creditwhereitsdews

Looking at the two squads I think we're going to be on the end of a heavy defeat. Jack Briggs in for us, whoever he is. Hope he can tackle. Dons 52 Dews 14

We really are a hopeless club.

I think we'll click this week. Swinton 14 Dewsbury 22

Enjoyed today, despite the result. In the first half we showed how matches are lost and in the second we showed how they are won. We came very close to coming away with at least a point today and I think we will win at Swinton next week.

Here's the squad: https://www.rugby-league.com/match-centre/match-preview/2266899

This guy puts some great videos up from the 1980s and 90s. A few Dewsbury matches from Crown Flatt and even some from when we were in Division One in 85/86. https://youtube.com/@paulkyffin?si=RJCU1zC3n5sXfcSG

Looking forward to visiting a great old RL ground for the first time in almost 30 years. We are going to need to be on form and committed for the full 80 to come away with anything. Barrow 18 Dewsbury 8 Att: 1,319 (they still announce their crowds) Dewsbury MoM Hookem

I went to PNG v USA in 2017, brilliant experience. Booked with Air New Guinea in Cairns and they arranged my hotel and transport to the ground. They even gave me a VIP ticket to the match which I gave away because I wanted to sit with the locals. Always remember the sign at the entrance saying not to bring in alcohol, knives, guns, drugs, grenades and, most importantly of all, betel nut. I got loads of free Milo on the way in so I was wired by half time. Brilliant atmosphere and then the driver took me around Port Moresby after. Remember seeing a big billboard with David Mead on - it was for booze or cigarettes I seem to remember. Chatted to driver about Stanley Gene and Makali Aizue. Would love to have stayed longer than 48hrs and will try and go back again. Stayed in the complex and a lot of the RLWC refs were there. Papua New Guinea Export beer is superb.

Is Sykesy still suspended? We seemed to do OK without him against Halifax

Can we do it? We've shown definite improvement in the last two matches, deserving of a wild prediction, and here it is: Dewsbury 24 Them lot 22 Att 1518 FTS O'Connor MOM Turner

Feel very encouraged by that performance, we didn't look like relegation fodder for once. Thought Turner, Carr and Hird had their best games so far this year and the three Huddersfield lads all put a good shift in. Hope Cas give Batley a good going over on Saturday and we might be in with a chance on Good Friday.

No chance. Dewsbury 4 Halifax 46 FTS Carr Att: 980

Dewsbury dead certs for relegation, based on what I've seen. I'd be surprised if we win more than three matches without some substantial investment in the playing squad.

Maurice Bamford's cigars while passing the dugout at Crown Flatt.

I can't say I like or have a firm grasp of what IMG are currently trying to do but I get the feeling that any results are not going to be immediate. However IMG are involved with some of the most successful sports brands in the world so it's fair to assume that they must know what they are doing, and they deserve a chance (though I don't think we are going to like what they will do). Rugby league, in the UK at least, is not a successful sports brand. Very far from it. Compare rugby league to other sports and we are in the dark ages, even when compared to the likes of darts and snooker. Someone said earlier in this thread that we now get £40k a season from TV funding (the mind boggles to think we used to get six-figure sums – just where did it all go, and how much better could we have spent it?). And what exactly do we do for that? If I ran a TV company, I'm not sure I'd want to show lower division rugby league. Personally, I love it and matchdays are the highlight of my week – but if I'm brutally honest it can often feel a bit tinpot at times, and to people who aren't anoraks like me I can imagine why people wouldn't pay large sums to watch it. Sparse crowds, shabby old stadiums or largely empty new areas, elderly speccies hurling abuse at the refs, naff 90s club nicknames, bog-standard beer and food in the ground served in soulless bars. What happens on the field is brilliant of course, but in this day and age it has to be showcased in a way in which it will have the same appeal as darts, American Football, pyjama cricket and Kentucky fried wrestling or whatever it's called. If having flashy advertising boards, targeted audiences and better social media is going to raise the profile of RL then I'm all for it, and clubs now have a very strong incentive to fulfil these criteria. I get the feeling that Mr Sawyer, like many other people in RL, doesn't like what IMG are doing and prefers to bide his time to see what happens with it all, rather than chuck a load of cash at the team only to see a lot of clubs crumble and all the clubs outside Super League get lumped into one division. My worry for Dewsbury is that I don't think the club in its current form has a very long shelf life. Whatever happens, we need young, vibrant and ambitious people involved with the club.