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So, for someone like me who’s been asking for uniform pitch markings in SL for a long time (I appreciate there’s been bigger issues) - I think it might have finally happened! Either that or a massive coincidence. Warrington are now going with a single red lines on the 20 and 40 metre lines, as they do in the NRL. I’ve noticed today the Rhinos have done the same - last season both clubs would’ve had the double white/red line. It sounds insignificant but if there’s some joined up thinking on this then we could see an end to each club basically marking out the pitch however they see fit. Anyway, I know at least one other forum member who’ll appreciate this…the rest of you mind your business if it’s not your bag

Won’t start in 2024. Dominic Baloupe (taking over from Lacoste) - That included improving managerial, commercial and communication skills at clubs; building a viable and sustainable financial model and engaging with local authorities to improve facilities. Good news. Let’s hope it ain’t a pipe dream. https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/french-elite-championship-set-for-revamp-as-nation-moves-towards-professional-top-flight-with-hopes-of-putting-sport-back-on-the-map

The referee wasn't to blame though it did seem as though it was going that way early on but Fev had enough possession and penalties to win three games after that. With the ease of scoring our first try it looked like Batley would be in for a long game. We were clueless taking wrong options every time. The club is in total apathy at what went on last season. It's filtered down to the fans. What we saw today is what we can expect in the future. Batley deserved their victory today.

Barra beat the Haven overseas select 18-12 away.

6978 Warrington vs Leigh Friendly

How many more times are we going to see Brown at full back, and Harrison on the wing? They are far better players in their proper positions, and the number of tries we concede down our right side because these two are not in the correct position is worrying. it isn't their fault, they play where they are picked. Also worrying is how we manage to concede a try in the last minute of every game.

Full strength Wakey side, Super League in all but name, full time and a budget three times greater than their nearest rival and it showed. They were bigger and faster, not only with the ball but in their thought process too. However, apart from a couple of soft tries you couldn’t question the effort from the Knights, and they never gave up. One or two positions need bolstering and our lack of size in the pack showed. Still players to come in and Hendo has stated he is using these pre league games like pre season. I don’t think we will be that far away against the majority of Championship teams come the start of the season proper. I can’t see anyone getting even close to Wakefield though, not even Fev or Toulouse.

Kings of Cumbria,again

Superb defensive performance and we were unlucky not to win. Moran and Chapelhow were superb in the middle. The wind was awful so playing any sort of rugby was very difficult. Paga was very dangerous at 6 with is running game. Whittel had a very good game off the bench. Tyrer made a good case to be picked on the wing next week until a dangerous tackle that might rule him out suspended. Rawsthorne had a dodgy start but grew into the game and had some cracking runs. Hate to talk about the ref but he was horrendous. Constantly looking to get involved in the game and the ptb errors were a joke by the end. Thought Parata, Kershaw and Leyland looked very good for London but hard to see them competing at Super League standard as we really could and should have beat them. Considering we didn't play Turner, Kopzcak, Wardle, Craven, Wildie or Mo of our best team and took off Astley, Ellis, Lawton and Taylor at half time not to return it was a hell of an effort. Should be a cracking game next week against a tough Barrow team.

Looked like we filled the South Stand (1800 capacity) as a few late comers were siphoned off into the East Stand.

I actually prefer the dual red/white line but yes being consistent on this sort of stuff should have happened years ago.

Well, well!! That was a team showing, every player, every non-player pushing for a shirt; coaches and staff, tremendous strength-sapping performance!! I'm first to complain that we don't spend but today shows that even if you do spend and pay great wages it'll never beat a team with a heart. Proud of those lads today.

Incredibly poor performance. Discipline and ball retention shocking. Huge amounts of pressure on their line and we couldn't break them down. Credit to their defense.

Wakefield have sold over 1,150 tickets for todays game Vs York With many travelling and paying on the gate too

See the Haven fans have got their knickers in a twist over Cresta's radio sheep dip interview.

Plenty to get our teeth in at the Dogs today

They're just 1.2 points short of being one of the gold-standard A-graded clubs. I think that says a lot more.

The issue here is that if it weren't for Derek Beaumont putting something on Twitter (which he didn't have to, so fair play to him) in response to a random tweet from someone else, the average RL follower wouldn't really have any idea that Leigh were set to jump up by 2.5 points, because the scoring system is so opaque. I still don't think there's a widespread realisation of how this might change the narrative of each RL season. We can all follow results and progress on the pitch, but I very much doubt this is going to be the last financial rabbit pulled from a hat that will massively override what has been happening on the field of play.

It is big because it has tradition and credibility with the public. Something our Ashes series once had. Look at the Ashes in the UK from 1982 to 1994 it was growing and had become a huge occasion. Attendances alone had grown for the tests from 67k in 1982 to 140k in 1994 and media interest was massive. Imagine if it had continued that growth what it would be today.

Well after the relentless forum peer pressure, I gave Grosse Point Blank a go. Loved it. Why has no one told me about this before.

Final score in game 2 USA 22- 52 Wales. Proud of our squad.

Wakefield are 1/6 with Skybet for today's game, with the Knights offered at 4/1. A draw is priced at 25/1, and the Knights are 10/11 with a 16 points start on the handicap coupon. Todays referee is Scott Mikalauskas. In the Women's' Super League, the Valkyrie are second favourites at13/8 to win the Grand Final, with Leeds the 6/4 favourites.

Doooom and gloooom, for goodness sake guys you lost to a better team on the day, its not that bad surely. Always a good game by dogs and fev, and yes a lot of fans from all clubs probably didn't expect us to win. We all know fev are going to be up there come season end, but will take some bigger knocks than todays. Here's to a up coming season of championship

As I was walking out a Wakefield fan was been sick up the wall not a good look and heard from another Wakefield fan that the trouble was between themselves not what you want to see at the rugby. Sounds like too much beer it’s a shame as Wakefield turned out in numbers but fair play to the Wakefield fans I spoke to they were not happy about the idiot’s hopefully they can identify them and deal with them accordingly.

In Yorkshire we wouldn't even need the mirror.

Thought it was a pretty even game, ref made some poor decisions for both sides. Noteable difference was really only match fitness as Barrow have played more which helped them out. With players to come back into both sides I think we're all in for an interesting season.

You've given a much more positive review than I would there. I thought we were shocking from start to finish. If we play like that every week then we won't win a game all season. I could not be more disappointed in that performance. The first offence gets the penalty, not the most serious.

Full time pros against a very youthful York. I’d have expected our strongest team to struggle but once they adapted to the pace of the game they didn’t do too bad. Bottom line is wakey we’re bigger faster stronger and mid skilful and do they should be

Nice touch today , a seat was reserved for john today at the back of the east stand showing a framed photo , replica shirt etc also chanting and applause when 76 mins was observed on the scoreboard , well done to all involved , R I P JOHN.

The ref last week showed how to control a game and let it flow. You never noticed him and the penalty count was 1-3. This guy was all about “look at me”. Problem was he missed so much he should pulled. Calling refs is not good as we need them, but we need them to apply the laws sensibly and fairly to both teams. I think this shows what strength in depth we have. London played their full team as far as I could see so this was a great performance. A great 80 minutes from Pat Moran!

Went for a walk and saw a goldcrest completely uninterested in us humans so close

Considering we played 2nd half without a lot of our new signings it was an excellent result and shows real strength in depth. Great game. Let's just practice playing the ball.

Think this is definitely being adopted then - Hull FC at home to Wigan was another one with the same. Actually suits the clubs who share with football teams as well I’d imagine, as surely easier to cover up a single red line.

Well done Batley.

Dion had a fantastic game and there was a spell in the middle of the game which you got on top. The first 20 minutes and last 20 minutes you didn't offer much threat at all. I think we got 4 or 5 goal line drop outs and in those periods spent most the game in your half. Haven will be fine I don't think either side is a threat of going down. Good luck for the rest of the season.

First game since the widnes friendly last year. Walked away pleasantly impressed, especially considering it wasn't a full strength side. Good to see Lee Kershaw. I think that the performance stands us in good stead for 2024.

Single red lines on the 20 and 40 at York today.

It was a very complete performance to be fair. Controlled the first half despite the ref giving us a sin bin for dissent. They threatened our line a few times but we always looked in control. They scored immediately in the second half when a kick rebounded off the post. They had a strong 10 minutes afterwards and deserved their try. We regrouped and controlled the rest of the game to win it 18-12. Ramon Silva was man of the match by a mile. Whitehaven's pack just couldn't handle him. Max Clarke was very good till he got knocked out by a high shot. We look a lot more composed in attack and defence. Walker and Johnston seem to stick to the game plan and control the game which is nice to see. The ref spoilt the game abit by wanting to blow as many penalties as possible. Blew an incorrect play the ball on the first play of the game against us, sin binned Ryan Johnston after 10 mins then gave us a ridiculously penalty when the Whitehaven player pushed our marker which we scored off. Just to give you a bit of a sample. If you add Bulman, Walker and Gillam into our side I think we win the game by much more. Whitehaven had a few moments where they were dominating yardage through the middle (when Silva and Burke were off). The dip when they went off was very noticeable. Fair play to the boys a great win. We look a very well organised side.

Its an open draw.

Unless Hunslet somehow pull off a miracle next week - We are now out of the 1895 cup & York will more than likely get the best runners up spot

And boy did he use it good hard entertaining game. Hiku and May look class for Hull KR and Leeds look a completely different side, Croft, Frawley and Miller were all very good. James Donaldson had his best game in years! Fitting for his testimonial 26-18 FT

The first one of the new season.

highlights from Wire v Leigh last night, footage isnt the best though. 2nd try from Leigh was a cracker.

The fact that nobody thinks 399 in the fourth innings in India is impossible shows you how much the dial has moved in the past couple of years.

Highlights.

I'm not convinced but even if something like this happened then it would need changes. For that and the system to have any credibility then the scoring for what it takes to be a B grade club would need to be much higher. Clubs with 8 points getting into SL defeats the whole purpose.

If it hadn’t gone wrong by then, it had certainly all gone wrong when Meninga and the Kangaroos decided players would be wearing squad numbers instead of positional numbers in the ‘22 WC

Top 10 british boxers 1 joe calzaghe 2 carl froch 3 ricky Hatton 4 Lennox lewis 5 naz 6 Lloyd honeyghan 7 nigel benn 8 Ken buchanon 9 ricky burns 10 David haye

We were well beaten in 82 and the same in 86. The years, imo, when we lost being competitive, were when Jack Gibson introduced new training techniques, focused on strength, fitness and defense being key. Aussie teams bought into it, England carried on believing in training twice a week and the magic sponge. When Larder did his research and brought his coaching manual out it was late 80,s followed by the RFL coaching scheme and then players went full time the horse had bolted. We’ve come close since and again, imo, are very slowly catching up but the current attitudes to international RL and a pathetic quango we call the IRL are essential hurdles we need to get past.