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Yes and Yes. Pros: Decent seats for not a lot of money, fan zone was good (bands, food, drinks, Ice-Cream and a lot of good natured banter), parking was cheap and dead easy, Three ok games and one real contest (London/Toulouse). Cons: Poorly supported by participating teams' fans - essentially a York home game, but their fans barely filled half a block / no more that 150 Widnes fans / about half that number from Whitehaven and Swinton / about 100 or so from Barrow / 25 disproportionately noisy fans from London and no more than a dozen from Toulouse. Fev the best supported - probably five or six-hundred. When the bash kicked-off there can't have been more than 750 in the ground. Over the day, there can't have been more than 3,500 in/thru' the ground (e.g. All the Widnes fans left after their game). We were sat in a virtually empty West stand all day - and were able to sit anywhere we liked. None of the West stand concessions were open, so if you wanted a brew or a bite, you had to exit into the fan-zone - and go through the rigmarole of showing your ticket and having your bag checked again (which we did three times). Also, we parked about 100m away, but there were no signs/banners/indications that there was an event happening. Having not been to the LNER Stadium before, some event signposting would have helped. Did we enjoy it? Yes. Four games of RL for £40 - can't complain at that: and we enjoyed sitting in the sun between games in the Fan zone (the band, espacially were very good). Having done two previous Bashes at Blackpool, this one lacked the big-weekend / big-event gathering feel of Blackpool. And there wasn't much between games for kids TBH. Would we do it again? Yes, most probably - a chance to watch four games and eight teams we'd never usually watch is good. Would we do it again in York? That's just a 'maybe' TBH, it's stuck out on a trading estate miles from anywhere and, while I might find a stroll round Decathlon a good way to kill 20 minutes, I appreciate that most people wouldn't. Should the RFL do it again? That's the 64 thousand dollar question. They took it to smaller capacity venue this year (presumably to try and 'right-size' the stadium to the anticipated 'crowd') - and interest still fell way short. Which is a shame, because it deserves a bigger audience. The Solution? Take it back to Blackpool? Find an even smaller venue somewhere 'interesting'? Or concede that, as a concept, the Championship just doesn't have the critical mass of support to make it credible/viable? Fnally: if all those people complaining that 'it looked empty on the telly' had got off their sofas and supported our great sport, then it would have been considerably less empty. Fans have a role to play in supporting/promoting our game too.

Another easy try for Dom Young. What a talent:

Fantastic day out. Good food and great beer in the fanzone. Half time horse race thing was funny, DJ and bands in the fanzone decent. Good craic with the London fans we were sat near. Even had some friendly bants with a lonely and brave Cas fan among a sea of Rovers shirts. Somehow ended up sat next to Fev's WAGs. Just before the penultimate conversion Bussey's wife shouts "If you get this you're having sex tonight". Poor lad missed. Mrs Shep none too impressed with 3 boozed up males stumbling around the house last night. A certain indicator of a good day out.

Decent game to watch , Fev are now a very well drilled and hardworking side , credit to long and Pryce , still feel if you win the league you should go up , best of luck for the rest of the season , if you avoid injuries, this may just be your year.

He can’t do this and he doesn’t do that . How good are we like ? We’re incredibly average and Marwood can’t get a look in . Just mystifies me . Every time I see him regardless of what he may not do , he can and usually does add something . And a spark we sadly lack . I don’t know what’s going on

Going to try to answer some of those points with my own views. I thought Ford was the best player on the field by a long way (Gale was very good too). Created or threatened to create something every time he touched the ball. Agree that York were miles better than in the game at POR, they had a real dig and we had to earn the win. Agree that Smith played well, he looks a very solid signing and can act as a link as well as just drive the ball in. I don't think Wildie was average, he sets up our forwards so well and understands how to work the ruck area, Jones is the perfect hooker off the bench because he has the speed to hurt tired defenses but he doesn't have the timing and nous around the PTB area that Wildie has (watch how often there's nearly a forward pass between Jones and JD because the timing isn't quite right). Don't totally agree with the negativity about Briscoe as he brings a lot of positive stuff too but that offload in the last few minutes on our own 20 was really dumb. It's certainly Briscoe rather than Gale whose place would be under pressure from Evans. Hankinson will be very disappointed with the missed tackle for their first try, that was uncharacteristic of him and I'd give him a pass for that on his return from an absence as he's normally solid defensively. The try from the scrum...the attacking team already has a massive advantage at the scrum as the attacking scrum half can break before the defending scrum half is allowed to, if you don't have the full back in the line it's an even bigger overlap. It does leave you vulnerable to a chip over the top but there's a big risk in that as an attacking play, if the ball bounces wrongly you turn the ball over on the first tackle. We have allowed too many tries from scrums this year though! I kind of agree about the suggestion that Long hasn't exactly created a team playing lots of free-flowing rugby. However I think what has happened is that he has identified that our strength is literally in our physical strength, dominating field position and restricting our opponents from having much good ball in attacking positions, and he has identified our weaknesses as sometimes trying to score off every play and not always being able to defend when we have turned the ball over in our own half. So I think that's why the game plan is a bit stripped down, we are aiming to grind down our opponents by making more yardage than them, being patient and not worrying about trying to score on every set, making them start in their own 10m as often as possible, and gradually wearing them down until the gaps open. Yesterday was a classic example of that, all 3 of their tries came from when we dropped the ball inside our own 40m and they barely made it into our half of the field for much of the game. Gradually they tired and got worn down and we ended up scoring nine tries.

Do you honestly think linners would send players out on loan if we needed them , keep the faith

A great athlete. You can work on people's fitness and skills but you just can't beat natural athleticism. You can't coach someone to be 6' 7" and lightening quick.

Really happy with the progress we are making at Leigh with the crowds and matchday experience, a few of my mates and their young lads have been coming to games for the first time ever because of the buzz around town and loving it, they are big football fans and have never followed RL but they have got the bug big time. Jeremiah Ferrari were exceptional on Friday and the whole ground singing Bob Marley’s 3 little birds was just unreal! The place was electric and if it carries on like that which it looks like it will I can see record membership sales next year. Credit to Derek and his vision, I too had my doubts pre season after many failed SL campaigns but Wow what a season so far.

If I was a ref I'd be reading both teams and the coaches the riot act before the game " you do anything to make my job harder and I'll punish it you , simple as " Paul Rowley had Leigh players doing it all the time , i don't recall one single fan being happy with it , RL is a tough game , going out of your way to disrespect a fellow player isn't where we want to be , no need to use interpretation , just state that any deliberate contact other than within the tackle can be punished at the discretion of the referee Then it's just up to the player , behave or don't , but suffer the consequences, nobody in the game wants it

One of the most bizarre sackings of recent times. What did they expect of him after all he achieved last year ?

I'm currently in Halifax at the georgefest and loving every minute of it

When first announced it was quoted at the launch that the Bash would provide the fans with 'a day out at the seaside'. (Un)fortunately we've moved on from the 1950s and 60s when there were far fewer car owners and the local Working Men's Club's day trip to the coast was a highlight of the year....... Time to kick it in to touch.

We did. Got home at 11pm, but had a good day of Rugby League. Seems most fans' interests don't extend much beyond their own club.

Well Fax 0-16 points second half.And they can't complain about playing uphill.Well done Batley a good result.

Good résumé of the day...totally wrong on the Toulouse fans though. There were at least 28 of us.

And got a much better second half. 16-50.

I had fax the main challengers to Fev in the playoffs. But Batley. Never write of Batley! Fev Vs Sheffield/Batley final for me

Really strong performance today all round. Played some really good rugby, plenty of offloads and backing up and great to see Lewis Carr get an overlap to use, couple of great runs today to set up tries. Ferguson was another level. Bailey O'Connor is getting better each time I see him play, has real quality. Thought London played well, well organised, didn't do a lot wrong, but a thoroughly professional Rams performance.

Paul Sykes seems a lot more restrained in talking to the ref. Maybe it's because we're winning.

The biggest problem is that it was poorly organised by the RFL, nothing to do with York, and to be fair from what I can gather nobody else stepped in to offer a venue when Blackpool was unavailable.

Remember this beauty....

Can't fault the effort and commitment from the knights tonight,but we are miles apart from Featherstone who are certainly super league bound on what i saw yesterday,think Clint needs to start offering Hendo more options of bringing more players into the club as we have a real tough month ahead of us especially if the club want to finish in the top six,we simply can't be having 7 or 8 players unavailable every weekend due to injuries and looking at the bench last night we must have been down to our last 17 players.Thought Barnard had a good game when he came on for the last twenty minutes and maybe should be given longer game time.

fanzone was at the back of the west stand , plenty of bars ,eateries and music , well recieved by plenty.

I thought that was our best performance so far this season. Thought having Smith in the middle gave us extra width and that Fordy and Lacans played well off each other. Mentions also for Gadwin, Koppy and Yei who caused problems for York down the middle. JD and Jonesy made a real difference off the bench and gaz Gale was back to his best. All in all a very enjoyable evening; great result, great atmosphere and great to drive home from the summer bash with that winning feeling (unlike many previous years!)

Class from Wigan after Ethan Ryan breaking his jaw:

I was just having a look around the World Wide Web Information Superhighway to see if there was any news on a Schoolboy tour. Anyway, on this site the 2022 Australian Schoolboys team was named even though they didn't play any games. On the same page, the Queensland under 18's team who defeated NSW were named "the World Champions in schoolboy rugby league". Maybe they have just decided to say the Australians are best and they don't need to play any games. https://www.ourfootyteam.com.au/blog/australian-schoolboys/2022-australian-schoolboys/2022/07/08/

The biggest turn off for me for RL was the 2021 WC. In 2013 it felt like there was a real effort to expand the game outside of the m62, and we went all over england and wales to games over that 3 week period. 2021 was basically the M62 cup with all of two games outside "heartlands". The London semi final was a success in terms of engaging new fans (even if England lost), we have Tonga coming for a 3 test series, and are we building on those fans at the SF? No we are doing the M62 tour. We are a small regional sport going backwards. This is fact.

The lower tier nations yet again putting on international games and showing the established countries how it should be done.

Exactly this. Batley only clean breaks come from a Fax offensive kick which took a bad bounce and a Fax offload late in the game yet Batley seem to know against us that we are capable of coming up with plenty of mistakes and indiscipline so if they stay in the game they are always in with a shout. Hoping we get the chance of a revenge game at Wembley fingers crossed.

We saw mention of the Fanzone in the matchday info on the Summer Bash web pages, but when we arrived at the Stadium there were no signs - just a huge area fenced-off and we couldn't work out how to get to our turnstiles. We only put two and two together when we had to walk round half the ground to get access (the gates weren't even open 45 minutes before kick-off of the first game, so a bunch of us had to stand around like lemons until someone came to open the gates to the fan-zone, so we could use turnstile 13!). Overall, it was a bit low-key for sure - but the fan zone concept was ok and the day was worth the trip. Shame another 5,000 fans didn't feel the same.

Ha! Linners obviously the master of mind games. Fooled us all with the number of long term injuries! Brilliant result today.

Amazing, thanks mate.

Humble pie; massive slice!! What an outstanding last hour! Halifax were victims of their first 20 minutes, usual 'we're great' attitude then got mastered for an hour.

Voodoo's, markers, X sign's call them whatever you wish they are history David and have no relevance to today, look at my club for example we have exorcised about 4/5 records that have been like monkey's on our backs for nearly 40 years and there is one that has never been done before but already with only half the season gone we have beat all 6 Yorkshire SL club's in the league, so don't dwell on what has happened in the past just concentrate on the future. It is paramount for you to be in SL when this daft - my opinion - IMG system kicks in next year you have a much better chance of staying in SL by being an incumbent then trying to get into it from the Championship, and if that means Mr Campbell should invest in a SL quality player or two to safeguard that even in the remotest of 1 in 100 chance that you do not acheive your goal is avoided, it will still be money well spent has those player's will be there for next season just like the Leigh model has shown, I don't think that any present SL quality player would turn down a contract at Fev because they are not guaranteed to be playing in SL next season, I still believe it is as I stated before a ball was kicked this season it is a given Fev would win promotion and if you also recall I also said that Fev would go the regular season unbeaten, I still believe that to be so.

Credit to Salford. There such a clever team with the ball. They should be getting huge crowds with the type of rugby they're playing. Hull have been sloppy with the ball too often and turned it over far too much. You don't win games by defending. You need the ball to score! I'm glad we're still in it. Could still go either way. When we've had the ball we've looked dangerous. Just need to have the ball!

Thanks. You're right about the dislike thing. What is "confident"? I'm still not convinced we'll win the league. Obviously, it's been a good season, but if our neighbours manage to win next week (despite all the hype, it is still a distinct possibility - Ten Hag has transformed them) and Inter spoil the party the week after, then the season will have been a failure of sorts. Expectations have been raised, rightly so, which is why I don't like talk of a "triple" until the "double" has been done and dusted. To answer your question honestly, I'm quietly confident of both the finals, but nervous as hell about both, too.

No matter the winner of Fax v Batley today that will shove Toulouse into 4th spot, if they stay there not getting home advantage in the play offs will be a problem for them, and whoever gets to the final it will be at Fev, I think we know now who will be promoted this year, and yes I am confident of counting the chickens, every bit as much as I was confident Leigh would go up last season.

In fairness, Brown still had 40 yards to go with a defender closing in on him, it wasn't just a walk in. A few players made soft mistakes, it's unfair to pick on Butterworth who had just made a gerat break

Not sure if there would be any problems with that or not. It could be a good base to develop RL in London. Both clubs could even work together to develop the junior game in schools and at community level

If my maths is right kick off is 11am in the U.K.

fantastic try by the lad - and credit where credit is due - having a great season and scoring some stunnas - that try reminds me of the offiah days when wingers backed themselves based on their speed and balance - dont mind a slice of humble pie as long as theres a pint with it - well done DY

Would there be any dramas with both clubs playing out of the same venue ? New River Stadium for example. Would need some assistance from those who work out the fixtures draw each year but you could make it work to be the hub of Rugby League in London. Having visited NRS as a visiting Aussie tourist a few years back I found it easily accessible and with a warm welcome.

Here we go again , valkeryie should be a great start today , I feel today's matches just shade yesterday's, fax, Batley pick of the day for me , up the fantastic valkeryie

The reason the Gallagher Premiership final is on ITV is that the rights value of domestic RU plummeted and so the sweetener was increased FTA opportunities. Good for them. A fine example. Two out of the twelve teams in the top division have now gone bust and a third is on the way out. Exposure is great. Right now, we need the cash.

I bet they wished they had been on holiday,took em to the cleaners without playing well!

Interesting how views differ, for me we were a solid 8/10 tonight. Since that flurry of games earlier in the year when we kept our opponents in the game by making unforced errors and trying to score on every play, the emphasis has been on winning the arm wrestle and wearing opponents down gradually and I thought that worked very well tonight. That said, all 3 of their tries came when we lost the ball inside our 40, and it was disappointing we couldn't hold them out as other than that our completion rate was good and we conceded very few penalties. But I suppose that emphasises why we have to win the field position battle.

Actually now I recall, they said the room was set out exactly as the recent latics forum then they had to put out some extra chairs.

True . A lot of years we barely get a summer

Ahhh right. Thanks. Sounds perfectly fine now.