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If Union wasn’t already in trouble

Nice piece by the BBC Sport team on the new record about to be set by Cornwall RL It’s a very grown up article that talks positively about Cornwall and looks at the potential issues surrounding such a long coach trip. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/65779868

Reading the OP he makes it sound like Rugby League has a choice about this and can just click it's fingers and get overseas investment. It's never been a conscious choice not to have overseas investment, more that the sport has never been attractive enough to attract it. I don't see anything that has changed to encourage an overseas investor to plough money into a SL club.

I'm a rovers fan and even I reckon you should reign it in a little, we've done nothing yet so think you need to chill out a bit.

Agree on the investment. Here in Wales the RU game is ta king a hammering at all levels. The lads at Academy level are all leaving for England which ishaving an impact on the places for English kids already there. A proper serious investor for a S Wales club right now could do a lot worse….

i went to Cornwall RLFC las weekend - took me 5 days from North Wales (365 miles).....however 1 did cycle there to raise money for Motor Neurone Disease....you can read about it here! https://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/23560754.crusaders-fan-cycles-wrexham-cornwall-aid-mnd/?fbclid=IwAR0-r94GByzaBG1GLE84tS9_6iWZ2a9dvagqa6eu92pitOogG-67OEgeimQ

There is no thinking involved.

Nobody has made a serious call to merge the codes in a hundred years. Nobody is about to start now.

It's just something you get used to when you live in the deepest SW of England. It's 1.5hrs to the nearest large(r) city. It's part of the compromise of living in such a beautiful part of the world! With hybrid working now so prevalent, a lot of people I know are living in Cornwall and commuting right across the UK for work on a weekly/bi-weekly basis. Certainly offsets the poor local wages and lack of industry.

That a home win then. We all know 'fax need a fast and dry track.

Think Graham, and Tomkins would be great. Last one i really enjoyed and its a few years old now, is Jamie Peacocks book, such a great read.

James Roby, an updated Wayne Bennett book, James Graham, Sam Tomkins, Josh Dugan, Craig Bellamy.

You mean that's not his real name?

Get shut and search the four corners of Keighley for a replacement

Very nervous about this game, Hunslet on paper are a very good side with the likes of Crossley,Ryder and Campbell. This game could go either way and will be a very close game. very happy with recent recruits Moran and Kabula, the lack of size in our forwards as been addressed and now to take us to the next level we need another winger and centre to compliment Ah Van and Morgan to take us to the top of this division, would love to see another back rower in the Langtree mould to supplement Baker. looking forward to tomorrow watch our exciting brand of rugby again.

How much evidence do you need. There were eight to ten cameras following the action, none of which saw anything to suggest a punch was thrown. The main circumstantial evidence, Lomax bleeding, was proven to be unrelated to the incident. The weight of evidence that the touch judge made a major error is so overwhelming that it's a bit bizarre to continue framing it as if the official has been stitched up. If this were a try/no try decision we wouldn't get as hung up about overruling refereeing mistakes as you are on this one.

for me it would be best to get rid of dean rovers can’t rely on powells maybe this that or tuther whenever it suits we need definite players subject to injuries especially at the back end

I think the point about it being more expensive than for argument's sake Blackpool could be a big thing here - if like people have said the point is for fans to have a weekend away, then hosting it somewhere people just can't afford will be a barrier to attendance. I do think Blackpool has a lot going for it - cheap and cheerful, more affordable potentially, with a good tram network and the ground itself not far from the hustle and bustle. I'm definitely not saying any future Bashes need to be in Blackpool by the way, but I think it needs to be affordable - as stereotypical as it might sound, we're a sport that caters mainly to northern working class folk who want a decent-value weekend away rather than an expensive trip to somewhere that is more well-known for its culture. That might change with the addition of more expansion clubs, but at the moment that's how it is (in my experience at least).

Unlike the other US comps (United Rugby League and Championship Rugby League), I think there is a good chance these games will actually happen. I do think it would look better if the South East clubs competition had their own regional name and logo with both regions then sitting neatly under the overarching USARL banner. For 2024 the USARL needs to look at reviving the lost North East region clubs to create a 3rd regional division, hopefully discussions will be happening there. Would also like to see a cross-division finals series introduced at some point in the next couple of years to create a National champion.

I love watching amateur rugby but there's very little I can say about it on a general RL forum because almost nobody has watched the same game I have. The people to discuss the game with are the 200 or 300 people stood elsewhere on the touchline. Same reason a SL game on telly gets a 10 page thread and a non-televised game gets two pages. Maybe putting a few games on OurLeague will help; there will certainly be some entertaining and closely-fought games.

Now is the time for the game to strike and go for some serious overseas investment in the game. Club RU is in a total mess London Irish on the verge Leicester hanging on by their bootlaces. As a sport we are totally undervalued with a fantastic historic fan base. Expect calls from some for a merger of the codes this must be resisted at all costs. Interesting times Paul

Greetings to our friends in Barrow Every week of the season fevnut writes a blog that includes his ‘musings’ column. Although it is primarily about Fev (obviously) fans of our opposition teams have enjoyed taking a look. This week we write about Fev’s winning League sequences and explain where we are now with our start to the 2023 campaign. Our 2nd try on Sunday against Barrow will be a very special one and we reveal why. Last week we saw televised highlights from a 2002 Super League match that turned out to have many Fev connections. We reveal Dan Smith’s career goal kicking record and finally we express our feelings about Golden Point Extra Time. Access the article by using the link below and then by using the links on the left-hand side of the page (by clicking on ‘Archive’) you can find all sorts of information pertinent to the match coming up on Sunday, including pages about the current Barrow squad and players who have played for both clubs and another about the history of matches between Barrow and Fev. Hoping to see some of you on Sunday. https://fevnut.blogspot.com/2023/06/fevnuts-musings-202325-winning.html

Almost wet ‘em

Yes. I think I am really really really close to getting @Tommygilf , @Chrispmartha and @M j M to change their mind on this one.

TBF he's not played many less than Walker....

Great news. I hope he performs as well in that sport as he did in ours.

Leicester Tigers are the biggest rugby club in England of either code, by audience size and membership. Even if they are carrying debt, they own assets and the business can easily be refinanced whether by current or future owners. More widely, unlike rugby league, rugby union has significant central revenue generation capability through the England national team and the Twickenham site. So from a governance perspective are much better placed to fix any problems their clubs may have. Debt is a problem of the current club owners, not for the game as a whole. They can see some individual "businesses" sink and be in a good position to reboot. Much as I dislike rugby union, let's not overestimate the scale of its current challenges in England compared to our own. Think that's wishful thinking.

Totally agree. The WRU are having all sorts of problems including investigations of a toxic culture. The regional team are in meltdown and the National team has lost 4 of its most experienced players this month! Players could be looking for a fresh break; a good RL leader, and some progressive investors in Cardiff or Swansea could reap the benefits.

Beharrell is a very good player as well

Leicester are hanging on by their bootlaces? Until I see a Leicester Disaster thread on the cross code forum, I won't believe it!

There won’t be any calls for mergers apart from some usual internet nonsense. As for overseas investment, I’m not sure Rugby League is an attractive option either.

Rugby League Fan 'we want more games on TV' Rugby League Fan 'who wants these games on TV'

Whatever happens, we'll be having a go at beating one of them next year.

Nah, he’s not as bad as our original Lord Lucan, that centre from Oldham called Mark Lord, a mate of Ray Ashton.

When they do travel, then yes, as an ensemble they only train together for those 2 days. Certain players, those that are injured/recovering, get a more extensive plan over the week but that will be in isolation to the others. Those weeks that they had no matches they would have spread the training over 3 days. They have individual tailored plans for the most part, which includes team time.

I am assuming that they had sufficient video evidence for every second of the incident, including various angles, that showed every moment of the charged players actions. Making it very clear the player in question did not show any punch action in every second of the video's they had to watch. They would have taken this decision knowing every impact upon disciplinary panel and officials - it would not have been taken lightly. Despite any wording to hang an argument on they would have diligently looked for any punch so as not to reverse decisions plus if they had every moment of the incident on the videos they watched. I am sure they would have been looking for every element of action that could suggest a punch or possible punch, including any moments of the incident not on video for which they could say the video didn't cover every moment. The fact they reversed the decision to me at least means absolutely their was no punch or action that could be said to be a punch on every moment of the video's and of which every moment of the incident was covered on the video. In my mind they would have been doing everything they could to support the ref and TJ. and the fact they reversed the panels decisions I personally would be confident they had absolutely no grounds for sticking with what the TJ thought he saw.

for me it needs to meet two criteria 1) Needs to be somewhere different (ie not at an existing RL ground). This is 2nd tier event (not SL), so on this one I would hold it in the north, and it needs to be a place where you have non rl activities available as well (why Blackpool made sense). 2) Needs to be cost effective. So I would aim for a cheapish seaside town which has some form of amusement park, crazy golf. cheap food, and then the actual stadium the game is played in near the town. You only need a stadium with 10K max attendance tbh. But personally I would just kill it. In todays world where there is so little cash in the game, is an elephant we can't afford anymore

To be honest I didn’t rate Hunslet,I know we only beat them 12-6 but we looked tired after our massive effort against Widnes 5 days earlier,probably our worst performance of the season so far. Oldham by 16

I'm a Rovers fan and I am torn on this. He hasn't done anything recently that makes me think he is that exciting of a signing. However, we signed Ryan Hall after a 'failed' excursion to the NRL and he has been amazing for us. If we can get similar level of performances from Gildart, then I would be extremely happy.

After the million pound game I couldn't care less if Hull kr beat us for the rest of eternity. I obviously don't feel this way about any other team. It's just that I know that an eternity of losses would never tarnish the best day of my rugby life. Just hope the weather's nice

Amazing! You managed to kill off the positivity of your own positive news thread! I think this might make you the ultimate Rugby League fan.

Halifax using duel reg yet again..... May as well rebrand to Cas reserves.

I know…they’d choke on their rag pudding. But we are all God’s children…..on this side of the Pennines anyway.

To quote Harry Hill's Chief Scientist - 'Do they mean me? They surely do'. Cue the naysayers.......

Leigh reportedly signing Dan Norman and Louis Brogan for 2024 https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/leigh-leopards-set-double-forward-27045791 Happy with these, both young and British which is what we need, thought Norman looked very good on loan last year for us and Brogan is another local boy to go with Halton. With Trout on the way and Halton in already our squads looking in good shape for next year.

My son’s amateur sports team had a nearly 1000 mile round trip to an away game in Australia without using a plane but it was a one off. I can’t imaging doing it every fortnight.

Do they explain their operating process and terms in every appeal ruling? I really do think your logic is jumping around a lot on this thread. One minute you are telling us not to get hung up on the word inconclusive (regarding the video evidence) and the next you are suggesting that the evidence must have been 'woeful'. Sorry, but you can have that both ways.

How often to part time teams train? When they have away matches TO only train Tuesday and Thursday. So a lot of 2 day weeks for a while now. Another question, if he is part time, how has he managed to get a load of time off work to ###### off to the south of France for 6 months?

Him and Gale can share water boy duties.

Good signing for Rovers and seems like a good move for the player too. Sometimes careers can go off track a little and it doesn't take long for players to be written off but it's worth saying that for most of his time at Wigan he was a really good player. From 2016 to 2019 he played really well, was always in double figures for tries scored and was part of one of the best left edge partnerships around. Defensively he was pretty solid and his attacking play was outstanding. Unfortunately 2020 was affected by his dislocated shoulder and he came back into the team for the last 9 games and 2021 was his first really bad season and he just seemed to have constant injury issues and poor form when he did play. It wasn't the ideal time for him to go to the NRL given his poor form. You want to go out there on top of your game rather than at a time when he really seemed to be lacking confidence. Hopefully at Rovers he can get the regular games he needs and get back to his best. He'll only be 27 at the start of next season so he's still in his prime years.