Blind side johnny

Yes, but no longer. Maybe Belle Vue or Doncaster.

A combination of some players carrying knocks and no loan players available for this game if I heard him correctly. Sad to say the 1895 cup is an unwanted artefact and a guaranteed money-loser for those clubs who progress.

I don't know. It is all speculation. The players are all getting paid.

We did OK, no more. Widnes are a quality side with a class half back and a strong pack and never looked in any danger despite complacency setting in. We showed bags of effort, great digs by both Abraham and Lingard but we are so disappointing on attack. Am I the only one who knows that we are going to try endless long, cut-out balls near their line? Didn't anyone else notice that their tries largely came from short balls to supporting runners? We seem to have neither the ability to offer a short ball nor anyone with the nous to run on the shoulder of the ball carrier. Despite the constant protestations by some fans about the referee and linesman (sic) the officials had decent games, keeping the game going as far as possible and contributing to the spectacle. No doubt we will both put out changed sides next week in front of a meagre crowd and the unlucky team will win. Whether I am there to witness it I haven't yet decided.

I interpret it as the latter. Probably signed players to contracts that cannot be afforded without his input but I am simply guessing.

Some disruption at Widnes has been reported but not enough to distract their players, so long as they are getting paid. We have a couple of loanees from Wakefield in the squad but Gill is still absent due to injury as well as our two HIA absentees. Rams 16 - 28 Chemics FTS: O'Connor MoM: McShane Att: a big one, I hope.

Agreed but you seem to imply that constant reorganisation is a recent phenomenon; it is only one factor. Without a clear strategic vision the game will continue to degrade and without an independent executive there will be no such vision. Some issues may have come to a head, exacerbated by a very difficult economy which has also been developing for years. Some people (not you I believe) seem to think that recent changes have caused the problem rather than seeing that decline outside of SL has been there for decades. What the solution is for the lower league clubs like ours I don't know but they are clearly tied in with a whole game vision which is a long way from being developed.

In contrast with the NWC situation how would you interpret the situation at Widnes? Andrew Horabin steps down from Widnes Vikings board - Widnes Vikings

The RFL are easy to blame whilst not looking too closely ay what the RFL is nowadays. It is simply a gathering of SL chairmen wielding all of the power, making decisions focussed upon the short-term needs of their clubs and lacking any form of vision. Yet they consistently avoid any blame which is simply heaped upon a struggling executive trying to implement every change that comes along. The crowds (!) wave their pitchforks at the stool pigeons whilst the guilty slink away. You will have noticed that the number one requirement of the NRL having any involvement is the creation of an independent executive. In the meantime don't simply rail against a faceless party which actually has very little power.

We seem to get all the best singers at home. Let's hope he doesn't whistle too much as well. Gerry Kershaw was also invested into the RFL Roll of Honour on the same day as Paul Sykes.

That's good. I don't subscribe to TRL (long story) so may need to look at your site. I'm not picking holes by any means, it is just interesting to get a measure of where this division is. I am a (very) longstanding supporter of a lesser club and am often amazed by some people who seem to believe that we were all watching in front of big crowds a couple of decades ago. We weren't!

So many clubs are shy about announcing attendances nowadays. This is very frustrating for fans, especially as we are all encouraged to bring a friend etc but clubs fail to do their part by being brave enough to be honest. Do Hurricanes publish their attendances btw? My club, Dewsbury, stopped doing so a couple of years ago leaving us all in the dark.

Yes, we have been spoiled by having Paul to rely upon all of these recent seasons. This has happened to us in the past following a very good goal kicker with a search for a decent one to replace him - no easy task. Turner was good, of course, before he went to Fev but that option will no longer be available to us I believe. I think back over many years when we had adequate kickers most of the time with the occasional very good one; the latter generally proving difficult to hang on to. As far as Friday's game is concerned it is easy to overlook the fact that Batley also missed kicks - it wasn't the only factor.

Yes, my mistake.

A lot of the results in this league now seem to be dependent upon who has which loan players in their teams on any particular weekend. Batley had two in yesterday whilst we had none; it might be argued if Gill were fit and in the team we would have won, but he wasn't and we didn't. Halifax currently have permission to have eight loan players, although I don't know how many can be in their playing squad - I would guess six. This unusual allowance is, I believe, due to end at the end of this month which could impact upon their performances. Thankfully, despite going into liquidation, they are still able to afford a stronger squad than many other clubs, notwithstanding their points deduction. I predicted 8-10 wins and will stick with that but look forward to being proven to be unnecessarily pessimistic.