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You're correct no model is perfect, but when promotion is won on the field rather than by some arbitrary method then it has definitely been earned. London won their place in SL fair and square and if they earn enough points to not finish bottom of SL, they should keep their place. If Wakefield are promoted to SL, then it should be because they've won the Championship GF and not because they've built a new stand.

FT Leigh 26 Featherstone 14, a great effort by Rovers.

Been a long time coming mate but, as I've said numerous times before, I really despise the ground where they play their home games. The team produce their very worst performances there and there is very little in the way of atmosphere. I took a long hard look towards the end of last season before a SL game when they hosted Leeds and made a decision. I simply thought "Why am I bothering when the players clearly aren't?". I thought then that I had more pressing things to occupy my time. If memory serves I spent the afternoon of that game replacing some rotten wooden posts with concrete ones in a friend's daughter's garden and felt rather liberated while I was doing it! I never thought it would ever come to this and you know me well enough to know it must have taken a lot of soul searching but I don't regret it. Over the latter part of last season and the start to this current one, I think I've missed half a dozen home games. I bet you'd have to go back from last year to around the 1976/1977 season before you could count me missing half a dozen home games during the whole of that thirty odd years period. And I'll have been to the majority of away games during that time as well. I think some times you just have to go with how you feel, I may start going more regularly again if I feel the players are putting a shift in but right now, hardly any of them seem to be doing so.

Not British but French. (didn’t know what thread to put this in) Enzo Griffier on fire for the Roosters SG Ball team (U19s) scored 6 tries in his last 3 games. The Roosters are top of the SG ball ladder and undefeated 8-0. I think the sky is the limit for Griffier, he is a starring player for the best U19s team in the world. I expect to see him play regularly for the U21s side after the SG ball season ends in a few weeks. Could also be in line for a nsw cup debut if all goes well. NRL is firmly on the cards for Griffier in the next few years.

I may be an outlier here, but I quite enjoyed watching a game of rugby league on TV tonight

The irony in all of this (finances ignored), is that consistent performance over a period of time is what would be required to stay in SL if performance on the pitch is the key measurement. Fev actually displayed that last year, it was the performance in the play offs which threw them. Those were the rules, they were known before the season started however.

It sounds like you think we are all in on this and we should be actively doing something to sort it. Believe it or not this is news to us. Its not good and needs sorting - we have to assume that MC has it in hand from his statement - but as has been suggested it does seem odd that some former players have suddenly crawled out of the woodwork regarding payments due 2 years ago. Plus of course as the RFL saying goes....... never let the truth get in the way of a good story about Fev.

And all sl sides should automatically be the away team. Let's go to some new grounds and give some clubs a decent payday.

After a week that the club have had and to take it to Leigh like that shows we have the making s of a very good team. Just hope we can hold it together off the field.

No they weren't.

What a pleasure to watch Leigh v Fev this afternoon, cracking game and wonderful presentation from The Sportsman. Hands down better than last night's utter dross on the field and off it.

Livett over, Hudds 40 Hull FC 6. (I’ve just realised what the letters “FC” stand for.)

I'm glad we don't see Jack Smith very often. Terrible referee. The forward pass decision just before Yei was binned was one of the worst I've seen.

The final will most likely be the third biggest rugby league attendance in the world this year, as it regularly is (it has been in the top two within the last 10 years) Although I'd love to see improvements in some areas, it's still a fantastic competition in my opinion and definitely not a waste of time.

For me it's a retro weekend. All teams playing in a kit from a successful season. Maybe that celebrates a significant anniversary too.

Very impressed with Mike Eccles in his post-match interview. Honest, realistic and proud. What a thoroughly decent bloke. I sincerely hope London come back soon as a competitive force in SL. I've enjoyed every single trip to watch Wire there over the years at various cuckoo nests. I thought Ealing would work but that's another story. I wish them nothing but good luck and maybe another massive benefactor.

Toby King in the post-match interviews on 5 live extra calling for SL clubs to enter the cup earlier.

Nope, definitely 50-6, could have been a lot worse though, it was ten tries and only farv goals. I was particularly intrigued by the Yorkshire Post headline prior to this afternoon's game : Huddersfield Giants v Hull FC: Tony Smith insists Challenge Cup is not only hope of success Thank goodness for that.

Caleb Aekins? Struggling to see what he did wrong.

Let's be fair Tommy much of what he said was true. Batchelor drops the ball and it hits his foot lucky try, walmsleys try ball bounced off two players before he caught it both could have gone anywhere. Saints were constantly offside and had a third man flopping in the tackle. That doesn't take away how poor Leeds were on attack, wouldn't have scored again if they played till midnight. Only a big win against Cas can put off the inevitable for me and Smith gets the sack.

How could the TV cameras miss out on the Cas' coach going back to the ground where there is an actual Craig Lingard Terrace ?

Been nice if it had been at home but happy with that and our 3 tries,expected a far bigger score from Leigh to be honest.

Surprised and well done them

Scored some cracking tries today have Fev.

The NRL Nines did ok in Auckland for awhile, that is until people realized that Nines isn't really all that entertaining.

I think it’s far more to do with clubs switching to a membership audience growth model, and often a subscription-based one at that. That’s the sales strategy that drives Super League attendances, and then clubs just aren’t geared up to execute a different marketing approach to short-notice, one-off cup games. From a marketing perspective it’s like the difference between being a Test cricket player and a 20:20 player. Some of the skills and strategies overlap, but there are significant differences and if you don’t approach it differently you’ll fail. I don’t think clubs’ teams know how to do it now. It’s not a lack of interest in the Cup per se, it’s the commercial strategy (or lack of) around it.

The go-to site is rugby league on TV. https://www.rugbyleagueontv.com/

You missed a great second half. Scintillating long distance tries, a bit of biff, the refs shorts got ripped, several well- endowed streakers and the sun came out.

In regards to Fev’s failure to get promoted last year it’s only fair to state that London were in cracking form at the back end of last season. I think both that and the fact that Fev were not “battle hardened” due to having too many blow out wins left Fev without the ability to grind it out in a close game on the day ( that then turned out to be a canter towards the end for London).

This is so positive for someone like myself who was born in the holy city of Doncaster and first came across Rugby League with the Dons. There is a lot of latent potential support there, with the game very much rooted to the North of Donny and it so good to see positive relationships, and growth over the years rather than the boom bust when they were in the Big League (for one miserable season). A few more years consistently building in the Championship, crowds of 2,000 then 3-4,000. Derby games with Trinity, Fev and those newcomers in Sheffield, could be great days ahead. Hopefully will see a few games this season.......

Should be a good game tomorrow. If we play like we did v Huddersfield in round 1 (we made about 15 mistakes with the ball) then it could be a long afternoon for us. Always enjoyed Leigh v Fev games, and tomorrow should be no different (unless we lose ) Look at Wigan v Sheffield tonight, Pies were only leading 26-18 with 15 minutes remaining. And Wigan are a little bit better than us. Safe journey anyway, might see some of you in the Whistling Wren...

I couldn't agree more. I'm sure all SL fans have anticipated the cup draw and hoped for a new place to visit. Instead we get Wigan in the draw every year despite playing them at least twice a season. I'm old enough to have watched Wire at York, Batley, Hunslet, Keighley etc in challenge cup (and old 1st div) games. They are all great days out and they are the lifeblood of the sport. We need more of that to keep everyone interested and to keep the sport alive. I've just remembered another game. Chorley away. It must have been a challenge cup fixture. The landlord of the pub we went to said he had no idea what was coming and had sold out of everything except pop and whisky. True story. Do any other Wire fans recall being there? Lindsay Hoyle (Chorley MP) and his Dad Doug (Warrington North MP) walked around the perimeter at half time and got a spontaneous round of applause as they went round.

Titans would play naked presumably

I wouldn’t place a bet on Broncos doing that to the Sea Eagles this season, look a pretty well-balanced side with a sharp attack. Brooks should have made a move to a club where he could be a running #6 years ago.

Yes Brad Fittler coming out for a jolly.

Well all we ask is they have a dig and they really did. Especially not to fold in the second half. Some fabulous tries too. If we'd scored in that attack with about 5 minutes left it would have been a nervous last couple of sets for Leigh. Very proud of that effort. The downside of course is the injury to poor Thomas. Really hope he's ok but it didn't look good. Couple of glimpses from Turner of what he can do and hopefully he will prove a handful for Championship defences.

Own worst enemy at times.

Batley 8-0 up on Cas

If it's 2, then understandable. However, if it's 1, then it's also understandable.

Tomorrow.

Couldn't agree more. If we base things purely on the attendance then we'd have scrapped playoffs a while back too. We have absolute clear evidence of the impact of season tickets vs all pay games. We also used to see that when a round of teh Cup was included in season tickets fans turned up. I've banged on about this for years and years now, we are gonna allow the cup to die if we just keep burying our head in the sand. Just opening the turnstiles isn't good enough to get a crowd in.

You don't think a 'Frenchmen in SG Ball Cup' thread would have run to hundreds of pages then? Best wishes to M. Griffier, hopefully we'll hear more of him as the season progresses.

Also it's the most beautiful trophy in world sport

Yep, that's the site I use, very useful.

Momentum into the play offs is a huge thing, if you can get the timing right (and a bit if luck with injuries) it can carry a team far. Leeds did it for 3 or 4 seasons on the bang, winning grand finals from outside the top 2.

Yes. Q is pronounced ng in Fijian.

Course it's a poor attendance, Benidorm is a dump.

So didn't Leigh buy promotion ? Or were they all home grown ?

Good game fom Young, a try, a couple of assists and plenty of tackle busts. Just one dropped high ball under no real pressure to blot the day. No idea why Souths left Tom Burgess on the bench for the entire first half as he added much needed go forward for them when he came on - but the game was already gone. Souths are a very poorly coached side.