Dunbar

OK, fair enough. I thought you were speaking more generally about games running simultaneously, not just the commercial relationship with Sky.

Why is that?

It's not a law... but it is an interpretation.

Could easily have gone either way.

Connor going for a non captains challenge there.

A similar decision was made in one of the Australian games this morning. A player deliberately placing the ball behind the foot of the marker to try and get s penalty. Although they are always calls that can go one way or the other.

Only when the game stops. Which is the reason why some teams a year or so back were deliberately giving away a penalty after what they perceived as an opposition mistake so they could make a challenge. But that was clamped down and players would have been binned for a professional foul.

I always had you pegged as a Swiftie.

As I asked the question of you in the other thread, I will reply. I understand your frustration with some of the Sky coverage, including the replays as the game continues. But ultimately, looking at the big picture, I would never of dreamed growing up that I would ever get a chance to see so much live Rugby League and I am happy to live with a few gripes about the coverage to watch so much of my favourite sport.

Huddersfield have started really well.

Not in this instance. The time allowed for a challenge would have elapsed and the VR can't go back to before the last play the ball was executed when checking on a try.

Edit

That's not how the challenge works. You can't just make a challenge and stop the game. There was no decision given and the game continued so there was no opportunity to challenge. And a player cannot make the ref aware after the try as the video ref can only go back to the execution of the last play the ball and so a knock on in the ruck would not have been pulled back (and the 10 second limit on a challenge was well over). That try would not have been effected by the existence of the captains challenge. Sometimes mistakes happen.

The latest Sport England adult sports participation survey was released today, and I have to say it does not make encouraging reading for Rugby League. The survey shows the best picture we have of participation rates for adults in various sports and is released every year (starting in 2024-16). It shows the participation rates for the previous 12 months and participation is defined as any person aged 16+ who took part in a sporting activity at least twice in any 28 day period. Background and context There is data for individual sports and other leisure activities but I think for Rugby League, the team sports is the relevant benchmark. For the 12 months to November 2023, participation in team sports overall increase by 6% with men increasing by 8% and women flat on prior year. Rugby League For the 12 months to November 2023, participation in Rugby League for men fell by 4% (40,600 from 42,100) while participation for women increased by just 1% (12,200 from 12,100). Overall this means a 3% fall and a participant number of 52,800 compared to 54,200 last year. Comparative sports Rugby Union is probably the most relevant comparison and men’s participation in Union increased strongly by 17% (from 157,200 to 183,700) but surprisingly fell for women by 6% (from 36,700 to 34,500). This meant an overall increase in participation of 13% - which is very strong although the drop in women participation will be worrying for them. Some other comparisons but less detail Football – overall +6% Hockey – overall +5% Netball – women -2% Cricket – overall -4% Thoughts I am very disappointed that we haven’t seen an increase in participation in Rugby League, particularly as the participation in team sports overall this year has reversed a long term downward trend. It seems pretty clear that the initial strong growth in women’s participation in (traditionally) men’s sports has slowed down dramatically and even reversed in Union (-6%), cricket (-6%) and Football (-5%). In that context, at least some slight growth in League is welcome. Link https://www.sportengland.org/research-and-data/data/active-lives/active-lives-data-tables

Pretty good bounce back from Dom Young today. After a poor 20 minutes and a send off last time out and a 2 match suspension, he ran for 206 metres today, 3 line breaks and the Roosters first try in a thumping win.