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I've never heard of 2 x 10s before - please tell me more

My biggest disappointment today has been reading some of the post match comments on here. Comments such as "our worst display of the season" and "they wanted it more than we did" just don't fit the game I watched today. I thought on the day Batley's defence was top notch and explained their joint 2nd league position but we still scored the 2 most spectacular tries of the match against 3 tries by them. I wonder what our lads think when they read things like "wanted it more than we did"? When I think how Liam Harris nearly bust a gut to shake the guy off who chased him down and go on and score his try and get injured in the process and then he can read comments like that on here. "Worst display of the season" is another comment that takes the biscuit! It's only 3 or 4 weeks since we got stuffed at Sheffield 40pts to 10pts! Some folks have very short memories. Sometimes things just don't go for you in a game and to me today was one of those days. It's not the first time a guy has kicked the ball out on the full or over the dead ball line and it won't be the last, even by players in the top league. We hardly saw the ball in the first half but that happens now and again, very frustrating, but it happens, and you can't do much without the ball except a lot of tackling. We lost today, disappointing yes, but I prefer to keep things in perspective. 3 tries to 2 against joint 2nd in the league isn't that bad a result in my eyes.

If we take away anything from this week end I dearly hope that it is an appreciation that our game should never become a closed shop. Both finalists would have been on the wrong side of a drawbridge to protect the top teams on many occasions over the last 20 years. I have watched around 20 teams in Cup or Grand Finals, each of which has brought a huge amount to the party, our roots go very deep in a lot of places. I hope IMG are watching closely and taking notes.

Endless hyperbole, a cascade of esoteric phrases, near hysteria at times, pointless and often spurious technical analysis, and an incessant barrage from too many loud voices. Annoying, off-putting, distracting. Why has this become the signature sound of Rugby League across Sky and the BBC? Commentary is a craft: highly skilled; with delivery, techniques, phrasing and timing all developed, evaluated and refined over time. Coaches and players do not automatically make suitable commentators. Just a rant: nobody cares what I perceive. And it shouldn’t really matter to me: I normally employ the mute button. The last couple of weeks have been an experiment. But I wonder if it does matter in a sport which would like to increase the loyalty of its audience. There were two captivating and dramatic matches this weekend which could have been made much more of with skilled commentary.

I've never ever known players to cop the same level of flack as the referee

The knee jerk reactions of some clubs sacking their coaches and some supporters of said clubs asking for coach heads this season who were better placed than us and had settled squads has been surprising this season. Our injury situation is the worst I have ever known but there was no headless chicken approach from those in charge to fill the gaps by signing anyone with a set of boots like one particular club who shall remain nameless. I think Hendo has done well with the cards he has been dealt , in him I trust.

Or the rules were applied consistently and people don't agree because it affects their club

I watch lots of sports and follow a number very closely. I was an RFL ref at amateur level for about ten years, I was often jealous of refs in other sports as they had one thing at a time to watch. In RL for example simultaneously you have to watch for offside at the PTB, the playing of the ball the acting half backs picking up of the ball. In other instances take the Purcell incident I agree I don’t THINK he lost it but as a ref it’s impossible to see every angle and sometimes you have to give what you feel has happened rather than what you see. Take a try scored where the ball springs up after the grounding - it’s easy to assume it was dropped when often it isn’t, it’s okay when you have a video ref but most pro games don’t. It really is a very hard game to ref well. Some games don’t throw up many contentious issues and some do. If we take the Shorrocks sending off some would see it as very very harsh and others as deserved depending on your viewpoint as it was such an important call 50% will inevitably say you’ve made a howler, really difficult!

That’s not the reality of what happened on here - less maybe one or two posters. Plenty of people including myself said the tackles looked ugly; in particular the Paasi tackle. But if the disciplinary panel have deemed no case to answer, then fine, no issue. Good luck in the final. Looking forward to it.

Oh how I long for the days when there was only one person in the commentary box. Less is sometimes more IMO.

I thought when i first saw him "mate you're going to have to be good" because he had all the physical attributes but those players have higher expectations on them and they stand out in a crowd. The lad tried hard every game and made more ground than Clegg in my opinion but he wasn't good and if he could have caught a ball with his height at least that would've been an asset. I've never been less interested than i was last year watching second rate Newcastle players playing predictable rubgy. Undoubtedly it's a much lower level and i do want to go back in the championship but this year has been great regardless of results just watching the likes if Key, Reid, Walker ,Marwood etc. being allowed to play and improve game on game and Sabutey is a bonus.

There needs to be something special and collectable in my opinion, akin to the use of more of the gold in our strip in the middle 8's. As others have said this could be a once in a lifetime occasion; it will be in mine I reckon and there are lads and lasses older than me still going. We can wear our annual strips any time, we need something to commemorate the occasion both for the squad and fans.

Really enjoyed yet another podcast with an Oldham rugby league legend. Just one thing though, when Barrie said a group of northerners got together and had an argument, the host piped up with "in Huddersfield at the George". Barrie or Mark should have retorted with "organised by Oldhamer Joseph platt who run the northern union from Oldham for 35 years". I noticed Fordy in his podcast mentioned Joseph Platt. The more we bang on about it the more people will realise Oldham is just as important, if not more so, than Huddersfield.

In 9 years we've had 11 different finalists and 7 different winners. By comparison in the same time frame the FA Cup has had 8 different finalists and 6 different winners. We need to hold on to this competition with everything we've got if we do nothing else.

And just a few posts into this thread the same posters show that they are baffled, confused and don’t understand either the game or that all incidents are different and that they expect referees to be perfect at all times. All this whilst allowing players to make many more mistakes every game without anything near the same level of abuse and criticism being hurled at them.

Occam's razor, right there.

Some fans on here are like children maybe they are. They think the lads have a divine right to play well and win. Does that mean the wins we have had the other team has been poor? Get a grip of course they wanted it as much as batley. Who wouldn’t want to play at Wembley? Perhaps the dogs were just better on the day

Watching one of the NRL games at the weekend and one team ran a double wedge coupled with an angled run from the centre which left the winger with a walk in. One of the summarisers (Michael Ennis?) pointed it out, talked about the mind set when trying to defend that play, I for one want that type of analysis

What Fax should do is approach ViaPlay and say "Look, when you booked this as a televised game you were expecting a top-of-the-table clash, not a runaway-leader-versus-mid-table-fodder event".

Well done the dogs, a much-deserved success for the club. I might be a bit jealous like.

For what it's worth, I thought both tackles were a) legal b) incredibly brave and c) matchwinning. The Leigh player put his body on the line to stop a charging opponent near the line. A coach's dream, I would think.

When Sheffield played Widnes both clubs had an area in the lower tier sort of where the corners would be if the ground was square, on the opposite side to where the tunnel is. I always buy my CC ticket in advance as I like the day regardless of who’s there. But after the main game you could move around within reason. I suspect that the club will get a bit more revenue if you buy from them rather than the RFL/Ticketmaster. The middle tier is just about always empty. Enjoy the day, Wembley still has the magic and in my opinion there isn’t a bad seat in the house.

It's great stuff. Kruise Leeming was interviewed live at ringside just before the Liam Smith-Chris Eubank Jr fight a few months back too. It makes our players look like stars to sports fans who don't know much about rugby league. We need to have a plan to get all over TikTok and YouTube shorts. That's the way the world is going. 30 and under spend half their day scrolling through those short videos. Get the spectacular finishes in the corner, big hits, try saving tackles etc all over those social media apps in short clips and get the good looking lads front and centre too. We've gotta make the game seem somewhat glamorous to the younger generation.

Being a Southern based Rugby League fan, and former player in the London Amateur League, I went to several Challenge Cup Finals through the 1990’s along with all of the Test Matches played at Wembley. Hadn’t been for a long time but then went to the WC semi at the Emirates, got a renewed taste for watching live Rugby League, and snapped up a couple of tickets for the 2023 Challenge Cup Final about a month ago. Really looking forward to the big day out. What size of crowd do they anticipate for this year’s final ? From memory, one of the great things about the event is that shirts from every different club are on display - is that still the case ? It’s one of the things that makes it such a special occasion.......

The Leigh tickets in the first 2 tiers of the East, £50 ones, 6 blocks allocated have just 23 single tickets left and £70 side tickets completely sold, the £40 tickets are about 60% sold but the cheaper tickets in the Gods are slow selling. Plenty bought direct from RFL prior to tickets going on sale at Leigh 7pm last night also. Batley are in our end so I guess not many left at all in the East already bar the top deck. Could be most tickets ever SOLD at new Wembley for a CC final with KR sure to take 30k and will be 20k from Leigh

Well done you deserved the win and what fantastic support you brought. All the best for the final.

I think a lot of the people who post those comments do so out of frustration more than anything, I have been involved in Rugby League one way or another most of my life in both hemispheres and I can honestly say players 99% of the time give their all and want to win. As spectators we sometimes expect too much especially at this level, these guys put their bodies on the line week in week out, they get paid relatively little in comparison to other sports, most have full time jobs too. It is pretty discourteous to suggest one set of players want it more than the other, in my experience that is just not true. We do not have a god given right to win every game as much as we would like them to , and at the end of the day they are human and can have an off day, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t putting the effort in, these guys will be bitterly disappointed tonight as the Ladies were yesterday but they will learn from it.

There must have been a fair level of investment this year to get us to be as competitive as we have been in L1. Now with just one win needed from the last 3 games then we are potentially in a superb position for recruitment and entering into dialogue for new players. That is providing the coach is staying. If not then the opportunity could well be lost and the incoming coach will have to start again in assembling his own squad which won’t be easy. Fingers crossed that Finn will stay for at least another season.

Surprised you could see it out of that one-eye.

No disrespect but if we can’t get 1 win from our last 3 games we don’t deserve to be promoted let alone champions.

That's a real shame if true. Very few Brits crack the NRL to the extent that they are recognised as one of the very best in their position and Hodgson did that. He challenged himself and succeeded so well done to him.

Noticed in recent weeks that IMG appear to have been putting players out there. On twitter I noticed George Williams thanking IMG for a trip to Wimbledon during the tennis. We also saw some of the Wheelchair WC winners in the royal box (although don't think that was down to IMG). I also saw that a few Wire players thanked IMG for getting them a trip to the Open, and have just watched Ratchford, Ashton and Matautia appear in a feature on the golf coverage on Sky this morning. It was a decent piece that treated the players like stars, and then promoted next week's games Is this them quietly going about their business and getting the game and players into places it maybe wouldn't normally he seen?

The Wembley dream has gone, we have 8 games left to play starting with London away, should win 4 or 5 of those can't see us making the play offs, then once this season is over let Hendo build his own squad for next season and beyond

We've got super Anthony Murray He knows exactly what we need Budsy at the back Scholey in the pack Town are on their way back up the league

Do you use Google diary reminders?

We've reached the stage of civilisation where people are genuinely being accused of headbutting people in the knees. There can't be long left.

Fantastic career he can be very proud of,well done Nathan and all the best for your future and recovery

Think that wraps things up nicely. Absolutely hysterical reaction from some to determined defence chopping down 2 big lads by taking the legs. It's textbook stuff taught at U7's. Pathetic over reaction. Great defence.

I’m taking three pals who’ve never seen a live RL game before and also my lad and one of their lads - so 5 new RL fans. Do I get a medal?

I thought they were completely different incidents. The Shorrocks one was pretty clear cut and an obvious sending off. The Miski one was completely different in that the Hull KR player was falling and his head collided into Miski more so than Miski making a tackle. There was little Miski could do and it was a clear accident, one of those things that inevitably happen in Rugby from time to time. As for French having a case to answer, not a chance.

Up on high with Ken Wolstenholme for commentary would be John Arlott and Brian Johnston; the latter could seamlessly mix straightforward reporting of cricket (and non-sporting events) with lighter moments without detracting from the main feature.

That, surely, is what the viewer wants. A bit of insight - revealing what isn't apparent to the untrained eye. Otherwise, the commentator or summariser is merely telling us what we can see in front of us. I don't do Sky - never have, never will - so I've no idea what its rugby league coverage is like. Tacky, I imagine. On the BBC, Dave Woods, however, I could manage without. The bland Woods doesn't seem to have improved much since his "are you cheering or groaning?" days on irrelevant local radio phone-ins. Brian Noble? Really, what does he bring to the table?

Not rugby,but Richie Benaud and Kenneth Wolstenholme are the benchmarks as far as I am concerned. I have heard both say,in interviews, something along the lines of "let the pictures speak for themselves".

Robbie Hunter-Paul showed why he's not used in the commentary box much. Too much talking over everyone, trying to be funny and adding nothing. Dreadful. No-one seems to complain about Channel 4 having one commentator and one expert, yet everyone else wants a chorus line of voices.

Think you've missed the point a little...nothing to do with the salary cap, it's having the money in the first place that's the issue. That said - Beaumont stepping back from recruitment and leaving it to Chester and Lam was the best move he's ever made, as Leigh absolutely nailed it last year, hitting the jackpot with just about every signing. The fact that 5 of last year's Championship signings made Matt Shaw's current SL Dream XIII underlines that fact. Saying what Leigh has achieved is "simple" really undersells what they have achieved imo. It's so hard to bridge the gap between being a top-end Championship team and a low-end SL team, let alone compete with the best.

You know the in’s and out’s of this , but to me seems simple, in this day and age of technology all you need is a mobile phone as demonstrated yesterday with a commentary from Cornwall, all be it affected by the wind and conditions, Radio Cumbria have little desire to cover Town matches as they see your beloved Haven and Barrow as priority, and nothing to do with being in the championship as a few Town games last season where not covered.

I'm generally firmly in the camp that the "best" teams to be in the Wembley finals are the teams that reached them on merit, whether this is St Helens, Wigan or teams less accustomed to appearing there, but having said that I must admit there is quite a refreshing novelty to the finalists in the CC and 1895 this year. That said...I'm dismayed to see the 1895 Cup is being played after the CC Final again. I thought it worked much better as a curtain raiser over the last two years, but playing it after the main event means we're just going to get the same exodus we saw after the 2019 final. I understand that the women's final is taking place too which makes things tricky but although the place is likely to be relatively empty whenever you play the 1895 Cup, I think there's less of an "after the Lord Mayor's Show" feel when the 1895 Cup is the curtain raiser with fans filtering in rather than taking place after large chunks of the crowd have left the stadium.

Miski was penalised for the head contact. That’s why the ref said it was only a penalty and not a yellow card because the player was dropping into the tackle.

Today was not a day for expansive rugby, yet still we tried it a bit, but that might be why we bombed a few tries. We got the job done in an unattractive way, but after that long layoff, combined with the conditions, perhaps we can accept that. I think O’Connor’s try was the best of our two and was pleased that Davies received the MoM award as he does work hard. I think we switched off slightly when they scored their try, but it was well worked, with Abel scoring. He stood out for me in their side, as he did in the corresponding fixture at played at Widnes. Their fans were excellent and and gave us a rendition of “Delilah” in the Royal Suite, along with a song in Welsh. I spoke with a couple of those knowledgeable supporters too, frustrated as they are unsure when they will play at their home ground, but seem happy with their position within the game.

Well done Leigh. Well done Hull KR. Great stuff. Should be a great final.