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As I always say in this debate I am also very wary to just leave what has been a pretty fantastic partner for Rugby League for nearly 40 years. That's not to be dismissed lightly. Old Trafford have always accommodated Rugby League when we've needed it and have even prioritised the sport over an RU World Cup. In contrast many of the other major Football grounds in the North, bar Elland Road which is even older and smaller, have shown a reluctance to hold Rugby League at various times, including the likes of the Etihad and Anfield. We could easily go elsewhere then that ground may not be interested after a couple of years then what.

Probably not, but if London win next week, that probably won't make the national news though. Now if London finish above Hull at the end of the season, but get demoted and Hull survive that might make the national news

Other than the first 15 minutes which were shambolic by both teams I thought it was a greatly entertaining game. London play some lovely off the cuff stuff, no 1 man in, percentage, gameplan garbage. Watching Maloudi alone is worth the money as we have no idea what hes going to do next, and neither does he.

That is outstanding by all involved and hopefully all fans by into this and get a massive numbers through the gate the club is moving in the right direction new signings and offers like this is unreal for our club so let's all buy into what the clubs doing

𝗦𝗠𝗘𝗟𝗟 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗔𝗩𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦! IT'S TOWN FOR A FIVER 𝗬𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧'𝗦 𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧 £𝟱! 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗔 𝗙𝗨𝗟𝗟 𝗗𝗔𝗬 𝗢𝗙 𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗧𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 & 𝙏𝙊 𝙒𝘼𝙏𝘾𝙃 𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙍 𝙇𝙊𝘾𝘼𝙇 𝙏𝙀𝘼𝙈! Kind hearted Ryan from Northern Competitions met with us this week and wants to make our next home game v Hunslet RLFC affordable for all! He had such a good day when we played Cornwall he’s helping to subsidise the reduced admission cost as we aim to pack the Fibrus Community Stadium and help more people enjoy matchday at TOWN. A full day of entertainment is planned including Maryport Amateur Rugby League Club takeover day and loads of pre match young RL talent on show! Hit the Crossbar challenge at half time! Live Music and a whole day of fun as we aim to have a great crowd for what will be a crucial game in League 1! Food / bars all open all day! 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘 - 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧 𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗘𝗗! 𝟱𝟬𝟬 - £𝟱 𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝗼 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝟭𝟮 𝗺𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄 - Monday the 13th May - 𝗲𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗯 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽 𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝘄𝘄.𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗿𝗹𝗳𝗰.𝗰𝗼𝗺 And that's not all! Smell the money! Everyone who buys a ticket for the game will also go into a draw for £500 to be in the Northern Competitions Fanzone after the game!* THANK YOU RYAN HEART OF GOLD T&Cs apply! Everyone

Its a simple case that the one moment in time (early to mid 2000s) where there seemed to be a plan it started to work, there was money put into it and there was a plan around where that money was invested. At that time IIRC there were more amateur teams playing at more age grades etc. There is no getting away from the fact that money will make or break it. There needs to be a proper plan designed around a proper long term, "none negotiable" strategy that everyone buys into (I say none negotiable as in doesn't change all the time like most RL things, and that any change made is for a very very good reason ie speed up becuase its really working etc). ANY expansion is done with money and they need success too.. even then you will be deficit financing for a number of years and the RFL/IMG/SL need to be prepared for that. Therefore it needs a good reason behind it and not just "we need a team in the capital" as I don't think that is necessarily true.. if it can add value then great.. if it doesn't then you take exactly what I have said above and you apply it to an expansion area that would add value.. (wales, midlands etc) becuase the same will apply anywhere.. Adhoc pins in maps and hoping for either a benefactor or an amateur standard club to step up to the pro ranks is not going to work. Its not rocketry and its how any business grows, strategy and planning (and money).. take any of those away and what, frankly, do we expect to happen? If you fail to plan etc etc etc

Sometimes that kind of game can be very entertaining though, much more than seeing 2 really well coached teams play out "percentage gameplan" rugby, and i thought this was one such game. I dont mind seeing mistakes made from adventurous play.

Eastlands for me. A 62k sellout in a modern stadium is way better than 68-70k in a ground thats falling to bits with a dangerous playing surface. You could have the women's grand final in the academy stadium and the wheelchair grand final at Co-Op Live to make a full weekend of it too, if so inclined. If the event regularly becomes a sellout then you can start charging a premium for tickets too. Alternate Bramley Moore Dock, St James Park and Millenium Stadium (Cardiff, not Fev) for Magic Weekend. Alternate Wembley and Spurs for the cup final. Three big events in May, July/August and October. Lovely stuff.

Anfield is for the vertically challenged if you have an inside leg measurement exceeding 24" your knees are pressing against the seat infront, it is the most uncomfortable seating arrangements I have ever been in, only been the once needless to say I will never return.

You can count me out if they ever move it to a RU stadium.

The London match made the BBC 10 o'clock news

We seem to do this question several times a season. For the prosecution: It's falling to bits The pitch is too short and the in-goals are dangerous as a result For the defence: No-one can come up with a venue of similar size in the North Now what?

5430 at Bradford v Wakey

Agreed, being sat in the older touchline stand was easily the most uncomfortable I have been at any ground. Absolutely awful. At the 4 Nations final people were just getting up and standing in the stairwells and entrances and some were just leaving completely. No stand at Old Trafford is as bad as that. I can understand leaving Old Trafford if there is a strong argument is to go to a similar sized ground in the North that is of a more modern standard. However I'm yet to see it and to leave Old Trafford for a much smaller ground, that also isn't up to par, is nonsensical.

This is very much ancient history but between 2006 -2012 the RFL allocated sufficient funding from their £29m Sports England grant to employ 27 full-time development officers in London and the South East. After that, the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, gifted the RFL in 2013 £250,000 to promote RL in East London over a 2 year period. No lack of money - just a lack of direction in the use of it.

I think we must remember that not every stadium that we may want to play the Grand Final in would want us. Would Man City want us playing their in the middle of their season? I've seen nothing to suggest so.

17 years straight having an attendance over 62k is pretty consistent. Not sure why you'd base a strategy around Covid affected years and two years that include an overseas team. And attendances did show the game was affected in those years as was debated widely on here. Seems pretty flawed to me. Grand finals have sold out at Old Trafford, that is false. The last Catlans final was actually quite good and only a touch under the capacity of the Etihad at 58,137.

Here is the text in the laws of the game. Being in possession is defined as 'holding or carrying the ball.' A knock-on is 'to knock the ball towards the opponent's dead ball line with hand or arm.' And 'A player shall be penalised if they deliberately knock on or pass forward.' So, you can knock-on when you are not officially in possession (we all see this in almost every game). And you can (according to the laws) be penalised for deliberately knocking-on... whether you are the player in possession or not is not mentioned in the laws. And I don't buy this 'everyone knows' part. 'Trust me, everyone knows' is no way to codify the laws of a sport. Anyway, I don't care if deliberate knock-on's are penalised or not. But They do happen and by the laws of the game, as they are written, they should be penalised.

Spot on analysis Gav. Defensively our back line has been all over the place this season. And that just serves as a reminder that every position is, in essence, a specialist position. Putting full-backs, wingers and centres in a bag and pulling out ever changing combinations results in the kind of hesitancy and confusion that has cost us time and time again this season - particularly early in each game...

Huddersfield v Wigan, Wigan player in the bin, Smith lining up a penalty He wipes his face and head with a towel He pulls his socks up He has a drink of water he places the tee on the ground with the ball next to it he picks up the ball and points towards the posts before placing it back on the ground he removes his gum shield and places it in one of his socks he bends down and ties his boot laces he puts the ball on the tee he pulls up a few blades of grass and throws them in the air he finally addresses the ball, then and only then does the ref call time off Not cheating by Smith, but the ref should have called time off when he placed the tee on the ground, if not earlier

surely its a simple thing that you stop the clock but keep the shot clock going, therefore the players still have a sense of urgency to get on with it but you're also not wasting game time...

C'mon Dave, what do you expect to happen after the initial bedding in period of a couple of years of this system, it is so weighted in the favour of SL clubs there will not be any transition between the SL and Championship, that is what a lot of people are complaining about.

The British sporting public won’t give it a second thought

I really hope so, just to show to the British Sporting Public what a stupid system the Rugby Football League are employing, and it could get even worse crashmon another SL club could also be victim and get demoted to be perhaps replaced by a Championship club who in normal times would be nowhere near a 'Sporting on the Field" promotion place, and if that does happen when the final places are awarded by IMG without Full and Proper Transparency of how the criteria points were scored by each club then hopefully the brown smelly stuff should really hit the fan.

For any Wakey/Eagles fans wondering whether to go down to Wembley due to the match being a 'Mickey Mouse' cup, absolutely do not miss it. I was in two minds as a Fax fan last season but decided to go down and had a brilliant weekend, absolutely amazing and the status of the fixture was totally beaten by the day itself and watching my team at Wembley. Not to be missed. ️

I really enjoyed the challenge cup being on tour whilst Wembley was being rebuilt. Apart from the year it went to Twickenham very depressing soulless place.

It was on their early evening programme too. They never even mention SL scores let alone show highlights. I wonder why they decided this needed some coverage?

GF cant be moved anywhere else until OT is shut down for it's rebuilt/refit whatever they do in the end. You can't move the GF out of the North, and no other stadiums in the North have the capacity that is needed.

I have mixed feelings on this, yes the team is completely letting them down, but it doesn't really matter even if they finish bottom they are falling on a feather bed, on the other hand even if London win some more they are going into the abyss of what will be perpetual life in the second tier once this IMG system kicks in properly.

I can't agree with any of that. I don't think we should look at how he went in SL or any other club at any level for that matter - sometimes things just don't work out I don't recall his defence being poor at Championship level in fact I seem to recall quite a few bit hits and try saving tackles. 22 tries in the season and to be fair if he's an average SL player at best - I'll take that. We are a Championship club with only one half back after all. Anyway its all pie in the sky stuff

I saw two referees today both have very ordinary games (and that's putting it very mildly). Both came off the pitch grinning like Cheshire cats at the York fans who let them know what they thought of their relative performances. What they should be doing is putting their head down, getting off the pitch and going home and analysing just why they got that reaction and looking to improve their abilities and decision making. And before Sanctimonious Sam comes on and tells me to take up refereeing, I had fifteen years at it, albeit in another sport and I knew when I'd had a bad one but strove to do something about it for the future. Great tweet of the day 'Andy, have you got Sparky Barlow, Batley's assistant coach with you today? Well ask him if he's giving the ref a lift back to Batley?' Made me chuckle...

While I think this goes too far, there are a few strange scenarios where time wasting is allowed or even actively encouraged: - Drop outs - While it is good we have a stop clock here, the match clock should be stopped as soon as the attacking/receiving side are all onside and ready to receive the ball - Penalties - Nothing worse than everyone standing around for 60 seconds to run the time off the clock. No reason why the clock shouldn't be stopped as soon as the penalty is awarded and restarted when the ball is kicked.

Tuigamala to Union in 1996(?). We’d spent 2 years getting him fit, then he was awesome, then Union went pro and bought him back. Always thought he was box office and great for the sport, and Wigan.

ABOVE ALL there have been 5 attendances north of 70,000 3 of which were over 72,000. They reduce the capacity because of the big screen. I disagree that there has never been a sellout.

Why St James’ Park? Their League team has just pretty much folded, there’s no fan base up there and it’s much further for Heartlands and Southern fans to travel than Manchester.

I'd be a lot more concerned if looked happy and was laughing and joking.

If you are old enough to remember, Smith is extremely quick when compared to another Wigan place kicker one Colin Tyrer, incidentally a Leigh lad before anyone brings that up.

There’s a lot to unpick in that reply, because it’s not a particularly accurate reflection. There was a requirement to have license applications in 2021 because Super League wanted to replace Toronto and there had not been a 2020 Championship season to determine who that club would be. Had the 2020 Championship season completed, then the winners would’ve been promoted. Players were only released in 2017, after contracts were voided after relegation. There was an exodus in 2018 after the club restructured, which led to settlements needing to be reached with two players, and those settlements were reached. The only tribunal action that found against the club was two or three players (I can’t remember the exact number) took action against the club to question the legitimacy's of fines that they were given during the 2017 season. All begs the question, what do these events 6 and 7 years ago have to do with London, Hull and IMG?

Would it be worth trying one year of?: Grand Final at Wembley Challenge Cup Final at Etihad/St James/Cardiff

He did some decent carries out of yardage, which is his main strength. He, and Joe Brown, were all at sea for Sheffield's first two tries, and Glover turned him inside out for their fourth. Defensively that side was a car crash, and the former Knights exploited that to a tee.

London for the GF isn't happening. RL fans tend to moan when a match isn't on their local bus route, never mind having to travel to London when the cheap advance tickets are long gone. I'd echo what @Damien said in that for all of the faults with Old Trafford, they have always been a willing friend of the project when it comes to RL and that's not something to be sniffed at.

And Catalans for that matter. Perpignan has been rugby league heartland for a long time.

Incredibly costly to attract players to London and, to a lesser degree, you can add North Wales, Tyneside, Cumbria, Midlands and Cornwall to that as well. Simple fact is that all these clubs have to put more money on the table to attract players even though everyone gets the same reduced central funding. This is why it's easier for M62 clubs to muddle through below SL. It's a different kind of market place with so many clubs and players concentrated within 30 minutes drive of each other.

So hopefully not going off topic, but RL as a sport has a lot less Money than Union or Cricket (not putting Wendyball here as this just in no comparison). When we are talking about professional sport here, one of the biggest impacts has to be the cost of living and the fact that things are 2-3 times more expensive to live in or around London than the M62. A salary of 50K a year in London won't get you a bed share let alone being able to rent a flat or house. in M62 area 50K a year would be considered a high salary well above average. So I am not sure how much we pay your average SL player, but I am guessing its not millions like in football, so if the average is 50-60K a year, thats really not going to go very far in London. So having a professional club in London has to reflect that running that club would be significantly higher than a club in Manchester or Leeds (the two biggest cities in Gtm Manchester and Yorkshire)

Etihad is going up to 62000 in around 2026, but that's still below most of the attendances the Grand Final gets. I would keep it at Old Trafford for now. Man Utd fans put up with it for 19 plus matches a year, so I think RL fans can manage for just one match, especially when there is no serious local alternative. Man Utd will probably sort out a new stadium/refurbishment in the next few years anyway.

Cornwall won away at Midlands. That’s a shock.

If we finish bottom, we should be relegated. I've no idea how we have managed to get this bad in such a short period of time, but it should be punished. Well done, London. By far the better team, with the most enthusiasm and weren't afraid to chuck it around. Hull clueless in attack and taking too many shortcuts in defence. A lazy and uninspired performance.

50 years ago on a rain-drenched Fartown terrace, the thought of a multi millionaire owner and a modern stadium were the thing of dreams. Not only that, one win from Wembley & the prospect of closing to within 4 points of the leaders, how fantastic would that be? And yet (apart from young Wallis' brilliant try) the longer it went on yesterday, the more I wished for a time machine. We used to recruit straight from the Pennine league in those days, but I swear I've never seen such a collective submission as witnessed against Wigan. Come on Fartown, the whole season pivots on next week. Win and we spring forward with momentum. Lose and changes must surely follow.

London will 100% be on the NRL radar so lets just sit back and see what happens