Worky

I think we lost on psychology. They tried the rough stuff to get a reaction. We reacted by deciding to show them. This meant playing like we were chasing the game. Chasing the game opens up to mistakes which they capitalised on. What we needed to do was laugh at them and play a very steady couple of up the jumper sets of six and setting up the kick for good field position. Let them know their tactics weren't working making them force their play and create their errors. Kind of like when Whitehaven tried to rough things up against back in the day in the Northern Rail cup and Lusi Sione just laughed at them leading to Whitehaven losing their discipline and a Town victory. They're a young team. They'll gain the mental strength over time. The things that got me today were. . Line speed in defense. We're back to standing and waiting for them to run 10 yards to us rather than the line running at them. This pretty much guaranteed them 10 yards each play the ball. Not backing up the tackler. Our smaller players Tee and Forber managed to get to their man and impede them on a few occasions today. This should have given enough time for our larger players to catch up and finish the tackle. Instead the Keighley attacker managed to break free and continue.

I would like to have a go playing league again. Snag is I haven't played since I was at school which is more than a couple of decades ago. Are there any touch teams near Workington to train with for someone in their early forties? The PlayTouchRugbyLeague website doesn't have any teams in Cumbria.

I don't get the Twilight Zone League attitude. We have champagne club Toronto in our league. They got just under 7000 at home to see Coventry yesterday and it sounds like Coventry put up a very credible performance. I've been impressed by the brand of Rugby the newer clubs like All Golds, Ironmen and Coventry are attempting to play. Sure they're not up to speed yet with the seasoned semi-pro teams but if they keep that style and gain the experience, so the plays they're attempting come off, then watch out the has beens of the Rugby League world! I'm intending to be down at Derwent Park for the Toronto match later this month. I'm not expecting to win but I am expecting us to put up a fight like we did against Leigh and some of the bigger teams last year. I've already booked the Hotel for the Coventry away match. Currently meeting up with around 4 people who I don't think have ever watched Rugby League before (one has played Union though). Looking forward to seeing some good Rugby on display. After this weekends results I just hope Town win.

Off topic but I'm a fan of Midlands RL so went to support the Bears on Sunday. I wondered what you thought of the Coventry performance. My thoughts were they close to being competitive but probably 1 or 2 seasons from parity with the traditional clubs. They weren't as strong as the All Golds. Also surprised that they gained in strength in the 2nd half and only lost 10 v 6. After the 1st half I'd have expected Haven to have started to run away with it as the game went on. Finally where do they draw their players from these days? Back in the Conference Days Telford and Bears seemed to draw from Union players wanting to play League in the summer. Are they still mainly Midlands based?

Perhaps if some of the die hards actually supported the team rather than: - hate the referee - tell players they are rubbish. - shout offside for every play where Town are attacking / forward for every play All Golds are attacking - hate Haven then we might play with a bit more confidence and win a game or two. This ###### me off more than the teams performance today.

Hmmm - Perhaps these 2 comments are connected! The established clubs don't have a divine right to beat the new clubs else we wouldn't have lifted the 1952 Challenge Cup after just 6 years. When a marra said last week that All Golds had folded I said it was a bit harsh on them. They started to chase the game a bit which lead to mistakes for Town to capitalise on. Until then the sides were close. This week the crowd were on Towns back and it was us that started to chase the game which led to mistakes which All Golds capitalised on. It was poor but nowhere near as bad as what some people have been saying on this thread. We sound like the bi-polar lot at Haven. 2 big mistakes - no need for the pass that caused the intercept try for All Golds - it wasn't the 5th tackle. - didn't dive on the ball when it was lose in defence and and the All Golds captialised on it. If we hadn't made these two mistakes it would've been a draw. Disappointing but in a bad day at the office kind of way rather than the sky falling in. - our line speed - couple of kicks straight at their full back - our fullback not just running up the pitch after collecting the ball (I think on one occassion he stopped and JP had to run back round behind him to collect the ball. He should have just ran 20 metres rather than wait to pass).

So Rugby League fans (not just Town) say League 1 is a waste of time. Half the clubs aren't real clubs. Relegation to League 1 will be the death of the club. etc etc It's only fair that every club joins the bottom semi-pro division. Meaning that Toronto and last year Toulouse with miles more resources than most of the other clubs are pretty much nailed on to grab the top spot before the ball is kicked. Everything the RFL do is a farce. And then wonder why no-one bothers to turn up!?! I used to live in the Midlands and regularly made the trip to Telford Raiders and Coventry Bears. So I'm quite excited about seeing some of the Conference teams make it up into the semi-pro division. I already have June 25th penciled on the calendar and a few non-Rugby League ex-colleagues have said they might come and see the famous Town play. I also liked the All Golds brand of Rugby League on Sunday even if they weren't quite at the same level as the more established clubs yet. I also support Toronto joining us (providing the financial risk is with Toronto) but wonder why what looks like a mid-table Championship Club has to start in League 1. ---- Purely related to Town. Whats the craic with the kick off time? I dashed back from Glasgow on Sunday by Train. If Northern Rail had been on time I would have had 3 minutes to walk between the station and Derwent Park. As it was we were 10 minutes late. Have we looked at how this affects casual Town fans from along the coast to Carlisle or away fans who no longer live in their home town to get the supporters bus? If we volunteer to change kick off times to say 15:20 would Northern place an advert in the local paper of the away club?

I'm with you Westizbest. btw - Is there a rule that says that the referee must stand 10 metres from the play the ball? I've been to a few games where the pitch markings would indicate that the defense is 10 metres back. Literally the play the ball is line mark on the pitch and the defense is standing on the next line mark. However the players are standing in front of the ref. Whichever home crowd go nuts with the Getemonside! They're in front of you you "(%*£&"! but clearly the ref doesn't give a penalty. 75 minutes of Offside! and only 2 minutes cheering for your team at a Rugby match is beginning to do my head in.

Thought it's a la'al bit harsh to say that the All Golds folded. My impression was that they were keeping pace with us - hence 12 all at half time. When we managed to get 8 points clear they seemed to start chasing the game; forcing the pass and all that which produced errors that Town capitalised on. In the last 5 their heads might of dropped or they just ran out of gas. On the ref. Whilst he wasn't brilliant and there were one or two - eh? - moments I don't think he was as bad as some have made out. When I was at Haven v Toronto the Haven fans were going mad at the referee but as a neutral at the game, most of the times I wondered what they were twining about.

I heard that the delay was because they were trying to coax Calvert out of the bogs. As apparently he is a $#!&h0use who wanted to go home and all that. I'll get me coat!

Great stuff and an opportunity to link back to that song about the Tomahawks in the 2013 World Cup!

It mentions Continental Championships which is great. However there are 2 ideals for Internationals - Raise the profile of the game and help develop players. Loved the 4 Nations and was at Derwent Park for the match. Great raised the profile of Scotland RL but didn't do much on the development of players in the domestic comp (if there is one in Scotland at the moment - see other thread). Lets have a regular tournament a level down from World Cup / 4 Nations with strict qualification rules. Something for the semi-pro level to aspire to. Clubs in the English Championship and French Elite should give a competitive England v France v Wales v Rest of the World tournament (and perhaps in a few years v Canada v Italy). England <let you vote for a name> v French Elite at Derwent Park would be superb.

Bit of randomness but I was touch judge for Edinburgh Eagles v Ayrshire Storm down at Corstorphine in 2012. One of the hottest days of the year and lots of running from behind the sticks to past the half way line to restart as Eagles won 70 v 4! When I first moved up to Scotland in 2009 there was talk that Eagles were wanting to join Championship 1. If I remember correctly it was discouraged by the SRL as they would have taken all the best talent from the domestic comp resulting a badly weakened league. My opinion is that they would have been close to competitive on the field. Ex-Townie Paddy Coupar was an Eagle but I don't think he played that day. They would have needed somewhere to play though as Corstophine and latterly Peffermill Road are just fields with a club house nearby.

I'm not into the central planning of team from here or there. What I'd like to see is clear rules to meet if a club wants to step up from amateur to Championship 1 level. You meet those you're in. So they'll need to be a plan if there is an uneven number of clubs in one of the divisions. Similarly it shouldn't matter if there's not a chance that a small club will ever make Super League. If they properly sustainable at Championship 1 Semi-Pro level then fine. Welcome. I'd also like the RL to decide what standard the French League is. If it's Championship 1 level then a strong performing club should be able to apply to join the Championship rather than going through Championship 1 like Toulouse. If Elite = Championship standard then if they are regularly at the top of the French Elite (say over 3 seasons) they should be able to apply for Super League directly. Finally I'd like to see different levels of the International Game. I'd like to see Championship v French Elite Internationals. Currently that gives a tournament of England v Wales v France v Rest of the World at a decent level. Unlike the Test / World Cup teams I'd have strict qualifications for Nationality and they must play in Championship or French League. Something for the largely semi-pro players to aspire to. Internationals are always a good advertisement too.

When we get bored of this structure can we not do what the Football League used to do in t'olden days and elect to SL? Go for bottom 3 SL having to apply for re-election. Championship / potentially French Elite clubs can apply to replace them if: - they meet on field criteria (so Champions this year / in play offs for last three years / beaten a SL club in the Challenge Cup) - they have the facilities (including evidence of funding to go full time) - they really are developing players. Chose the bottom 3 to allow clubs time to establish themselves in SL. Say Leigh elected this year and finished bottom next year. If they have shown strong progress then they should be re-elected without blocking the potential promotion another championship / elite club next year. So bit of P&R to keep one set of fans happy and a bit of licensing for the reality of moving between a full time and mainly part time league. By election I mean judged independently on a set of objective criteria rather the preferred colour of their rose.