STEVE P

The rules seem to get more complicated for the referee to interpret year by year. If we aren't careful it will end up with as many twists and turns as they have in the other code. Under certain circumstances they seem to be able to nullify a touchdown by just having a defender's finger under the ball. Presumably it has to be the correct finger on the appropriate hand? I wonder if this is why they are considered the posher of the two codes. In order to know and understand all rules the ref has to be an Oxbridge graduate. My personal favourite of their rules is where one set of forwards is stamping all over and kicking eight shades out of some poor devil on the floor then the referee blows his whistle and sends the bloke on the floor into the bin for 10 minutes because he touched the ball whilst he was down there. Cheating swine. Deserves all he gets.

Terribly sad to hear about John Kear. He was respected throughout the game and was one of the few coaches to prove that he could be effective at every level, with or without money to spend, and with or without big egos to manage. To me his genius was taking stock of the particular strengths of each of his players and building a style of play around the skills he had to hand rather than starting with a game plan then trying to mould his squad into it. He will be missed by everyone who cares about the game.

I'm amazed. Bet you couldn't stop him chattering about it in the car on the way home.

I have a brother whose initials are RPP. We also had an uncle who spent Christmas Day with us. I can't see that it is the same one though. Our uncle's idea of fun could be summed up in a couple of lines from Albert and the Lion. 'There was no wrecks and nobody drowning. In fact nothing to laugh at, at all. ' His favourite sport was Formula One, but only the start. when there was most likely to be a big coming together of cars at the first corner. After that his interest waned rapidly. I can't imagine anyone being able to persuade him to turn out for a post Christmas Dinner game of rugby. You would have had to promise him at least one carrying off on a stretcher and 2 or 3 gashes requiring 5 or more stitches to get him even slightly interested. You must be a different RPP.

I can't find the actual 'last game' that you are referring to. Further testimony to my inefficient Web searching skills. I am however amazed to see that the back to back Christmas fixtures throughout the league were largely phased out at the end of the 1960s. I was not quite qualified to buy a pint then, officially speaking.

Worse still, little or no chance for you or me BSJ.

Dewsbury played Batley at one venue on Christmas Day, with the return at the other venue on Boxind Day. I am sure this is true, although these days my memory sometimes remembers what I want it to, rather than what actually happened. I definitely remember one Christmas Day afternoon when Trevor Walker and a bloke called Shuttleworth, who propped for Batley had a real set to at the first scrum. It was just their way of saying Merry Christmas. Both probably played on Boxing Day with a nice big shiner. Sorry, I must sound like a real old giffer sometimes.

Thanks BSJ. Just had a good look through all the information and enjoyed it very much. It puts me in mind of when I was a young boy and every Christmas one of my pressies was a Rugby League Year Book. It was a smallish booklet type thing full of history of the game, information and articles about the current players and sides, and contributions from aces like Alex Murphy. Can't remember who produced it, might have been Windsor the bookies, but I really don't know. I loved it. That and my Victor annual were my favourite bits of Christmas.

Only right. The other sides efforts are somebody else's responsibility.

Ta.

Looks like Crusaders grabbed a couple themselves, making 22 in total. Exciting once in a while, but you wouldn't want to see it every week.

I was looking at Batley's score on Sunday. I couldn't make the tries and goals add up on the BBC score card, but if you allow for a few missed conversions you are looking at around 19 or 20 tries to score 110 points. That averages out at around 4 minutes per try. If you think of how long you are allowed for a conversion, the need to walk back to halfway and take the kick off, etc, it is hard to imagine how many more you could score in a match. I looked online for the highest score ever, but got fed up of being told how many the highest combined score in Super Duper League was, who once scored lots of tries in a game in Australia, and who beat somebody else by the biggest score in Super League history. I gave up. I aren't cut out for this online stuff. Come on BSJ, put me out of my misery.

Sadly, these days as players improve so do their prospects and some follow the money and move on. Don't blame them, young men with a life to build and all that, but I don't have to like it.

14 points it was then, but not the way round I wanted. Hopefully the coach will be happier with today's performance after last week's 'worst of the season' debacle.

Drat, fail to qualify by a year or two. I reckon Dewsbury by 14 points as the away from home juju strikes again.