Wiltshire Warrior Dragon

On 1 November, 1884, a few people met in Hayes' Hotel, in Thurles, Co Tipperary. They spotted that, in an age in which sports were being saved or strengthened by codification of their rules and organisational structures, football according to Irish 'rules' and hurling might die out, swamped into non-existence by the increasingly well organised British team sports of the late 19th century. Thus, the Gaelic Athletic Association came into being.

Happy Christmas to all who contribute on here, regardless of whether I usually agree with you or not. Indeed, long may disagreements on here continue, as long as the discussion is held in a decent and civilised way. Santa brought me one RL related present - the book celebrating the 90th anniversary of XIII Catalan. My son, Jon, who I presume must have acted as Santa's agent in some way, tells me that, not for the first time, getting goods from Les Dracs' online shop was very easy. By contrast TOXIII items are not so easy for those on the north side of La Manche to purchase. Happy New Year, everybody. If you support an SL side, may they do well enough to come second to Catalans Dragons!

Good to hear Mason Caton-Brown being interviewed live, at some length, on BBC Radio 5 on their teatime programme yesterday. He sounded articulate and very credible.

I think it might be Salford City Reds (2013) Ltd, but I'm no expert in these matters,

Looks like XIII Basque are making a solid start to life in the west group of DN3; # Équipe Pts J V N D Diff 1. VALDERIÈS 12 4 4 0 0 +82 2. XIII BASQUE 10 4 3 0 1 +76 3. TOULOUSE JULES-JULIEN 7 4 2 0 2 +12 4. XIII GASCON 7 3 2 0 1 -8 5. PAMIERS 2 5 3 1 0 2 -68 6. SAINT-PIERRE-DE-TRIVISY 3 3 0 0 3 -42 7. NANTES 3 3 0 0 3 -52 As far as I know, four league points are at stake in each game, with 3 for a win (V), 2 for a draw (N) [so no golden point - hurray!] and 1 for a defeat (D). Unless they have been 'fined' a point, it looks to me as though Toulouse J-J should have eight points.

According the RFL press release, over the Easter weekend, Sheffield Eagles play Doncaster Rovers. Does anybody know how many players per side there will be and what shaped ball will be used?

This is what Les Dracs' website is saying about the Magic Weekend fixture. "The Super League has announced that the 2026 Magic Weekend will be held at Hill Dickinson Stadium, the home ground of Everton Football Club, on the weekend of July 4–5, 2026. But this 19th edition of the Magic Weekend will be special for French rugby league. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Catalans Dragons and the return of Toulouse Olympique to Super League, and in agreement with Super League, they have decided to organise an exceptional event in France, offering supporters the chance to enjoy a historic derby on home soil. The Catalans Dragons and Toulouse Olympique will not take part in the Magic Weekend in England. Instead, they will play this Derby in France, scheduled for the same weekend, 4–5 July 2026. Both clubs are currently working in collaboration with Super League to finalise this unique project. The stadium that will host this event will be announced soon." As I recall, Carcassonne is roughly equidistant from Perpignan and Toulouse. A full to the rafters Stade Albert Domec could be good.

I can certainly see the logic of regionalisation in the early rounds, something which other sports have traditionally done in their own knock-out competitions. However, some of the RFL's understanding of geography seems mildly 'iffy'! I would take Siddal and the GB Police out of the north-west, which thus becomes 10 teams/5 fixtures. I would put Siddal in Yorkshire, where they should be, and take the RAF out. In the so-called national division, I would withdraw the Army and Navy, thus leaving it as 8 teams/4 fixtures. I would add a 'uniformed services' group of the Army, RAF, Navy and GB Police. I do not understand the need, at this stage, to put the championship teams into groups. Why not wait till the first round is over, and then add the championship teams. Who survives into round 2 from the uniformed services (and where they play), might determine how the championship clubs are spread. I agree that the exclusion of N Wales Cruaders from the north-west is a classic piece of blinkered, traditionally-oriented thinking.

Much better by Limoux at the start of the second half, making more metres in possession, and now rewarded with a try. Who is the red-headed no 8 for Limoux? He has looked good throughout the game so far, both in attack and defence = hard working and effective.

Delighted to see true Catalan colours for the away jersey, not the 2025 grey and lime monstrosity!

Yes, I understand they do, Damien. But why bother with that? I agree with sam4731 to the extent that I would get the touch judges to have a whistle and blow it for the offsides at PTBs. It's not such a radical suggestion. In ice hockey, it is the linesmen, not the referees, who adjudge offsides and blow their whistles to stop the play for the resulting face-off.

I'm not too bothered about adding new laws or deleting some existing ones. I would just like to see the ones we have, actually and always, in every play, implemented. Or... ...if we no longer want to allow certain things, then change the laws to reflect what, de facto, we want and is permitted. For instance, if a little bit of moving off the mark is acceptable, say so. And if at the PTB, it is not acceptable to drop the ball to the ground and heel it back, say so. And so on... The sport, other than RL, that I watch the most (nowadays usually on the screen, but often live in the past) is ice hockey. I cannot think of a single law in that sport that is not routinely implemented by the referees and linesmen/women.

I bet he's having a whale of a time!

Les Dracs' website says that Koalas XIII "is a team mostly made up of Australian players competing in the Super XIII." I suppose you cannot cover all avian and animal options in a single name, so going with one related to the main source of players has a certain logic. I haven't seen the full France B team, but the St Esteve-XIII Catalan element is Alan Baby, Giovanni Descalzi, Valentin Fernandez, Alexis Lis, Lenny Marc and Clément Martin.

It depends whether you are a miserable pleader!