bamfordsbeans

Huddersfield v Salford probably the best game but least atmosphere.

The decline of Halifax in the last 20 years or so is mirrored by the neighbouring clubs that make up the Pennine spine. This area was very much at the forefront in the early days of the code and throughout the Twentieth Century the teams were always there or thereabouts and backed up by relatively large crowds. Halifax,Bradford,Huddersfield (moderate recent success on but not off the field),Oldham (hopes of a revival-but from a very low base) and Rochdale Hornets form an area of the game that has seen better days. This is in sharp contrast to the current strongholds of the game in Lancashire,Leeds/Wakefield and Humberside.

The way the pro team are performing atm,I'm not sure that they're the best team in the town. With the uncertainty over the ground and dire recent performances its a depressing time for us Fax fans.

Agree with Archies comments about not pushing the social side harder. Going back to the womens cricket ,the number of teams in Yorkshire is 300. This figure has trebled since 2020 and has largely been caused by softball.

Find some of these figures difficult to take too seriously,for example I know womens cricket in the Yorkshire region has had a dramatic increase in the last couple of years.

Despite yesterdays result and performance ,if the same sides meet in the play-offs I would back Saints. Having said that it is encouraging to see the recent efforts by Warrington and Huddersfield.

Despite the BBC covering yesterdays Hull V Leigh game(yes they had put Hull on their schedule) there was no mention of the game on their sports round up on TV this morning. However clips were shown from 3 or 4 RU games which they are not covering.

In the 80's and 90's I would say Halifax was definitely a rugby town. The performances of Fax at an atmospheric Thrum Hall backed up by a vibrant amateur game. meant the game was a major talking point in the pubs and clubs. However in the last 20 years the decline of both the professional club and the amateur game (Siddal excepted) has meant soccer is now the main sport in town.

According to the BBC its Hull v Leigh. They've even got the Hull badge on.

News like this just adds to the controversy over the IMG ratings. Bradford are relatively near the top of Championship clubs and with such an uncertain future this should certainly be taken into account. When you add in the situations with regard to Hull,Castleford and Salford there is going to be much to do to convince the paying public the game has got the most viable outcomes for the future.

Hull are lower than I expected.

Crowd at The Shay announced at 1800+.Thought there a few more in that although it was a younger audience than usual. Think Fax must have been in the schools this week dishing out a few free tickets.If that is the case don,t know if they are counted. Not a great weekend with all 8 results going to form and a lot of one sided scorelines although the 4 Championship clubs did better than 3 SL teams.

From a playing point of view a top NCL club would do a lot better than an area out of the heartlands. However I agree that would be a step backwards and just hope that a development area can provide the right kind of backing that has been sadly lacking in the games history.

Whilst the new regulations are probably the right solution in the long term,I hope the players learn quickly. The downside is that you are more likely to see 13 v 12 or 12 x 12 games as last weekend. With the number of suspensions clubs are going to need large squads.

Just got my tickets for Siddal v Wakefield. Can't remember the last time I had to queue for Challenge Cup tickets. Might have been the 1987 final.