFL will be loathe to relegate either team at the end of this season when they restructure so I really don't know what the answer is for them. Its going to be interesting over the next year or so if the Bradford and cas clubs start to take their womens sections seriously now both teams seemingly have backers willing to splash a bit of cash.

For the conspiracy theorists this must mean that the live IMG scores are indicating that Bradford will be the team to replace Salford.......

Bradford's coach left during the week and its going to be a tough ask for anyone going there and they got a bit of a hiding off Salford 72-6. Im still leaning towards thinking Fev could be the team to go back to SL next season. I expect London to lose some players to Union at the back end of the season so I think Fev are more than capable of beating London but with them not having to play each other again until the playoffs, that game will be in London. Both teams will beat Warrington easily so we will have a new team in SL next season either way. Busy weekend in League 1 where fryston held off a late Halifax comeback to win 28-22. Then a couple of shocks as Leigh picked up their first win of the season against a Stanningley team that has had a huge drop off with a 8-10 result. Workington also pulled off a shock beating Wakey 18-8 and Workington look to be the steady improvers after their promotion last year. I got down to watch Illingworth nearly pull off a shock win over Widnes in a really good game that could have gone either way. The league title looks to be heading to Widnes this year as both Wakey and Stanningley gradually lose players. Widnes and Wakey look secure as top 2 but then there will be 4 to go in to 2 for the reamining places. Leigh climb off the bottom with their win and Fax drop to last having recieved a penalty for forfeiting a game.

Apart from Warrington, Huddersfield just feel like Super Leagues least ambitious team. They have the resources, they were ahead of the curve when it came to contracts and set up in comparrison to other teams but now they just seem to be standing still. Too many players comfortable, pretty poor recruitment, and settling for been No. 5.

Very similar with the Bulls in that respect. Both teams would be going in on the back of previous glories and history but its impossible to say if its the right thing to do as for all we know if York or Oldham were given the chance, what is to say they couldnt be pulling in 7K+ in a year or two?

I thought he got a yellow with around 10 minutes to go? By the sounds of it Toulouse spent the game on the edge of the laws, I can't remember who they were playing but it was also said about them the other week. I still think they have the best team when fully fit but their discipline is increasingly becoming a major problem for them.

Nail on the head. The only other team I reckon that could bring income to current SL clubs would be Widnes. I have a sneaky suspicion that if they were in there they would out draw any other team that has been mentioned. Plus if we are talking about York and Oldham going in there then why not Widnes?

Fax claiming a shock 30-16 win against what seems to be a typical Toulouse close to the edge performance.

Fax up 16-4 at HT against Toulouse at the Wembley of the North.

This had me well confused.