Leaderboard

I think this is an example of listening to noisy fans too much. That point is used quite a lot when discussing a red v, but sometimes, noisy doesn't mean majority, or correct. Possibly the nicest England kit I saw us wear was the red and white hooped anniversary kit we wore a few years back that looked like a Wigan or Leigh kit.

A really nice looking Ukraine u19s kit for the European Championships and a link to their justgiving page to help fund their participation: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ukraine-u19 The Ukrainian Federation of Rugby League’s fundraising efforts to reach the European U19s Championships have been given a major boost thanks to the generosity of European Rugby League’s official kit partner Canterbury and retail partner Hardgear Ltd, who have combined to supply the team’s playing kit for the tournament. The kit, which incorporates the colours of Ukraine’s national flag, will be worn in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy between 3 and 11 September, with the Ukrainian team having gained special permission from their Ministry of Youth & Sports to attend the event. As Ukraine continues to struggle with the impact of the Russian invasion, European Rugby League is leading a campaign to allow fans around the world to donate and provide financial assistance to the UFRL to support their participation in the event, helping to cover the costs of transport, accommodation and equipment. https://europeanrugbyleague.com/articles/2166/canterbury-and-hardgear-to-donate-ukrain...

I don't think there's a cat in cas' chance of two going up, even if TO do finish bottom. I just want to qualify for the final and win it. We're not favourites, I'll concede that. But favs don't always win and fev are testament to that.

It keeps coming back to the huge desirability of Rugby League clubs not being beholden to other sports and other clubs. We've seen it over and over again, you might start with a climate of working in harmony and for mutual benefit but these things can go very wrong very quickly. And if you're the one without the control you can end up in a really difficult position.

no **** off!

Apologies for rather brusque post but I am on holiday at the moment and don't have as much time to post as I usually do at work.

It'll be reight. Like it was after this very similar statement by another Championship club owner 6 months ago, who also sounded totally deflated about the fans... OMG people. Whilst our fans are what it’s all about and the most important revenue stream we don’t run the club based on your comments or needs. We are dual with saints and know what we can expect from them player wise. We will deliver for our fans when the result at the end matters I hope our fans deliver for us as up to now our sales don’t do that. I must say the negativity and slagging off is wholly unhelpful. We had an employee in tears last night due to tripe ranted on social media about merchandise. Everyone has an opinion and is entitled to it just as I am mine especially when I am pumping fortunes into the place again to get where we deserve to stay there. If you ain’t got anything positive to say then please keep it to yourself as it just don’t help. Trust in those putting money time amd effort in and those with a proven track record and experience who are being paid to do a job that they will do it. We won’t fail and we ain’t perfect but I could easily come and analyse any of our critics in their lives and work and give a load of negativity. A supporters job is to support to be positive and defend the club no matter what not disrespect and criticise it. I care not if people who are of that ilk like my comments or even turn up I would sooner go to war with real people who go with what we have and fight till the end. Rant over!

Okay, okay...I know this won't last long but it was too good not to share...

Not this again, No they're not, they're all from clubs in the French leagues, I've heard this a few times since the first game, if you're being picky, 2 Lads have signed for Halifax academy in the English team and I've seen photos of two in the Wakefield scholarship shirts and one in Castleford, My son plays for Lézignan u17s coached by one of the players dad's, I've coached my son from u5s and he's never had a coaching session from a pro coach or a paid coach, all the others are the same, elite 1 teams are the equivalent of st pat's, it's your local club, you start there and if you stay you can play up to u19s , everyone is welcome, when I coached the 19s I had French u19s internationals down to lads who want to give it a try and never played before, it's semi pro in the first team, ( with paymens between 200 euros and 1400 euros a month, all the players come from clubs dotted around the south of France, Carpentras are in elite 2, salon too, Lyon have no adult team, limoux, Lézignan, Carcassonne, Toulouse (amateur elite 1) XIIi Catalan (not Catalan dragons) Villeneuve sur Lot, etc all coached by volunteers and parents if the players are lucky enough to make the first team they then get coached by a semi pro coach, there is no money in France, there are 14 u19s teams in the whole of France, Toulouse and Catalan don't invest in French RL, there are more teams in the north west of England than the whole of France, I've coached over here from u5s to u19s and now I'm an assistant in elite 1 and still helping out with my youngest son in the u15s I've a total of 22 years experience in France as a player and coach so I have a pretty good idea where the players come from, 14 of the squad are lucky enough to be part of the pole espoirs, it's extra rugby after school, nothing to do with pro clubs or the Catalans or Toulouse, France had 2 15 year olds and two 16 years olds (first year u17s ) play in the second test. They can only play the team the English send over, yes it would have been different with academy players, but would have been a close game,

I'd like to think the Bulls will hold a collection when Workington come a week on Sunday.

We had this, thin stripes of red and blue. As I said in a post yesterday you can do a direct link back to the original Northern Union jersey with this whilst also matching contemporary English sporting teams colours. It doesn't look like any clubs shirts and you can do a myriad of variations on it (the below would be the "modern" one in the cycle, the next year do unbroken solid lines and an older style collar and you've got the "traditional" option).

Got my Saturday pass free with my Dewsbury season ticket. An extra tenner would have got me a reserved seat. They obviously see these posh lot from York coming.

I realise none of us are getting out of this alive, and accept I'm an age where people that entertained us when I was a nip are now leaving us. But Bernard always came across as a gentle lovely fella. As you say Dave, a legend. A fabulous contribution to his business. I will remember him with fondness.

That at least had an actual proper reason for being used. If Oxen can’t design a kit with a V on it whilst keeping a core colour on the design then they aren’t fit for purpose

Noticed on some of the imagery released yesterday that the World cup and England badge on the shorts is considerably bigger than on the jersey. Which again makes no sense at all from a design consistency POV. Something many people wont notice or care about (apart from me obvs), but IMO another example of poor product management. Go onto the elitepro website product page for the England top and you get absolutely zero info on the product. No detail at all, other than you have to take one of those awful training tops if you purchase. No option to not take one as far as i can see. One of my main problems with Oxen is around wastage. They are sports fast fashion at its worst. Consistently churning out more and more product that really isn't needed. None of which, as far as i now, is ethically sourced or made from recycled fabrics. As someone who works within this industry i know just how much wastage can be generated when going through a seasonal design/development/production/go to market process.

Much nearer the first figure. Like, when looked into, roughly that figure. Also, the football club may be being proper c-words, but if a lease says you can only hold your own games and not host on behalf of a third party then you sort that out before saying you're going to have this great international fixture. That's the sort of detail that the RFL and RLWC organisers really should be aware of.

Driving up on Friday with David Foti to watch this one will post a video on You Tube so that those that are interested can get a feel of how its going there atmosphere sponsorship VIP fans etc. Paul

https://www.raiders.com.au/news/2022/07/28/vale-phil-jackson/?fbclid=IwAR1JfTi309RU1nMCg5LvmtOyXi9bKoK8G30hJjoYI1Y3ZGLh5kNBTy_97ac The Canberra Region Rugby League would like to pay tribute to former Great Britain International and Goulburn player/coach Phil Jackson, who passed away recently at the age of 90 in Wagga Wagga. Born in Canada in 1932, Jackson moved to Barrow-In-Furness in England when he was three and went on to debut for Barrow in 1950 at the age of 18. Nicknamed the Prince of Centres, Jackson would play over 200 matches for Barrow including three Challenge Cup finals in the 1950s, while also representing Great Britain and England. When injury forced him into retirement, he moved to Australia in 1960 and was tempted back to the game to play for Goulburn Workers, where in the role as player/coach he led the club to the Group 8 premiership. Goulburn also secured the Clayton Cup that season as the best team in Country NSW. Canberra Raiders Patron John McIntrye paid tribute to Jackson and said he was a once in a generation player. “Phil Jackson was one of the most talented players to have ever played rugby league in this region,” McIntrye said. “On behalf of the Canberra District Rugby League I would like to pay tribute to the contribution Phil made to the game and honour the legacy he leaves behind after such a wonderful life.” A service to celebrate the life of Phil will be held in the St John’s Anglican Church, Church St Wagga Wagga on Friday 29th July 2022 commencing at 2:00pm.

Somebody posted this on twitter I know the red is not the right shade, but it doesn't look like a Saints shirt to me.

£40? Are you sitting in a gold seat with an army of servants? I've only paid a tenner for all day saturday.

I can fully understand that David but for certain posters to start banging on about a lack of loyalty & greed is ridiculous given we’d all make the exact same decision in our own workplace & we aren’t getting knocked about for 80 mins every week for what isn’t exactly a fortune in wages.

1) Being dropped to championship 2)miss a week 3) internally fined 4) ten years imprisonment 5) death by firing squad 6) option to fight to the death in the coliseum cheered on by fans of wronged team 7) watch box set of all James Corden programmes ( on loop until pleading for forgiveness ) 8 ) hung drawn and quartered 9) slapped across face with damp rugby league express 10) a thousand lines saying ‘ I must not make dead bad errors ever again ‘

This is kind of my argument - I can sort of understand wanting to change up the design and in principle I can get behind bringing in some blue - the problem is doing it now 3 months before a tournament that has already had a shirt released for it and a lot of marketing already done because it had been postponed. There really was no need at all to release a new kit, people had already bought merchandise and replica kit for this tournament, yes the sponsor has changed but that doesn't mean a new kit needed to be released. Especially with the cost of living crisis going on. If the RFL want to stop people constantly calling it a farce they need to stop acting in a farcical way

How's their mug selection?

I think I've heard about her - she came from Greece, she had a thirst for knowledge. She wasn't studying sculpture at St Martin's College by any chance? Such a shame they cut the verse about an away defeat on an open terrace in the cold at Naughton Park from Common People!

It's a good job players aren't dropped after a mistake. None of us would have a game to watch. And.... referees are fallible. They are human. They are not perfect. It doesn't mean they are bent, sent to referee a club to ensure they lose etc etc. They do an increasingly difficult role in our game. Given the absolute vile sheeite I've heard some young (teenage) referees take, I'm amazed we have any referees in our game at all.

Argh knew it was going to go this way. It's just another kneejerk movement into a another direction that will be quietly dropped in a years time. It's not even an objectively bad shirt, it's fine, it's just so inconsistent with what's come before. Just decide what an England shirt looks like, decide on a fairly classic design and combination of colours and then don't change it... ever. You can do variations on it, modern, traditional etc. by all means but keep the outline design the same. The England shirt is always something defined by what it isn't rather than what it is. It can't be red and white hoops because Wigan, it can't be a rev vee because Saints, it can't be a blue and red vee because GB. I've said on here previously the most logical thing to do would be to return to the thin hoops of the original Northern Union shirt, probably swapping the yellow out for blue (to more match a typical England sporting team colour scheme and also a nod to the Lancashire and Yorkshire origins of the game). Then you've got something with a historical link back, that you can do lots of variations of, that other RL teams haven't made untouchable.

I’m writing on here today asking for the help of the rugby league family. Unfortunately at the moment the club I’ve supported for the last 20 years is struggling financially. Today I have set up a Just Giving page in the hope that Town fans, the people of Workington and even the rugby league family can help me in securing the club’s future. Can I please kindly ask you all to share it far and wide amongst your friends, family and across the rugby league community and if you can for you to donate to the cause. Any share or donation is greatly appreciated by the club. HELP WORKINGTON TOWN https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/dpsc-workington-town1?utm_term=737gEajqN&fbclid=IwAR2c6lxvf7CBbDM0Hqe-PVZYCfbr8vfcw7YEPvYdbshiMKXnSo4KtHy_j6E

Point taken but i can't see the benefit of Toulouse being relegated.Wakey yes they have escaped the trapdoor and this season might be their turn.The logical step would have been 14 in SL next season no relegation and then 6 teams moving up from The Championship to make 2 divisions of 10.But who knows they make it up as they go along with no long term agenda.

If you do nothing else, have a pie. It will transport you to another space-time continuum. Best in Rugby League by some distance.

I look forward to meeting Town fans next weekend and wish you well with your fundraising. More than happy to contribute

A red V with a blue trim would, for me at least, provide the right balance between not being a Saints top*, would offer the red and white branding that we've spent years trying to build around the England side (something I've quite liked compared to football and cricket) and would be a subtle nod to GB without necessarily going all out on a full red & blue chevron. *Regardless of how petty and parochial it sounds, I do think it is a genuine concern that folk wouldn't buy a top based on that front, and if nothing else is quite indicative of any number of areas of RL, but in particular that our club branding is so much stronger than internationally

Do all England football fans worry about Tottenham or Leeds for the home shirt? Or Man U or Liverpool for Red away kits? A red and white hooped design would have "dared to be different" whilst also showing massive appreciation to heritage, both in just Rugby League and pre-1895 (something we do precious little of). Who cares if it looks like a Wigan shirt? Its England! The justification is abysmal and is indicative of the leadership over the past decade that sees the game where it is now.

It says a lot about the negative reaction that Mark Foster has felt the need to come out and say something about it all. The old 'we've sold more on the first day then previously' line means nothing unless your going to give out details of how many were sold this time and last time. And the reasoning behind a change is pretty appalling IMO. And shows a severe knowledge gap within senior management of the game.

They've also got a bloody cheek talking about GB's 'heritage' whilst trying to flog this abomination

This bit made me laugh. Wait until England football find out what Tottenham Hotspur wear........... As we all suspected - the thought process didn't go much deeper than this. Pretty weak explanation overall but at least they've finally said something. Not sure I believe these are flying off the hanger as he's trying to suggest - I think it says more about how bad the last one was rather than this one's popularity.

Theyve sold 3 instead of 2 We’ll at least they’ve come up with some sort of explanation, I think it’s weak but hey ho.

Canterbury & Hardgear are donating kit for the Ukrainian team taking part in the European under-19s in September. Canterbury will be supplying the tournament referees kit, which is made from "post-consumer" recycled polyester. https://europeanrugbyleague.com/articles/2166/canterbury-and-hardgear-to-donate-ukrain

My wife has occasionally come to RL fixtures with me over the past 25 years or so, although I'm not sure she entirely gets the rules, even now. As we drove home on Sunday, she observed that it seems like there's a reasonably sized minority of people there who just want to shout abuse at someone in authority, and who like to go home feeling angry about something.

Nope. Wrong again. Nobody moans about the level of money he puts in. It's a remarkably high amount.

Those are very good points. Perhaps you should have raised these in your initial post?

As I've said I think the large cross Kits are pretty awful, the 2013 one with a subtle cross on it was easily the best England kit I've seen, it was simple and classy. What they seem to have done here is taken the fact that RL people like Chevrons so thought well lets put 7 of them on there, but realised it would look like a saints kit so just made it blue for with no rationale behind it. It may sell well, but there will be a lot of people and Id suggest a lot more people in the stands with white and red shirts on supporting the team with a shirt that has a lot of blue on it. I have no issues with introducing blue into the design, in fact it could have been done really nicely. Lets face it Dave were never going to agree on this one are we

It’s disappointing but none of us know the lads circumstances, he could have committed to buying a car or getting a mortgage using his Town contract money and couldn’t afford to take the pay cut, so we shouldn’t sit here and judge. end of the day its disappointing, but it isn’t Teare’s fault, he signed for Town in good faith as a centre, played pretty much all season out of position on the wing seeing very little ball, and then gets asked to take a pay cut ! Young Walker I’m struggling to get my head around as he has refused the pay cut to go back to amateurs, that to me looks likes it’s more of a personality clash with the coach than for financial reasons, or he’s maybe missing out on a Saturday night out with his mates and doesn’t want the commitment of the pro game, as at the end of the day he’s only 19 years old ! my biggest worry is that this will make it harder to sign top talent as Teare will let his mates at Wath Brow, Egremont, Kells etc know about his Town experience and that could put players off signing for the club.

England football have been wearing Navy shorts since the FA standardised their kit (previously they wore a white shirt and their clubs’ shorts). Navy was one of the FA’s colours, and most clubs had white or black shorts so it made sense to be different. That’s a century of tradition, built upon an original reason. England’s rugby league kit on the other hand has just been switched to navy, because, er, well we don’t have a reason really other than they wanted to change it significantly enough to sell a few shirts, wanted a V template and were scared to use a red one. So chucked what meagre brand recognition and general sports fan understanding of what ‘England’ looks like in the bin. For a Scotland away kit. And out of the blue as well, if you pardon the pun. Clearly no thought to brand transition, creating a story behind it, building to it, integrating it with other messaging. Nothing. They even launched it with people waving red and white scarves! Classic amateur hour, back of a fag packet RFL execution as always.

Are you lot foe real,the lad gave up on future rep honours for a fairly moderate contract,your club then wanted to renege on that contract & reduce it meaning with the lack of win money he’d be training & putting his body on the line for a pittance. I can just see you all accepting that at your place of work & then refusing a better job offer.

So when did the Championship become disrespected enough to be used as the Naughty Step?

No we split up , oh when was it , soon after Town played Widnes on a freezing night

Just been reading the hornets site and the RFL website about the Fiji game. Should we return to BP I hope we have an air tight deal and that we don't get to the state we've been in the past or where hornets find themselves now! But mostly I pray that we have two boards that get on and appreciate the needs and wants of each other and the fans and people of Oldham

They’re currently practising standing behind the posts.