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I am really not a fan of using reserve team games to eat up a ban. If a ban results from a first team game then you should miss that number of first team games.

I know Keighley are on a downer at the moment but it's a mark of respect for them that some Bradford fans are taking time out from their busy lives to stick the boot in. There was a time when the gulf between the clubs was so great that most Bradford fans wouldn't give Keighley a second thought. Looking from afar it seems that Keighley's owners have made some mistakes. I don't know how committed they are but if they're genuinely in it for the long haul, I hope they learn from the mistakes and come back stronger. Like you, I don't get it that some rugby league fans seem to delight in the misfortunes of other rugby league fans.

Just to confirm - No one is asking you to post your mates P60.

To be fair, you have posted 4 times on a thread just to tell us you won't be joining the discussion.

Well done York. What a run you've been on and chuffed for Hendo who's a great coach and guy. Hopefully should be another cracker on Sunday. See you at Odsal.

If Mick walked in p**s wet through and said it was raining I'd go and check.

I know which ones do but I don't think it's an appropriate thing to be talking about on an Internet forum so I won't be taking part.....

12,600 at the Knights v Broncos NRLW semi final.

Mate of mine is one of the released, not done by text, we move on

Absolutely. It's not justifiable in any sense.

I don't get this general pleasure over Cougars' demise in relation to IMG. What exactly did they do wrong? Stand up for what they believed in? Sure, things got a bit mouthy, but there were just as big culprits on the other side too. Can't wait to see the faces of some of the baiters this time next year when their club makes the play-offs/wins the Grand Final etc and is denied promotion because Hull FC finished bottom / Wakey had an LED screen etc etc. This whole thrilling ending to the Championship this season is simply not going to happen any more, because there are going to be asterisks attached. As regards Cougars, it's entirely our own fault. Over-ambition, rash signing, rash departures, slow replacements, you name it, we did it. Disastrous. So what. Into League One we go. Cornwall here we come. etc. I'll be proud to stand there in Penryn knowing I support a proper bloody club with principles.

I'm still not sure if I know the answer to this. If you told me we would finish 8th at the start of the season I would have been fuming but then if you mention that we would also get chance to see our team win at Wembley I would probably have said that made up for it. I'm still kind of meh though, I'm grateful I got to go to Wembley with friends and family and thats a memory that I will hold for years to come where as to be honest the 8th place finish it's pretty much gone from memory already. I can't comment on yesterdays game as I didn't go, this is the least amount of games Ive been to since I started supporting Fax and I am struggling to find the enthusiasm apart from 2 or 3 games against certain clubs. That's not just because of this season, I think its my feelings about the sport in general and the direction it is heading in. Back to yesterday though and we have had a huge meltdown on the Facebook page and I get where people are coming from but that result is no surprise given the season we have had and in my opinion the new BOD made a huge mistake in offering Grix a new contract instead of getting rid of him after the emabarassing Batley 42-0 defeat. That was the time to act and although I think Grix has done OK its just one of those situations where coaches get stale and you need to make a change. Despite what people have been saying, Ive been around rugby all my life be that watching, playing, or coaching and those players were not playing for our coach which I think in itself is a disgrace and you have to question the mentality of certain individuals but at the end of the day its always the coach that goes. With nothing to play for on the field next season I will probably go to even less of our games next season, I am somehow hoping IMG mix stuff up with the gradings but I really can't see it as it stands suddenly getting my love back for the game at this level. As for the playoffs, lets face it Fev deserve a shot at SL but York have done amazing to sneak in there and although I do like a bit of banter with the Bradford fans a 3rd place finish is good for them and although I don't buy in to the SL needs a strong Bradford BS, I don't think having a strong Bradford at a level they can sustain like the Championship is a bad thing at all. See you all next February(more likely tomorrow ).

I'm a Bull and don't get all the baiting towards Keighley. Id rather they be in the Championship tbh.

Why are you then?

I thought that would make him fit right in at Saints

Just a thought , could the club provide free coach travel to Fev after the ladies final , providing we beat Bradford and you must buy a ticket for both games to qualify for the coach , ladies ko 3 coach departs 5 knights ko 6.30 , perfect

Congratulations to Doncaster. As plenty of others have said, the defence won it. That blue wall just couldn't be broken (well, just the once ). Best of luck to you in the Championship, hopefully you can keep the momentum going and make a real success of it. As for the Cru, I think we missed Rob Massam yesterday but really couldn't be prouder of the team. In fairness, we're not ready for the Championship and I think it would have been a step too far anyway. But what a difference a year makes, from rock bottom morale bordering on despair last year, to feeling full of confidence and hope today. We might have lost the game yesterday, but by our own measure of success we feel like winners.

Well done York. Deserve it after the victory against Batley on Monday. I like to see York do well - and at the expense of Halifax as well !!! Good luck in the play-offs,

If I was the video ref, I would rule out every try for an incorrect play the ball. That would show 'em.

You are quite correct. It is a nonsense rule kept on the books by idiots.

Probably not that simple, as it means a fringe player could be called up to the first team, commit a really serious offence that gets them an 8+ match ban and just continue playing for the reserves for the rest of the year. Sure, they'd eventually have to serve the suspension but it would be a bad look for the sport if they were still playing the following week. I think a smaller tweak to the rules would be enough, such as only those outside of a clubs top 25 salary capped players being able to use reserves games towards suspensions. It means those that would usually play for the reserves or even U19's would still serve their suspensions immediately. It is of course a ridiculous loophole that should have been fixed years ago and when it happens at such a crucial time of the year it reflects badly on the RFL's disciplinary processes.

I love banter and I will defend my team but have apologised if I've been wrong. Sometimes it's best to agree to disagree. It's a GAME not life or death lol.

My wife Kath reckons they do but what would she know.

I'm not saying the RFL leadership are competent, outside of the Oxley and Lewis eras they've been anything but, however we need to be honest about the challenge being different: It's a lot easier for V'Landy's to take an already-dominant sport and start to attract its proper value (having been undersold for years) than it is to take a challenger sport in a country with established market-leading competitors and grow it from that low base.

I will put this as politely as possible, your intentions are very admirable but you simply have no realisation of RL in Europe and the popularity (or lack of) it has, the game is simply not wanted (apart from a very very few devotees) outside of Lancashire, Yorkshire and a small part of Cumbria, and in France it is the same, you mention Perpignan but that fair City doesn't really classify itself as French it is Catalan taking in that North Eastern part of Spain and would be independent had it have the chance, RL allows them to be different, the rest of France has very little interest in RL and will never gain a TV contract for that reason. We have just passed the best aggregate attendance for SL since 2012 being just short of 1.5m, Football is king here, Man U in 22/23 season had 1.4m attendees alone not counting Man City, Liverpool, Everton that takes a combined over 4m and those football teams encompass 3 of our biggest clubs in Wigan, Saints and Warrington plus Leigh and Salford. Hull FC and HKR combine circa 280K attendences whilst Hull City in the second division of Football had 370K in 22/23, and our best attended club in Leeds Rhinos in a city that boasts 800K+ souls can only attract 11500 home fans less than 1.5% of its population. So in these hot beds of RL where we fall well behind of Football, how do you envisage we make it popular in other parts of the country, it simply won't happen, not ever, zilch, zero, never. As I have said in the past, concentrate on what we have, make it the best it can possibly be, look more after the grass roots for if we let that to continually decline we will have no game at all.

I've just watched this again as I couldn't remember the exact detail, and you are absolutely right. He said no try, and "looking at contact on the outside shoulder". The VR then starts to claim the contact is 'flush' which I assume means head on, but that simply isn't true. It was an inside shoulder contact. I think the problem is that the VR didn't look at the whole play. French wasn't impeding and actually slid across well. The Wigan Centre actually made the wrong call and was stood up.

Yes. Today they will be known forever as the Houdini Swinton Lions

You really need to come off the fence.

So you wouldn't have complained if Leigh had set up a reserve game mid week in between first team games ? , if of course we had a reserve team Happy to discuss Wigan's disallowed try , it was obstruction clear and simple , no argument from anybody , just glad Matty isn't a ref , because he clearly doesn't understand the rule Whattaboutery , do 2 wrongs make a right ?

If ever the oft used quote " only in RL " was relevant , this is it

The Wigan reserve games probably going to cost Rovers a GF appearance

Can’t all 3 teams that could meet Wigan in the semi final i.e. Hull KR, Leigh and Wire appeal the ban on French is too lenient??!!

It's crazy that isn't the case.

Some fans are just weird and can't just have banter, Ive had it on the Fax board recently where I got abused for having Fev fans as friends. I dread to think what they will think of me when they find out I have Bulls fans as friends too.

Get your chequebook out, you tight get

I know you know but I'm not getting into how I know, it wouldn't be appropriate

Not sure about chairmen or coaches but looking at some posts there are definitely a few referees.

Well put and i get the banter but no need to get nasty like a few of them have.

On facebook: Four great years, Thanks for the memories, etc etc

Sorry - We must have been confused when you were the first response to this thread with the answer of "Yes" I.e. "Yes - I know exactly how much they make, but no I won't be telling you" If that isn't participating in the discussion, I am not sure what is..

Mixed feelings if this is true. For me everything about Newman reeks of hype over substance and his attitude is clearly a concern.

What an amazing effort to make the playoffs it looked nigh on impossible a few weeks ago but we did it. Huge respect to all the players and staff who never gave in and believed they could do it. I think the turning point for us was the game against Leigh we gave them a almighty fright and proved the can compete against the best and since then our confidence grew. Now we have made the top six does this come with any financial benefits as in other seasons the top 6 received more money? let’s hope he can carry the season on for a few more weeks yet.

And no reason why a typical CRL coaches salary should not be discussed on a RL forum

3874

It could be hard for you on sunday because one of their players recently said " They are the best team in the league"

It was a hell of a game to watch, I'm a fan, but, I was working on it at the same time, and, despite the inner confidence, I didn't really feel 100% sure until Smeatons try at the end (after a Tony Kemp like scoop from Greg Burns). I feel that Cru missed Massam massively yesterday, as much as he offers going forward, his experience and ability in defence is just as important. Thought the right edge stood up well to Fonua and Faraimo, and theres definitely a lot of positives to take out of the game for them. Its a question of how you build for next season, but, with Forster at the top, and a board that are definitely all pulling the right way, theres a lot to be looking forward to. From a Donny point of view, we need to get a couple of backs sorted, as you get the feeling that Misi Taulapapa will retire now (yesterday was his 5th playoff final, and his first win), which means that he would need replacing (a lot also depends on if we retain Corion and Sanderson, who've struggled with injuries at times). Theres also the question of whether Boas remains, as I'm sure the deal he was offered back in PNG will crop up again, and, if he leaves, we'll need another hooker/half back. The final area I think we need strength in, is prop.

10th place finish for the mighty Lions. Every single pre-season prediction had us bottom. I'll be honest even as a fan I didn't see us winning many games having been last to recruit coming through the play-offs and probably the smallest budget in the league. Some big scalps too away at Batley and Halifax and beating Sheffield and Toulouse at home. Tough on Keighley but you have to say they caused their own problems. All that negativity from the board around IMG and sacking the coach has come back to bite them.

2,548 at Doncaster for the League 1 Playoff Final.

Maybe if Leigh had a reserve side they could benefit in situations like this one. As for the disallowed Leigh try, get over it and maybe discuss the disallowed Wigan try. Just because the Sky crew say it was a try doesn’t make it a try. That’s their opinion. Re the French incident, this has happened before with, for example, St.Helens players McCarthy-Scarsbrook receiving 0 matches and 1 match and Makinson 0 matches for the same offence against a referee.

Fair enough assessment and I am inclined to agree that the championship will be a lot poorer next year