OriginalMrC

Let's keep it that way this weekend. Brilliant to get a win on the board in week 1 👍

They brought more than last years game. Had maybe 20-30 and made themselves heard. And yeah was a decent attendance since I was expecting 300-400.

Decent crowd (526) in Coventry today to watch 2 expansion teams. West Wales are certainly a different proposition than last year with a lot more grit and also a few dangerous players. Bears were clinical today and put in a decent performance in a pretty disjointed game. Bears finish week one top of the league!

Brilliant comeback from Doncaster. Not sure what happened to Newcastle after half time. Complacency, fitness maybe? Shows this league will be wide open this year

Brilliant game this 👌

We’re back for the new season with a bumper episode! We round up all the news from the draw for the third round of the Coral Challenge Cup, which took place in Coventry on Monday night - we’ll bring you the draw and interviews with RFL CEO Ralf Rimmer, two legendary Coventry athletes in Dave Moorcroft and Kare Adenegan, reaction to the draw from Tom Tsang, Alan Robinson, Chris Barratt and Nick Newman and a return to the podcast for BBC Sport’s rugby league correspondent Dave Woods. We’ll also look ahead to the start of the new Betfred League 1 season this weekend, and preview the Bears’ opening game at home to the West Wales Raiders. Apple: bit.ly/BearsPodiTunes Spotify: bit.ly/BearsPodSpotify YouTube:

Didn't seem anywhere close to that on TV. Nonetheless that's still a disappointing attendance for a first home game of the season. York did a lot to promote their game with Toronto the week before and were rewarded with a great attendance.

What was the attendance for Rochdale vs Toronto? It looked on telly to be less than a 100 and sounded like it was being played on an empty stadium. How can a club survive in the championship on crowds like that? Not a criticism I was surprised, especially since the visit of Toronto usually swells gates

I'm not sure the league 1 structure needs to change at all. Should be 12-14 clubs, one automatic promotion and one via playoffs. Think its poor that the league is reduced to 11 teams this year but it does leave room for clubs to come in if appropriate. Despite all the doom and gloom the last 2/3 years has seen standards rise in league one and progression for a number of clubs. Attendances have generally been healthy too. It's not all bad news

The Bear Necessities is back for 2019. In our latest episode we've got all the reaction following Coventry Bears’ narrow 16-20 to Leeds Rhinos of the Super League at the Butts Park Arena last Friday night. That means match analysis and the post-match thoughts of Bears head coach Tom Tsang and the Bears Supporters’ Club Man of the Match, Dante Morley Samuels. Also, we hear from rugby league journalist and merchandise aficionado Steve Mascord - fresh from having been part of the commentary team for Friday’s official live stream - and we chat to Rhinos CEO Gary Hetherington about his continued support for the Bears’ efforts and his hopes for Leeds in 2019. Listen now on our website, wherever you get your podcasts or on YouTube!

Think there was 110 subscribers watching live during the game. Not sure what the final numbers will be. Thats not bad for the first time and would have been enough to make some money for the club.

Here's the new Coventry Bears kit in the flesh. I think it's a fantastic bold design and one that alot of fans will love 👍

Yep its ridiculous that championship clubs are unable to stream games yet sky do not show any games.

As Rach says above Bear Necessities is still going and will be doing regular episodes during the season https://covbearspodcast.com Latest episode which is a preview of the Leeds game is here: Direct 👉 https://t.co/VM0gU039ix @spotify 🎧 https://t.co/zGgZjac34R @ApplePodcasts 🍎 https://t.co/fY7QSzdyPp @YouTube 📹

I know the club has been thinking about it for a while but Coventry Bears have decided to do a live stream of their preseason game against Leeds Rhinos this Friday. There will be charge of £5 as it'll be done through a streaming company (who normally cover Coventry Blaze games). Details here: http://www.coventrybears.com/blog/coventry-bears-v-leeds-rhinos-live-webcast I think this is a fantastic move by the Bears and one which I hope is a success. I know that through social media channels this is something that fans regularly ask for.