TBone

I doubt that they’ll see it that way. Either way, win or lose, they will no doubt use lessons learned to provide areas of focus for the remainder of their off-season training.

I played in a few Yorkshire club 7s in competitions early in the 70s, it was also widely played by schools at the back end of the season.

This system has its flaws not least of which is the notion that someone gets 3 points even in an abysmal game. But, hey, just compare it to how votes were cast in the player vote system it replaced!

This guy had a huge game for Catalan!

I like it, where can I buy one?

Depends how you measure the sport. For instance the finances of most of the RU premiership do not make good reading, with most of them being not only massively in debt but also struggling to make ends meet (1). Look at the eye watering costs. No wonder they are keen to sell a big slice of the game! On the other hand there seem to be more well healed individuals prepared to pour money in to support clubs like Bath, Harlequins and Gloucester. Then there’s the jewel in the crown, certainly for England, the international game. This is where RU runs rings around the RFL. Even in bad times these guys are bringing in comparatively vast sums (2). This revenue engine allows for a massive amount to be made available for the development of the game. However, all is not entirely rosy as revenues are down year on year. The RFU is blessed with sources on income that RL can only dream of. The RFU has more control over the game than the RFL because of the massive contribution of the international game and is thus in a better position to put in place long term plans for the development of the sport as a whole. By comparison, financially the RFL is a minnow, it struggles year on year to make ends meet and its ‘investments’ in the international game and the CC are ‘big bets’ (last year losing it around £2m, IIRC). The bottom line here is that the RFU finances allow it much more latitude to make longer term strategic plans whereas the RFL is pretty much stuck in fire fighting mode. This just highlights that, if the the RFL is to survive, it has to be more focused and innovative than its counterpart. Sadly this is not the case as it seems to be stocked at the top end with, at best, “steady Eddy’s” and even that might be being generous. It was a sad day when they announced Rimmer to take over as CEO. A man who, as COO, must have his finger prints on directing the game into the parlous state it is now in! (1) Guardian article on state of RU Premiership club finances (2) England RFU Annual Report

Agreed. There’s a difference between how many games are played in a season and how many games each individual player is allowed to play. Having a 27 game season and only allowing a player to play in 22 would certainly test each club’s squad and bring another dimension to coaching. Personally I’d prefer to return to the 22 game season we started SL with whilst we have a 12 team comp. But then, I don’t have to make the numbers work, that would involve actually increasing crowds. And, as we’ve seen, that seems to be something that eludes SL clubs.

Miloudi will probably get more decisions against him if he carries on complaining every time he’s tackled. I’ve seen players penalised for dissent after continuously waving their arms in complaint. These days I doubt that would be given. But players should realise that refs are just human and likely to subconsciously disfavour a player/side for continuously sniping at them.

The UK TWP companies are for convenience, the main TWP is a private Canadian company. As such you won’t find much out about it. To quote advice published to researchers “In most jurisdictions (e.g., Canada or the United States), private companies do not need to file annual reports or disclose financial information to the public.”

He wouldn't have much choice as it is unlikely that the selling club will have either the cap/quota space or the funds to pay the player. Under your scheme the player becomes piggy in the middle through no fault of his own!

Bit tough on the player who may then miss out on things like bonuses and also match fitness.

Great win for London. Fingers crossed London fare better than their adversaries in 2003 for whom the away victory over London in their first game of the season was also their last, losing all of their remaining games. Good luck London 🙂

Bit colder in Leigh than Toulouse

Ireland and Great Britain are both islands in the British Isles. The United Kingdom issues passports to its citizens of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Under the Good Friday agreement NI citizens are now allowed to claim UK, Irish or dual nationality.