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Speak for yourself I'm always enthralled to watch Isle of Man play Malta in the lawn bowls. So much passion so much rivalry.

Rumour of him having a stroke confirmed. Wishing him a full and speedy recovery

I am not sure how you could think people putting money into the game outside of the heartlands is bad.. I don't think Hughes thought to himself - It is either London or Oldham. Creating new and viable clubs outside of the heartlands is incredibly important in creating new pathways for people to get into the sport. London has produced numerous players that have gone onto play at various SL teams as well as a few that have played for England, including one that is being talked about as one of the talents of his generation as he heads to the NRL. The RFL should be looking at re-instating their development officers in places like London to get back to the participation levels RL had 10 + years ago in the Capital.

My lad did his shoulder so out for the second test, 24 hour bus ride to play 10 minutes, he's gutted but hopefully France will get a second win

I would love to see a Leigh v HKR final.

I'm beginning to think the semi-final draw was fixed to keep Rervers and the Lopards apart simply because there isn't a ground in this country capable of holding all of their fans in one place at the same time. Great move by the RFL.

He does make me cringe from time to time with some of the comments he comes out with but the guy is as generous as they come and has time for everyone, I won a game in his box early 2020 as part of Martyn Ridyard's testimonial raffle. When we got there, the LSV staff mistakenly sent us to the AB Sundecks table in the banqueting suite rather than his box which we thought nothing of as we didn't really know what to expect. Someone finally found us about 5 mins before kick off and it tuned out Derek had got people searching all over for us and he was upset we hadn't got the full experience so insisted we came back the following week to do it all again. We didn't pay for a drink all day both times, he personally took us on a tour of the stadium including into the changing rooms and made sure we got the appropriate levels of attention from all the players and the ex pros who were also there as his guest for the games. Andy Gregory was also a guest in his box and got to spend a good hour having a drink/chat with him along with the likes of Des Drummond and others.

Can't be many more popular players either amongst fans or his team-mates. Hope he makes a full and speedy recovery.

Leigh obviously. Playing Wigan would be incredible, even though on paper we would stand a better chance of beating KR. Either way, i’m going to have to sell most of my worldly goods to pay for the flight from Canada if we win on Saturday - booking a transatlantic flight 3 weeks before you fly in mid-summer ain’t cheap, but …

You can have both you know. Its not a choice. We could have a strong Oldham and a strong London and a strong Cornwall if we really wanted. And if you can't see why having a successful RL club in the biggest city in the country is important then I'm not quite sure what else to say

Bulldogs fan here; sincerely wishing your club all the best in it's current trials and tribulations. Since the game lost its Bramleys, Huytons/Runcorn, Blackpools' etc we had hoped that the game was going to go on, flourish and expand and take its place as a celebrated national sport. Instead, the expansion, little as that is, has caused massive difficulties for clubs not of the elite, heaven knows we've been on the receiving end over the years ourselves. You clearly have troubles ahead, indeed are in those troubles now but I hope I'm right in saying that no sensible fan of the game would want Whitehaven to be no more. I hope your local community and businesses rally round and pull you through.

I disagree here on two of the points. Skolars have never quite recovered from Broncos poaching their coach and most of their squad a couple of years ago. They've had to try to rebuild and that's hard on a limited budget. Broncos really did do them over and don't appear to have done anything to help in return. Secondly I don't think Broncos have any idea what they are doing. They've poured money down the drain for years and alienated their fan base. They are in a stadium that allegedly costs £200k a year and average crowds of a few hundred. They've sacked a succession of good coaches and other staff and yet retained an underperforming management team. In short they are one of the worst run clubs in the country

I find it astonishing the state had committed A$2.6 billion to host the games - an 11 day event. (And Australian governments in total A$7 billion for the Brisbane Olympics.) We put on the three 2021 RLWCs for government support of just A$50mln, surely there's value in there for someone to host the 2025 RLWC.

Mick Gledhill on twitter saying the deal is effectively done and it's Sky Sports with an announcement next week. On that basis I'd say it's anyone's guess.

The idea that a group of clubs should somehow be forever revered and genuflected to, like the Founding Fathers of the American Republic, because of something that some Victorian businessmen did 140 years ago, is a hilarious manifestation of the culture that has held rugby league back for so many years. We stand and fight, live or die, based on the market conditions we are experiencing now, in 2023. The sport's growth strategy has to be orientated towards that reality. I'll happily look at sepia-tinted photos of Wigan and Leigh directors in the hallway on the way to dinner in an executive box one day, but I'm not basing any strategic plan on gratitude for some past deed.

Our World Cup in two years time is holding on by its fingertips to take place while a club comp is being talked about as the biggest event ever staged. We deserve what we get as a global sport.

I would love to pay £20 to be at the stadium watching the Knights, but due to health issues I have only been out of my home to go in hospital this year, its a godsend for me any Knights games on T.V.

Yes, the topic is competing in the Challenge Cup Final after all.

Chin up Josh . I hope you make a full recovery and get back to your best when you are given the all clear. I should think the whole of the Rovers from the Chairman downwards wishes you a speedy return to normality.

It'll be my first one and bringing my 10 year old who is counting down the days so not too bothered, just hope for a big crowd and a good day.

On the flip side, in NSW cup the Newtown Jets just posted a great crowd of 8,972!

Its like Liberty Media and F1. They are undeniably behind the massive uptick in that sport's popularity in the past few years, they took a large interest in the recent regulation changes that have been implemented, they are behind ththey e teams and administrators of the sport taking a whole new approach to how the present themselves and interact (many quite reluctantly). Most fans, especially the new fans, don't know who they are.

Anybody but saints and wigan I'm bored shi. T l e as of seeing them.

To be fair Harry thats not true. There has been quite a lot of other announcements previously about other things IMG are looking at including media operations and TV production. It is not just this criteria that they are or have been working on. This is about many things that should have been being worked on with gradual and incremental improvements over the last 20 years but that have been left so that we are decades behind the 8 ball. They need improving and its about every single little bit of that coming together over the next 12 years to get us to a point that rather than selling merch or enticing the man on the street of the "small norther town" (to paraphrase the likes of BP) to part with their cash all the time that we are looking further afield to people in towns without RL history knowing the sport and wanting to watch it, support a club etc and much bigger companies than at present wanting to be associated with the game becuase of that. I am sure you have seen and commented on these other announcements, there will be more too down the line as the full plan starts to be brought together. But they need to get this grading over the line so that clubs can start to do their part in improvements etc while IMG then continue on with their "selling the game" side of things. you dont like the grading idea, fair enough, but to think it is all they are doing is just patently wrong.

What the hell is the point of giving out cautions if players just ignore them and carry on committing the same offence week after week. Romain Navarette has now received 3 cautions and 2 citations for the use of knees in the last 4 weeks; RD16 - Caution - raised knee by ball carrier RD17 - Caution - Use of knees RD19 - 2 citations with no charge - raised knee by ball carrier RD19 - Caution - raised knee by ball carrier

alternatively "Nigel please put yourself on mute"

Australia confirms its commitment to international sport.

They'll be under no illusion on how tough an assignment it's going to be, that's for sure. Do not underestimate any opponent in this league. Linners will be the first one to tell you that.

"Troy you're on mute"

A fit O’Hagan would be the best halfback in the Championship. I’d love him back at York.

Correct. Tonga are touring this year

I'll be there but I paid today for both the Knight's game and the London match. I just hope ours is a game I want to see again!! As for London v Halifax that should be worth a look.

I definitely think we're playing some of the best rugby we've seen in years, unfortunately when it's mattered we've been on the wrong side of the result. I agree re Paga and he's been sorely missed Sheridan would have slotted straight in too, however we just have to dust ourselves down and start again.

I saw this and it reminded me of this thread. Despite his faults Beaumont does seem like a good sort. Im sure there will be a few in here desperate to meet the man himself:

Separate from the Leigh fans.

All the very best to Josh and his family, a great lad and player.

They’re only following what the coaches asked them to do. Look at them first

Very experienced middle and never let us down when here before, was often our best forward. ️

Gabon and Togo joined last year, Rwanda joined in 2009. These three along with Mozambique (1995) applied to join despite never having been part of the empire. Four further countries have applied to join but haven't yet been admitted. As @Sports Prophet says, there are movements in some of the 15 nations that share the King as head of state to become republics, but none are proposing to leave the Commonwealth.

And if he is found guilty for a third time he will be banned under the totting up procedure. Clearly the 2 so far have been deemed lower end offences with a further 2 not guilty/ NFA. BTW I was fully on board with last seasons clampdown both on and off the field but clearly I was in a minority. The reasons for dropping the clampdown lie with the clubs and ultimately it’s them that have to pay the insurance.

Don’t mistake being a part of the Commonwealth with having the Queen or King as head of state. There may be some nations considering becoming a republican state but, I don’t know of any nation which is contemplating an exit from the Commonwealth.

Yes it is £4.95 earlybird,sorry, fat fingers when I typed.

Just so long as they are ignoring the "contributions" to the debate from the nihilists. The way it works is this: IMG? Never heard of them, know nothing of them, but I'm determined to oppose anything they come up with.

And the players. And the owners. And the journalists. And most of the fans apparently (except when it’s negatively impacts their team)

This is what the coaches wanted

I haven't bothered with this utter nonsense from just after the start, when you and Harry were providing the realistic view that IMG will do nothing for the game, and when the game itself was not prepared to pay IMG anything without results. The view you take is probably the view many thousands of fans in the pubs, clubs, terraces and seats take. But this forum is more of a "dreams of what could be" place to discuss the great game. T'was on this forum that the North Atlantic League was heavily promoted as the future. Leigh needing to make way for New York I lost my rose tinted specs reading the history of Rugby League and the reality of how it works only in certain communities. I read the history of "expansion" in Trevor Delaneys books, in which dozens of clubs have come and gone trying to expand the boundaries of our sport. If the latest nonsense is to "downgrade" Wigan who are probably the games biggest club, then that says it all. The reality is clubs like Wigan and Leigh, Leeds and Bradford, Hull and HKR, Saints and Wire, Cas and Wakey, Toulose and Catalans add so much more with their hard fought rivalries. IMG had nothing to offer from the start......

It’s a vital meeting where they’ll be finalising the forthcoming 10 year international calendar. Oh, sorry how many times have we heard that?

So International Rugby League, that can't afford to have a European championship, involving largely part time players, needs a meeting in Singapore? Really?

Goodie. It's been literally weeks since we had a series of announcements with no details.

To be fair, they have always been well attended games, irrespective of what Divisions we have played in. Like Leigh, their hardcore travel well away so i am pleased for them to get a great attendance. They deserve it with some of the rugby they play !!