The Blues Ox

Oulton failing to raise a team for their fixture with Cardiff this week and rumors that they may not complete the season. Id expect them to be gone from the Championship next season with Widnes and potentially Wakefield moving up. Cas look like the other team that could give way although I am hearing we could even go to yorkshire and Lancashire leagues next season below the Championship. It would lead to an extremley strong Yorkshire league but I fear the standard in Lancashire would be pretty poor. Around the leagues this week, London picked up a win over Salford but not as dominant as I thought it might be and Fev hammered Cas, Ive watched this one and cas are way out of their depth while Fev's pack completley dominated their opposition and they played some good rugby to go with it. Im not as convinced as I were that London will have it all their own way when these two play each other in a play off final. League 1 with 3 pretty tight games, Illingworth with a nail biting last minute win against Fryston to throw spots 3 and below wide open then Wakey only beating Leigh by 16-0. Not sure what team Wakey had out or if they still have players in from Huddersfield but Im surprised how close this one looks. The same goes for Widnes who I am convinced are the best team in this league but only managed a 13-6 win against a tough Workington team at Widnes.

Totally agree, I don't like him as a person so I take anything he says with a pinch of salt. He certainly said it though.

Certainly on record but I can't remember if it is in his book.

I know it will annoy some Fax fans but I likely won't go and watch a single game that we play at Odsal, its not because of some weird hatred of Bradford that some Fax fans have but just because its a really bad place to watch rugby. The stadium itself is pretty bad and food and drink prices are ridiculous but the pitch been so narrow just makes for really poor quality games. If you are paying a fortune to watch what is basically just a step up from amateur rugby then you want to at least have a chance of enjoying it.

We had this with Jamie Bloem and it ended with him quitting reffing and claiming that he was told which teams to influence winning games by people above him.

We have to remember this is the modern game where it means almost nothing what happens on the field.

The big questions if the league does expand are obviously, where do the SL quality players come from to fill 2 more squads, and also who would be the 3rd team going up? Bradford and Toulouse would be nailed on and with Salford we have to presume getting the boot we would need another team. Could they just put London back in there? Other than something a bit leftfield like that you could throw a blanket over a number of teams and it would just be luck of the draw if it works or not.

They have at least one very rich investor pumping money in to them. They could comfortably give up the SL funding for the first season if it meant them getting in there.

I think Bradford could afford comfortably at least for the next 2 or 3 seasons.

In 2023 Bradford posted a number of attendances that were disproved on this forum with evidence. Obviously the Fax game stands out for me and I think the attendance was announced as around 4500 when there was not even 2k in the ground. This became a common theme through the rest of the season, I believe at some point it was also called out by a couple of Championship chairman. It is no surprise their attendance figures for corresponding figures over the following seasons became a bit more realistic.

The experience he gained in faking Bradford's attendance figures 2 or 3 seasons back can only help when it comes to bodging numbers for the overall game.

SATURDAY 28th JUNE Widnes Vikings v Toulouse Olympique Toulouse by 16 SUNDAY 29th JUNE Barrow Raiders v Bradford Bulls Bradford by 10 Batley Bulldogs v Sheffield Eagles Draw Halifax Panthers v Oldham Oldham by 16 Hunslet v London Broncos London by 12 York Knights v Featherstone Rovers I can't win with this one can I? Regards Kear, I think hes perfect for Batley. His respect and contacts in the game, his ability to motivate players for a battle, and he probably is costing Batley next to nothing, makes him a good choice in my opinion. Its a tough ask for him as for the first time in many years they look a bit of a mess.

Hull KR player pulled it back towards the try line, never regained control and it touched the Wakey player. It really only needed one view not 20.

One view to know that was not a try.

Very good ref Aaryn, I remember having him ref some girls games a few years back and it was obvious he would end up at a high level so its great to see him reffing top end Championship and won't be long before he is taking on SL games. He's well fit as well apparently.