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Just shy of 1,400 at Rochdale Hornets v Oldham yesterday. Shows the potential - and the importance of local derbies that mean something. It was a great contest that ebbed and flowed and was won with the last pass of the game. Top stuff all round. Big raps to Rochdale Hornets community team, who had a four-team under 9's round robin competition before the game and at half time - and a nice celebration of the 10th anniversary of Hornets wining their first Trophy in 91 years. All-up, an excellent advert for League 1 Rugby.

Saints vs Catalans GF 2021 Attendance: 45,177 Can we all stop trying to move our major final venues. We'd be 5 years down the line, needing to use Headingly because we've not planned far enough in advance, desperate to get OT back and it'd probably be too late.

I think the original post was a genuine one and obviously I don’t mind the banter between East and West of the Pennines but the subject is in fact a very serious one. There’s been a visible and measurable decline in participation right across the board, specifically in the strongholds of Yorkshire. Places like Castleford, Wakefield and Hull have seen a huge decline in Amateur Clubs and an alarming reduction in the number of teams run in the surviving Amateur clubs. Where Clubs would run teams at all age groups now it’s hit and miss with many of the age groups missing a team, for example, a club might run teams from U7s to U11s but no U12s or U14s and can only run an U15s because they’ve merged 2 teams from two different amateur clubs. At the same time there’s been a similar reduction in Schools participation with some traditionally strong schools not playing any Rugby League at all. We often talk about the TV contract and funding as the big issue in the game but no one seems to want to talk about the decline and the REAL participation numbers. It’s no good pretending that they’re OK by including the same Kid 3 times by using his/her participation at school, Amateur Club and Scholarship and pretending it’s 3 players. In terms of funding, yes include PDRL, Wheelchair, Women’s and Girls and that’s all good but boys and men’s participation is drastically down over the last decade or two and it’s reaching a critical point.

Rugby league in "Salford " https://www.facebook.com/groups/5968150751/permalink/10162110499795752/

How does moving the venue make it easier for Catalans - assuming they get there - to get their 15,000 fans over? At least now they know it'll always be Manchester they need to get to. Not sure Dublin this year, Edinburgh next makes in simpler.

You had 14 men with 2 clowns on the sidelines who missed barrows sheer grubbiness definitely a crarey team grubs.

Clown barrow dirty as always didn't deserve that win

It’s amazing how many people are happy to say ‘just close a team down and move it to the other side of a continent’, with zero thought about that team’s fans. I wonder how they’d feel if someone said that about their team.

The best thing that’s happened down here in recent years is the continuation of ‘regional‘ rugby league through the winter. You couldn’t continue the junior leagues past August as Rugby union and football are king - numbers would be non-existent. What WRL have done however is launch regular ‘east’ and ‘west’ camps for players at U14 and U16 level to attend and Co to year honing their rugby league related craft. It’s through this repetition of skill that we will be able to match out English and French counterparts as we grow.

Lovely to see your fans stunned into numbed silence at the end there. Might get a poster printed

That was France. If a Frenchman was soaking wet and he told me it was raining I’d still go and check for myself.

Rubbish. Were you there Paul? No way was the stadium less than half full.

Despite what the Aussies say AFL is fusion of 19th century Rugby and Gaelic football. Like all football codes it's origins are in the British Isles and Ireland. Its Australian in origin as pasta

I see in one of the forums above former rugby league/player pundit is calling for the Cumbrian clubs to merge. Will someone please explain to these "experts" how far apart the clubs are - connected by indifferent roads with no dual carriageway on most of the road let alone motorway on the west coast which is where rugby league is played. Perhaps they could send some over on a bad weather day and get them to travel up to Haven and Town and let us know if they would do that journey regularly. In any case Barrow Raiders are now in Westmorland and Furness.

What difference would moving the GF around make to a low attendance if CD are there? Unless you think the novelty of a different venue would take up the slack. Tickets for the GF are usually on sale before Christmas the preceding year.

Results so far: U8s - Aber Valley 4-16 Pontyclun The sons of Lloyd White & Ben Flower on the losing side in this one. Callan Jones scored 3 tries for the victors. U9s - Swansea 28-16 Cynon Valley The Swansea boys and girls were never behind in this one. U10s - Swansea 4-32 Torfaen Harri Sergent with a hat trick for the Torfaen Tigers. U11s - Aber Valley 16-12 Cynon Valley Closest game of the day so far. An added-time try for Quade Kenvyn Caddick won it in the end. U12s - Bridgend 28-10 Aber Valley Win one for the Blue Bulls today. U14s - Bridgend 28-10 Aber Valley Yep, the exact same score! Exact same clubs.

Can't help feeling Fev fans are getting a raw deal here. I know quite a few people from Fev, both personally and in a work capacity and they are all very decent people. Every club has it's idiots, I've seen them from every club over time.

Loved the Willows. Miss these old grounds.

Brilliant day and lovely fans we had a blast. Put my video up on you tube last night The whole Leopards experience for my youngest who is autistic was top of the pops:) P

oli pratt is the better centre , but i don,t know why harrison has not featured since kicking 9 from 9 against keighley

Can we borrow Hilda please.

OH MY GOD WHAT HAVE I DONE

What's gone wrong on the western side of the Pennines? All the French teams are above them in the table!

Australian Rules was codified before Rugby and Soccer. The inauguration of the AFL’s Melbourne and Geelong football clubs are neither in dispute and no professional football clubs in the world have been playing a codified sport longer than either of these two clubs. Australian Rules is as original as soccer and rugby. As to your statement and subsequent question @Bedfordshire Bronco, the NRL haven’t sabotaged anything. They are organising 13 Men’s and Women’s professional test fixtures in 2023, including a series of the top 3 ranked men’s teams. To say the NRL sabotaged the WC is like suggesting Britain, Germany and a few others sabotaged the Olympics in 1916, 1940 and 1944. There wasn’t any single national governing body of Australian Rules until the 90s, so there wasn’t any strategy to grow the game professionally outside Australia despite the most recent iteration of the “International Cup” in Victoria hosting 22 Nations made up of nationals of domestic teams being a fantastic celebration of the amateur spread of the game. The evidence however does not support any suggestion of the AFL doing much to support the growth of the growth of a professional league internationally.

Nothing embarrassing about it I’m annoyed my team were robbed out of a game by a team of thugs.

Sulk as much as you want mate. Facts don't lie: You lost 3/3 last season and 2/3 this season.

You’d have got your draw if the fat lad didn’t try chip n chase from the HW line,only yourselves to blame. Payback for some of your fans acting like clowns at CP earlier in season.

Good old fashioned Derby game and fair play to Barrow they wanted it more on the night. Our mistakes and penalties cost us in the end.

Dirty barrow looking for a fight every 2 minutes never seen a team like it. Ref had a nightmare couldn’t control it bulman and that number 7 both dirty and carrying on like children every time anything went against them. A draw was a fair result giving the way the match had gone .

The Grand Final has been played at the same place and the same time for 20+ years. Tickets are on sale early enough too. Its all as clear and predictable as you can possibly get.

Marvellous Barrow, Simply Marvellous

This is right, there were definitely more than 40k in that night.

Wonderful entertainment on a Monday night.

I'm biased but I feel every 50/50 has gone against Barrow.

Gomersall is right. The last couple years there have only been enough league players to have two teams running in Ontario. Back when other places like Hamilton and St Catharine's had teams, it was what now looks to have been a high point in interest in playing rugby. For example around the same time the Niagara Rugby Union ran 4 leagues and these days it's down to 2. Looks similar in the TRU. So interest is down a lot overall, and for clubs it could be attractive to offer something a bit different with league instead of a 3rd or 4th XV squad. Now the clubs that ran 4 teams of various flavours have 2.

Yeah definite culture clash there. I can never understand those who talk about moving clubs like that.

Exactly.

Enough commitment to the international series to can it after a few seasons.

I don't know but the British Rugby Lions of 1888 played a number of games of Aussie Rules and even won 6 and two thrids of the Lions were from Northern clubs that would join Rugby League. Andrew Stoddart born over the water from me is the only Englisman who has captained in Cricket, Rugby Union and Aussie Rules.

Not having been to Fev in donkey's years, I don't know how big the problem is but I'm surprised if there are no stewards who could escort these low lifes from the ground. If they really are locals then surely someone will know their names so that further action can be taken against them.

It's beyond me. Why can't some folk just watch and enjoy the game? All the bother causing doesn't do anyone any good whatsoever. Some folk would cause trouble in an empty house. Thankfully they are in the minority as most fans I've met have been perfectly fine.

How many have you eradicated fans? If it was so easy it wouldn't be happening ,we've banned some but looks like some more pop up, it's not like we're not trying,any ideas would be very welcome.

He says they will have to beat 2 of the teams who finished below them, he doesn't say it will be Leeds and Saints.. If the Valkyrie get to the final, they should have home advantage as reward for winning the league. I hope the RFL don't decide to play the game at St. Helens like they did last year.

Oh Christ, not this again?

Can't imagine we'll see hingano any more this season, looked a bad one again. Pemberton broke a rib apparently so can't imagine he'll be fit either. Looked a cracking find as well. Great effort all round.

U16s - Cynon Valley 34-14 Aber Valley A few Welsh junior internationals on display in this game. Kai Sengul one of them and bagging two consolation tries from full back. For the victors, Mason Daniels strong with the boot from half back & Harley Smith going over twice from centre.

I don't think it is strange or that it amounts to a conspiracy. It's simple statistics. West of the Pennines, there are three teams competing. Warrington, Wigan and St. Helens. If one has a bad year, the other two still compete. East of the Pennines, there is now only one team which regularly competes at the top of the table, Leeds. Apologies to my friends in West Hull, but FC only compete occasionally these days and Wakefield and Castleford are mid-table at best. Therefore, if Leeds have a bad year, there is no one to pick up the baton. Simple, really.

I don't think giving the feral youths of Featherstone guns is going to help things.