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Do you ever give it a rest? We know you don't like the places Rugby League is played and is strong, you've told us often enough. Constantly bleating about it isn't going to change the reality, delusional posts about fictional teams in other places notwithstanding.

Do you want a new owner who says "things are alright, I'm planning on just making a few tweaks" after you've been relegated following many decades' of mediocrity both on and off the field? That's a proper rugby league fans response I reckon. I get the pessimism, I mean if they were one of life's optimists they'd have left Wakefield for better things years ago (), but it seems the Ellis family are locals who have got far more money than is needed to do the things he's talking about. Their business hasn't become successful by talking about stuff and then not doing it. Exciting times ahead.

Yeah I know If all you ever remember are the failures, you'll never have the energy to be successful. It's all about what you do next. Rugby league fans love to wallow in what hasn't worked, and use it as a reason to be negative about the future, it's why rugby union is a global sport with millions attending its World Cup, whilst most of our league is made up of small town sides, in economically failing towns at that. I'll pose the alternative hypothesis: What would Huddersfield be like without Ken Davy? With the size of your fan base probably in the bottom half of the Championship. I'm glad Wakefield now have a shot at competing.

‘An entrepreneur and rugby-man visionary’ Happy to help!

Seems like there’s going to be a big crowd there on Sunday. Fitting for such a big occasion. Up the Valks!

A post which pretty expertly sums up the state of RL in the UK.

The NFL playing 2-3 regular season games involving NFL teams with talk of 1-2 London franchises of top players is very significant progress. NFL Europe at best was a ‘reserves’ league (with a handful achieving later success) that had very poor TV audiences in the USA for that reason and only really achieved lasting public affinity in Germany. They too in Germany are now getting NFL regular season games and the demand is extremely high to watch the ‘real deal’. Add in TV audience, merchandise sales etc and it’s just factually incorrect to say the NFL has declined in the UK.

I don't think so. Nor will we race ahead. Most sports are pretty much embedded within their local, national and international space now and I suspect that if we could look forward 50 years the sporting landscape would be almost identical to what it is now. Where we will get traction is more nations seeing grass roots Rugby League grow but I don't think we will see our game rise to the top anywhere it isn't already established.

Yes , been told east stand has sold out so that's 3700 already , if the south fills up we will pass 5000, amazing ,the ladies game has massive power

https://europeanrugbyleague.com/articles/2326/kenya-and-uganda-announce-mens-womens-fi...

I thought Championship and League 1 clubs,in the main,voted for IMG. There is even less money coming into the sport. It seems the Crème de la crème of Super League isn't that well thought of and the whole of the sport suffers. I await the improvements once IMG get going. Only 2 clubs down and out since IMG got involved.The majority of the rest just down...

I think it’s just part of promoting the club, especially after relegation and being known for its shoestring budget for so long. Talk about what you’re wanting to do, encourage fans, sell season tickets, attract sponsors/players, retain players, promote the club and get people talking again. I don’t mind it.

You'd like to think it opens up a new audience? Having been to Trin's ground many times, let's be honest unless you were enjoying food & drink in the Benidorm End boxes then it wasn't exactly the most glamorous or high-end live sport experience! I love a terrace, a pie and a pint me, but there's plenty of customers out there who want to sit in a decent seat in a decent stand with a concourse, who might not have attended Wakey regularly with the old set up. Wakefield have a large catchment, rugby league is the highest-level sport in town, there's a lot of headroom for growth I think.

It appears to say that he is working with IMG to stage 12 big RL games and 3 other sporting events and that he's talking to the council about use of the parc des sports. But I think that's 12 games as part of SOA eventually being in SL rather than some separate plan. He points out at the start that Avignon, unlike other French cities, doesn't currently have a big sports team.

Bring the French teams back into the Challenge Cup instead then.

The theory is good, to combine the leagues as well would benefit both in terms of improving the pool of players and providing competitive fixtures, but impractical due to the logistics involved. Let’s face it, these days you can’t rely on getting a train from Leeds to Manchester, so to throw flights / ferries etc into the equation and the cost to clubs already running on a shoestring budget would make it prohibitive. Nice thought though.

No. Full time French teams in Superleague where the funding exists, but otherwise RL in France is part time. The links should be international, including at age group level, and a sharing of coaching resources and training.

So Jack de Belin now feels like he is a PNGer. Frizell now playing for his 3rd country. Players who played in the WC last year now playing for other nations. It really shows a lack of leadership from the game to fix these issues because they dont want to compromise or hurt origin. It devalues the international game

Good luck Fev. With Batley falling by the wayside it's Fev all the way to SL this year!

She meets Disability Rugby League players in East Yorkshire, where she joined a training session with the World Cup winning England wheelchair rugby squad. Video here: Kate Middleton celebrates as she converts during game of wheelchair rugby - despite another hand injury weeks after hurting her fingers on the trampoline | Daily Mail Online

Go York.

I know a lot of clubs don’t announce attendances after matches, but League Express this week is reporting that the Championship averaged 1,994 this year, up from 1,830 last year. That’s great news, particularly compared to Yawnion’s second tier who mustered 1,336 last season.

New Signings: Jacob Hookem (Announced 24.10.24) Half back, ex Castleford & Hull Bailey Dawson (10.11.23) Prop last with Castleford, originally with HKR Marcus Walker (17.11.23) CentreStand Off/Scrum Half from Newcastle, but from Hull Curtis Davies (21.11.23) Hooker, ex Newcastle Thunder Travis Corion (22.11.23) Winger, from Doncaster Joel Russell (27.11.23) Hooker, ex Shaw Cross Sharks Nathan Lawrence (27.11.23) Centre, ex Dewsbury Celtic, Ossett RU Harry Copley (8.12.23) Full back, stand off, from Dewsbury Celtic Jamie Field (8.12.23) Prop, Loose forward from Westgate Common Joe Hird (9.1.24) Prop, from Sheffield (season loan) Retained: Jimmy Beckett (29.9.23) 2nd year of two year deal Elliott Morris. (As above) Davey Dixon (As above) Bailey O’Connor (29.9.23) Brad Graham (3.10.23) Owen Restall (5.10.23) Ollie Greensmith (6.10.23) Ronan Dixon (12.10.23) Louis Collinson (13.10.23) Joe Summers (13.10.23) Calum Turner (20.10.23) Jackson Walker (23.10.23) Matt Garside (26.10.23) Perry Whiteley (27.10.23) Lewis Carr (3.11.23) Paul Sykes (3.11.23) Squad Numbers: 1 Owen Restall Sponsored by Gary Lancaster Property Maintenance Ltd 2 Perry Whiteley Brian Scott 3 Ollie Greensmith Amber Ribbon 4 Bailey O’Connor AW Lumb 5 Lewis Carr Rams Gang 6 Paul Sykes Charlie Chase Bookmakers 7 Callum Turner Kathryn Calnan 8 Jimmy Beckett (Captain The Chaplaincy 9 Jacob Hookem Viv Calvert 10 Ronan Dixon Language is Everything Ltd 11 Brad Graham Rita & Lewis Bairstow 12 Matt Garside (Vice Captain) Harvey & Ryall Lettings/Sales/Commercials 13 Louis Collinson Blind Side Johnny 14 15 Joe Summers Steven Whitelock 16 Elliott Morris Elaine & Peter Holyoke 17 Jackson Walker The Children’s Family Trust 18 Davey Dixon Elsie Fryer 19 Travis Corion Viv Calvert 20 Curtis Davies Dewsbury Faithful 21 22 Marcus Walker We Buy Gold 23 Bailey Dawson Sue Walford 24 Joel Russell Lofthouse Gate Sports & Social Club 25 Harry Copley Carmel & Emily Broadhurst 26 Jamie Field Georgia Smith (on behalf of the NWSS Warriors) 27 Joe Hird Squadbuilder 28 Jack Billington Dual registration with Huddersfield Giants 29 Jack Bibby Dual registration with Huddersfield Giants 31 Kiaran Rush Dual registration with Huddersfield Giants Departed: Reiss Butterworth. (17.10.23) to HKR Connor Davies (7.11.23) to Halifax Jack Coventry (8.11.23) to Hunslet Sam Day No official announcement Simon Frewin. No official announcement Luke Littlewood No official announcement Nathan Lawrence (4.3.24) Personal reasons

Mickey Mouse is what it is. the selection of jack de belin really leaves a nasty taste in my mouth as it’s keeping out a real and proud kumul from either the hunters or another Queensland cup side or even from the digicel cup.

4,000 tickets sold already - should be fantastic occasion. Up the Valks!

Gonna be a good crowd. Up the vaulks

What will be will be, a huge task for us. It's been a good season whatever happens and I think it may be one game too far against a good side, especially at their place in the heat. Shame there is no TV coverage, can't really see how that can happen in a semi-final in 2023. Credit to the club for facilitating something but limited tickets are already gone.

Tell your mate not to worry Up the Trin

And there it is Everything keeps coming back to the misunderstood ramblings of a failed Rugby League administrator.

I’m not having that, if Fev happen to get promoted out ratings on TV will be massive. The romance of the story. Definitely worth an extra £3m a year to Sky.

Good luck to the York ladies.

That's what players do in all sports do as they want to win things and want to play for a big club. They also want to train and play in quality environments and in some cases want to play for their hometown club. None of that should be a shock or be controversial.

Well, I may be in the minority here but I am happy with the eligibility regulations as they stand and looking forward to an Autumn of international Rugby League.

This links in slightly with my previous point. Is the point promotion? If promotion, to which league? SL or Championship? I don't think the latter could afford more foreign teams so would have to be the former. Then promotion to SL would be done through IMG grading. You'd need to decide how many points winning the French competition would be worth alongside the rest of the criteria. This would then bring into question whether a European Cup (or "cross-division") competition would be worth creating to include in deciding a club's playing points for this grading, thus creating an actual need for the games to be played. It would be a good way to give French clubs a meaningful avenue to SL without the need for them to go through the English systems directly. It would ultimately mean they'd need IMG approval to be promoted though, which would likely come down to French TV deals being attracted (which don't appear to be coming as yet). It would be difficult to deny a French team for too long however if they're regularly beating English clubs in a cup competition though. If we outright pull the gates up on further French clubs entering the top level of club rugby on this continent though, we've affectively killed off any further potential growth in France, which in turn prevents the desired Anglo-French international games being competitive anytime soon. So it's important to iron out a strategy rather than just hope.

There are many things that will increase attendance, obviously away following. So , no great increases from the likes of Cornwall etc. However, the main driver of increased home following is without doubt a winning team. You can play absolute rubbish rugby, but if you are winning then the crowds will return. Another driver is hope. It's a major factor in economic theory. Why do you think companies like Tesla and Amazon are still trading after years of losses? Hope! We have not had hope like this in years. At last we are planning for a bright winning future. Come Oldham come on Oldham!

Highly likely that it could be either of those. I suppose as the remainder of the season unfolds we’ll find out. I’m not sure why a few people are getting their knickers in a twist about it to be honest.

Mate Samoa and Tonga will never be tier one nations, they don’t produce there own players, there from Australia and NZ. Being a tier 1 Nation is not about the Quality of there best 17 it’s mainly about the strength of the domestic game and how rich the and stable the game is in a country. France, Papua New Guinea, Wales And Fiji will be tier 1 nations well before Samoa and Tonga will ever be considered.

Is there a quick win in just unilaterally declaring that Elite 1 and the Championship are two conferences of the same league with an 1895 cup competition shared between them? Functionally what difference would it make? You're probably not giving them any funding and they're unlikely to make up the points in the grading to get into SL anyway, but you've given them an avenue that might attract funding in the future and grow the game in France as a result. If things just plod on as they are nothings lost anyway, apart from a bit of money spent on branding and a few flights for a cup competition that will at least now have a unique selling point other than bluntly being the Challenge Cup but for rubbish teams (my own being included here).

The working class argument is a bit dated I think, the NRL have shown what you can do with a working class sport and while easier said than done, that should be the aspiration.

Expand SL to 14, have an English Championship and a French Championship. Two up, two down. One from each Championship.

I'm not always convinced they are ladies

These "issues" have practically nothing to do with Origin, struggling to see the relevance on that point. I'm assuming the insinuation here is that we should ban nation-swapping? So what you've effectively decided is that England shouldn't be playing a test series against Tonga this year, which means they're left without test opposition at all in 2023 unless they go back to France again. This tour would not have occurred without the defections of 2017. The SH tournament would comprise Australia/NZ/PNG in the top tier, this is fine in a sense but we lose Samoa who became the first team outside of Aus/NZ/England to reach a WC final in over 50 years. How much credibility or value is afforded to an international game that is a foregone conclusion? So in an attempt to avoid devaluing the international game we've now set it back 30 years.

Been a while since I've posted on here but I'm coming up on 4 years of keeping 70+lbs off. 2022 I gave in to the inside voice and stopped running due to the chronic pain, but got hacked off with myself and back into it in 2023. Took me a good 6 months to get back to managing 5k runs and been doing a couple of them every week since June. Signed up for the Toronto Waterfront 5k on October 15th, the first race I've signed up for since pandemic times. My head is telling me to do longer but 5k seems about my limit before I get physically ill with it. Might be a mental thing though, I don't know, will have to test it more. Bit the bullet and ordered an elliptical standup bike as regular cycling isn't an option for me. Looking forward to the lower impact workouts and going further than walking or running. https://www.elliptigo.com/bike-family/#sec-elliptical-bikes Not sure if anyone else here has been doing them, but I've been doing several of the Conqueror Challenges to keep active and motivated, perhaps if others here are open to the idea we could have a forums team challenge for one of the longer ones? 3 of us did the long Lord of the Rings challenge in just shy of 6 months, over 2000km. Neat things to keep you moving! Keep cracking on folks!

If you would like to start a factual squad info thread... I will pin it and ensure it stays on thread!

My first step would be a rugby league equivalent of The Hundred in cricket. Big city teams for a month long competition. I'd get the NRL to invest in it, or at least be partners in it.

Well there isn't now the NRL have scrapped the mid season international weekend to prevent players from choosing their country over SOO.

Interesting looking at the Toulouse squad for their game against Bradford. Centre Matthieu Jussaume (who was man of the match against us in the 2021 Grand Final) is still missing along with fellow centre Reuben Rennie who is out for the season. However, Dominique Peyroux, who has been out since reportedly breaking a hand a few weeks ago, is back in the squad - whether that means he will play or not remains to be seen. Also back in the squad is Harrison Hansen, and if those two are fit along with Josh Ralph, who made his comeback two weeks ago, that will give them a much stronger 17 than the one we played at Toulouse. With 30 degree temperatures forecast for kick off time on Saturday and Bradford with a couple of forwards injured, things look to be tilting in Toulouse's favour.

Signed up to an Hyrox event in Glasgow, early March. I stopped running at least a few weeks ago and now i've got Covid. Even the 1km runs feel impossible mentally at this point. This too shall pass.

I said it on another thread but incorporate top 4 French clubs into the 1895 Cup. Double header in Britain and one in France for the QF.

£15k - coincidentally League 1 funding for the season. Just saying. Before Derwent Parker does.