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So the protocols were incorrect and needed tweaking. The correct action taken by the RFL imo

I’m dun wiv it. since 1895 i have told people RL is finished, i won’t stop saying that until i am proven right. I am a massive RL fan but i love telling everyone #TheGameIsDead.

But given that nobody is arguing to take rugby league off Sky, there's no evidence being on the BBC as well is deleterious to the Sky coverage, and that your own argument seems to be that BBC viewers are a different profile to Sky viewers, it seems pretty obvious to me that Super League having incremental audience via the BBC can only be a good thing for all of the game's stakeholders? Nobody sees the BBC as a panacea, or an alternative. Just additional progress. The BBC Sport website remains the #1 sports news site in the UK for example, and if having more linear TV content broadcast on the BBC channels means that we get greater content volume and positioning on that website then that alone is a very strong argument for doing it.

At least it generated some IMG points for social media interactions

So as expected it was a misinterpretation of a badly worded rule, and not the games death knell after all...

Well I'm glad the RFL have clarified what happened and admitted that it was wrong for someone to be sent off for an accidental contact like that. It is good that they have learned from their mistake and will now ammend this. Not much consolation for Hull FC though.

Seeing how upset the aussies are over this result has just made it all the more sweeter, though its strange seeing them get bothered by a game that isnt important etc....

This route is much more preferable than entering a team in SL. The game is crying out for a 3rd fully professional league. Obviously all of the usual caveats apply about whether this will happen and if the necessary finance and backing will materialise.

Excellent, another valuable addition to our impressive portfolio of community activities. ️ utt

I think it could be a good experience for Oldham. Reading their message board and from what Long said afterwards, it sounds like they rather arrogantly thought they just had to turn up last night. I expected a much tougher game for the Lions. Anyone who thinks this Oldham team would be top end of the Championship have had a rude awakening. There's a lot of teams in the Championship who aren't as flashy or who don't look as impressive on paper but are well drilled and do the simple things right and you have to earn the right to play against them. Batley have been the embodiment of that for years. Keighley similar to Oldham spent a load of money on names, walked L1 and then couldn't do it against better opposition. From a Swinton point of view, it's another solid performance, if we keep it up some people might even be forced to predict we won't finish bottom which is where most pundits put us every season without fail. Patton is a quality and experienced half and has started well. I know Bradford fans said he was a bit hot and cold for them so we will wait and see how he goes but so far looks a very good piece of recruitment.

Let's be honest, with all the advantages that the Aussies have, it's a bit of an embarrassment that these games are even close, never mind Penrith losing for two years running. It's great!

I know it was the same for both teams so no excuse but I thought those floodlights were useless, seemed to me to be really dark and dingy for some reason. Also the kicks bouncing and dropped balls by Oldham, to be honest from where I was sat in the main stand the moment the ball was kicked in the air by Swinton even i completely lost sight of it in the night sky and would have had no chance catching it so the Oldham lads i have a bit of sympathy with on this occasion. Maybe we should play with a bright orange rugby ball for night games As for the game itself, Oldham started badly and never really got going, fair play to Swinton, they looked like a decent outfit to me and credit where its due, they thoroughly deserved their victory. It wont do Oldham any harm to get beaten so convincingly, bit of a wake up call and a reality check that goes to show we are not the finished article yet. Its still early days in the new look Oldham in all aspects of the club from on field to off field. Bound to be some bumps in the road but I do not see tonight's loss as all doom and gloom, its obvious the new look Oldham team have the signs of being a cracking outfit with potential but a dose of reality now and then can put things into perspective and stop us all getting carried away. The players just need to reflect on what has just happened, take the rollocking from Sean Long and then move forward for next week at York. This evenings game was one that just did not happen or gel for Oldham, cant fault the effort of the players (shout out for Jordan Turner by the way who i thought was immense) so reflect on it and move on to hopefully better days ahead. COME ON OLDHAM!!!!!!!!!!

5,100 is a fantastic result for the Broncos Marketing Department and represents over 40% of last seasons ENTIRE attendance. Whilst a season of such attendances would be an incredible achievement it would make little difference to the IMG gradings for 2025, but it does beggar the question as to "why now"? What has changed at the club to achieve a stand alone attendance last achieved in 2010 for the visits of Saints and Wigan and which represents the largest gate against Catalans at home (2008 was the prior best at 3,800+)? I gather from the posts here by Atlantisman that freebies have been scattered around the borough and that the club now have a Marketing Department, something they haven't had for a good number of years. Furthermore, the distribution and follow up involved with free tickets isn't free, so what has prompted the club to do this now, especially with the visit of a Catalans side who would be even less well known to the residents of the borough and not against a club like Widnes in their first home fixture at the ground in 2022? Projections of a 7k gate for St Patrick's Day certainly don't seem too OTT after this great opening gate, but I am puzzled (although not astonished) to see London Broncos doing something good, with the right intentions, but at the wrong time. If this is just Hughes showing the powers that be what could have been, then he's a decade (or more) too late. As for the rest of SL. The games so far have been entertaining and the crowds and atmospheres have looked brilliant. If IMG/SL can keep the momentum going then this could be a really big watershed year for the game and if London do go down (as expected) let's hope IMG ensure that any 'on the road games" in future seasons are taken down south to try and build a steady fanbase for the sport that will be prepared to get behind the Broncos should they return to the top flight!

As good as it is that the RFL have acknowledged they have made an error in their protocol, it's no consolation to us. "Sorry we f*cked up and cost you any chance of winning when the game was evenly contested. Our bad. Now, here's 4 charges for your players..."

And rightly so

Awful display from us but full credit to Swinton. Dominated from start to finish. Patton and Hall outstanding and the rest put in a great team performance. One of my worries with our team is our lack pace especially when we go behind. Astley is lightning but is really struggling to get involved in the game. The rest of our team are good players but are very one paced and when we need to change the game we look really average. Would bring Tyrer in on the wing as I'm not a fan of Johnson. Need more pace at 7 and id be tempted to put Astley there and move O' Keefe to full back. Massive game at York and a chance to atone for a very poor display.

It was the death knell of Friday’s game, of that there is little doubt.

Still looking for the apology.

forget swinton its now york. i would play astley at scrum half thats his position. while on loan at featherstone he was brilliant. it was only when he was recalled by wigan that feafherstone dropped of. get some speed in the middle.

Great achievement especially for a part-time player in the modern game, without access to full time medical professionals like Super League clubs. He will have been injured/ill over these 4 seasons at some stage, but still put his hand up to play. Also worth noting he has played a large portion of those games out of position, covering other injured players!

Yeah of course I`m sceptical and wonder whether it`s just more of the hype leading up to this weekend, buying Super League falling into the same category. He did say in another interview though that funds from the NRL wasn`t necessary and he was more interested in just having their co-operation and shared branding, probably meaning access to and co-operation with the NRL digital arm, amongst other things. Does make you wonder how much we could have to offer if we had a whole world approach to these things though.

Interview with Steve Scanlan @ 48mins Was planning to enter NY team in SL. Now pivoted to a 10 team pro USA league. 3 teams sold so far. Been talking to NRL for 3 months. Presenting to ARLC on Sunday in Vegas. Some board members own minor league baseball teams. Most things are planned. Agile with where teams will be. 2 of 3 licenses have been bought by existing sports clubs owners. $1.5mill US license fee to buy a club license. Aiming for 2025 start up. Looking at late April season start, 16 week comp. The Jimmy Smith Show The Jimmy Smith Show on 1170 SEN Sydney. www.sen.com.au

Problem solved!

I fear ATLANTISMAN might have some weird ideological views which are clouding his understanding of the BBC's reach and importance.

I think we need better poets.

That’s the penalty count

If people don't want to add anything then they don't have to. But it is a significant Rugby League event and we are in the build up week, I think having a thread on it is fair enough.

Is it the same reason why Aston Villa are a bigger club than Birmingham City?

Some credit due there I think in the handling and explanation of that

Wakey have set out how the £2million for them will support the community function with actual things like the main stand having community facilities in it, and the football team being able to share the ground too for example. As far as I can tell Cas' community aspect is "this will keep us in Super League which is good". I'm not slating that from Cas, it's probably true and if WMDC are willing to accept that then great. But it is stretching the "community use" aspect to a far greater extent than expected, indeed if it can even be called that at all.

Not sure if we have had these already Salford Cas 4770 Huddersfield Saints 6812

Thanks, I realise that it's only a temporary job now. However it will still cost and it seems a shame this has to be done when funds could be used elsewhere. One of the failings of IMG I feel.

The video ref isn't from Wigan, it was Chris Kendall, who is from Huddersfield. I've seen a lot of people calling out Liam Moore (who is from Wigan) on his decisions but the only thing I saw him get wrong on the night was the ball steal on Harry Smith. He looks at the ball on the floor for the Wardle try and sends it up as a try and he cannot see the ball for the May try at the end and therefore sends it up as a no try and both calls were totally understandable on his part. In terms of the video refs decisions, there is zero issue with the May one. He cannot overturn that without getting to see it grounded. The Wardle try is the big controversy but I keep seeing people saying it is short of the line and that's not right. It gets to the line but the call is then on it being a double movement or not. I personally would've turned it down but not for it being short and it isn't the sort of obvious double movement you see dozens of time in a season. The other decision he may have got wrong was the no try on French. Even if both feet have to be behind the ball, I'm not sure how he made that call as quickly as that and that would be given in Superleague without a shadow of a doubt. Maybe he saw the moans and groans incoming from the Wardle decision.

C'mon without, c'mon within you'll not see nothing like the mighty ?????

You haven't made this point - you've just said something. BBC figures are consistently 3-5 times higher than Sky, sometimes much more than that. Even accounting for casual viewing. I'm still confused by what you mean when you keep saying Sky has global reach.

Well Played Wigan Brilliant defensive display against arguably the best NRL team of all time. It'a all good PR for those outside the bubble for Super League in front of a good FTA audience. Probably not a good look appointing a video ref from Wigan who gave a few big calls the wrong way in Wigans favour but nobody will care about that outside RL circles. Also just shows how good that Penrith side is........first Pre season game.......played a kid in place of Luai........and barring a dodgy ref might well have beaten the best team in SL on their own patch.

Article says appeal upheld - apologies Dave I either misread it or it has been amended

I assume what Paul's saying is the audience demographics mean that the in-game adverts don't hit the "right" type of people when seen through that channel. My view though would be that it's incremental: We can sell energy drinks to the younger Sky demographic, and Ovaltine to the BBC viewers, if our sport is shown on both.

Unfortunately we only have a limited space to display. The theme tends to be dictated by the library (although the Heritage Trust do have an input). The collection is now curated by Oldham Libraries. It is stored in state of the art storage facility to preserve it for future generations. The display is changed around every 12 months It is also freshened up during the display term. All the collection was professionally photographed before we handed it over and all these images are on the Heritage Trust website There may be an opportunity to have a larger exhibition on special occasions such as say the clubs 150th anniversary but this has yet to be discussed. Hope this explains it.

They also kept their team rather than losing it and having to fight to get readmittance...

I think this is entirely true and understandable. I think every sport faces issues at attracting fans to watch part time level sport, especially when it is a new sport for them. It simply isn't an attractive proposition to many. I can't see regular large attendances ever happening for any lower league UK expansion side, even heartland teams struggle on that score. 2k would be very respectable. As usual comparisons to Football, even part time, are pretty pointless. Obviously you have the all-encompassing nature of football, that goes without saying. However even a club like Dulwich Hamlet have been in existence for over a century, have largely played at their own ground and are very well established part of the community with generations of fans. A niche that is possible in that environment is quite different than what is possible for a nomadic part time RL club.

Yeah agreed, I thought Swinton looked very good against a team in Oldham that has probably been over hyped quite a bit and Widnes defended really well despite been outsized by a big Bradford team and other than when Bradford could find Gill in some space, Widnes looked the team with fair more flair. That pitch is never a good indicator though as it very much dictates how the game is played and in a funny way Widnes getting 2 players binned allowed them to spell a couple of players without been put under any extra duress in defense. Disappointed in Bradford in that I thought it was a very extreme way to avoid been knocked out of the cup by Fax in the next round again.

Aussie press now saying 35k tickets sold.

Harry, Instead of moaning about the rule changes, just accept them, they are here to stay. Take your team for example, do you prefer some on the bench with head injuries or out on the field. These rule changes are for the players benefit.

I thought it was forward. Thought the next pass to Isa was even more forward. But I genuinely don’t care. It pain me to say it but I’d rather you lot win it than hear and see the smugness from the Aussies that English RL is rubbish. I think I said last night that I was looking forward to the moaning from our friends down under. Some haven’t disappointed. So well done Wigan and glad you lot had a great evening. But that’s it. Back to the rivalry. Looking forward to Good Friday. Should be a belter.

Could say a lot about what went wrong today but it will probably do us good in the long run ,use it to learn from and fix up , in reality we not going to win the challenge cup so a bad performance now will stop us falling in love with ourselves, hopefully see a strong reaction against York next week

There is the problem though that there are still no guarantees the full scheme will go ahead.

The U.S.A. Is a rather busy professional sports market in to be investing into and hoping to crack in any sizeable way. I think people also massively underestimate the popularity of the college teams. I wish all ventures luck of course and want the Vegas thing to achieve success. But again it is a very busy sports market and the audience demand the complete package in terms of entertainment.

Again, loathe to bring Union I to it, but I reluctantly will. I'm in a Scottish pub and they had the 6N on. French player sent off for head on head in the tackle. Handled perfectly. Yellow, reviewed, upgraded to red. It was also a perfect demonstration of what we should be clamping down on, the tackler made full on head contact in the tackle. It was dangerous and clearly a red. I detest the sport, but we really should be borrowing what we can from them in this area, they have gone through all this 2 years in advance of us. Let's not start from scratch when there are earnings to be had.

I’ll take the two points, a solid performance by Saints. I can’t fault Fartown for their effort they showed some promising touches, they will be a lot better than 23. The Saints goal kicking is still average, along with some of the PTB’s ie Walmsley & Blake. Full credit to the Fartown fans for backing their side for the full eighty minutes. My highlight was the Colne Valley Museum what a great place. I would love to visit the Tolson Museum but i think id get outvoted for that because i should be doing “what real men do” drinking ale before the game and continue drinking ale in the freezing cold. All in all a lovely day.