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creditwhereitsdews

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  1. 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.
  2. No chance. Dewsbury 4 Halifax 46 FTS Carr Att: 980
  3. 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.
  4. Maurice Bamford's cigars while passing the dugout at Crown Flatt.
  5. 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.
  6. I wouldn't want a boom and bust approach but, as many fans have pointed out, a B*tley approach would be achievable on a budget more like ours. Create a community spirit around the club from the chairman down and get the staff, coaches, players, sponsors, fans and volunteers all pulling in the same direction. We have all these things except the direction. With it, I believe we could also aim for things like toppling the Featherstones of this world and aiming to get to Wembley in the 1895 Cup. It's a fantastic competition for clubs like ours. I also think the club needs a figurehead, a face of the club – preferably with a good rugby profile – who can pull together all of the above and talk up the club to the community and RL world. I understand the chairman can't do it as much these days but we need someone like Carl Hall at Doncaster. I know programmes have bitten the dust but they were always good for the chairman's comments page, which kept us updated with what had been going on at the club since the last match. Something similar now (in an online form perhaps) would go some way to appease the more doubting fans, I think. Our club does do good things – I saw a Facebook post last week about Lewis Carr and Jamie Field coaching kids at Shaw Cross. Good on them. I remember a couple of years ago when we played Widnes on TV on a cold February night and we got around 2,500 in after involving the local amateur clubs. Doing things like that now and again is good but they need doing every week. Other clubs do things like have bands on after matches as well as barbecues and real ale tents. If the team can't create a buzz on the field then it would be good to create one off it.
  7. Hard to see us being anything but a League One/basement club for the foreseeable future, and that's nothing to do with IMG. Other clubs seem to be grasping the nettle whether in terms of the IMG demands, running a club or just playing rugby league in 2024, where as we seem to just be doing the bare minimum with everything. I know people have complained about the club's lack of ambition in recent years and last year's on-field success was a strong response to that, but walking around the ground on Sunday the gloom had never been as palpable. Nobody is talking the club up. I talked to four or five fans who plan to give next week's match a miss, the Royal Suite was almost half as busy after the match than it was for the friendlies, there are no longer any teamsheets available – just A4 printouts taped to the wall with a QR code (not great for our older, less techy fans – which let's face it is most of us) – and while it was great to be back in the South Stand, the bar has been reduced to cans of John Smiths being doled out of boxes. Even when you take away what's happening on the field, it's hard to find reasons to stay positive. The volunteers in the shop, turnstiles and those selling raffle tickets and working behind the scenes are true heroes at the club. But fans need reasons to go to matches – my only two now are loyalty and blind hope, and I have to admit those are starting to dwindle. You just wonder where it's all heading. Merger with Batley? New owner? Fan-owned community club with small ambitions (but ambitions nonetheless)? Or becoming the next club to be tossed into RL's dustbin of history? Sorry for the rant, had to get it off my chest and I'll try and perk up soon.
  8. Quite agree, improvement is about the best we can hope for. If we lose against York we'll have no match until March 17 when the league starts against Halifax, so a long time to lick our wounds.
  9. My maths isn't great but I think we'd need to win by more than 30 points to have any chance of progressing in the 1895 Cup. Given what happened last week I think we'll be lucky to lose by under 30, but hopefully we can see some signs of improvement. Rams 10 Bulls 38 Att. 1,386 FTS Greensmith
  10. My pre-season optimism usually evaporates within 15 minutes of kick-off in the first match but what the heck, I'll tip us to win. Keighley 8 Dewsbury 22 FTS Restall MoM Restall Att. 850
  11. Not too worried about the score, just hoping we don't pick up any injuries so we can have a good crack at Keighley and Bradford in the 1895 Cup. Wondering whether three friendlies is maybe one too many. Will pick up my season ticket, buy a woolly hat and maybe a shirt (they're starting to grow on me). Liking the look of the current squad and the attitude being shown by the players, we put a few good moves together at Fev last week. Dews 12 Hudds 36 Att: 800 (noticed there was an attendance published for the Boxing Day game, long may it last)
  12. Going on a walking trip to the Lakes this weekend and just realised it's Lowca v Edinburgh Eagles very near to where me and the missus are staying. Might have to develop a Basil Fawlty-style war wound around 1pm so I can make it along.
  13. On an unrelated note, the yellow and red socks brighten up what is otherwise a very dull new kit.
  14. Tough one to predict, both teams with new coaches and will be wanting to keep last season's momentum going. I'd like to predict some Christmas cheer but my head rules my heart. 16-34 Dewsbury MOM Restall Attendance 1711
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