Leyther_Matt

Wigan have played some seriously slick stuff tonight

No doubt the credit will go to Marshall for getting to the loose ball, but that’s seriously smart play from Jai Field to avoid holding Ashton down, knowing he’d have to get up and play the ball to nobody.

I’ll be the first one to say this must be the lowest Wigan-Warrington crowd in years My 14 year old lad has barely a passing interest in rugby but he was happy enough with his pre match visit to Reds True BBQ and then sat out of the way in the top deck behind the sticks for most of the Fax game and obviously the main event

Nowt like the power of imagination

Trying to schedule the final round as Saturday 3pm during the football/RU season, potentially affecting five of the twelve teams, should probably be considered ambitious at best really.

To be fair it’s not a really valid comparison - women’s RL at the moment is probably not even on the level as women’s football was at the last Euros, with a raft of games played at Warrington, ironically enough. That said, I’ve got enough concerns about doing justice to a successful men’s RLWC at the minute, never mind the women’s tournament.

There was a full round of Championship fixtures that weekend. Leigh played Workington away while day two was going on - I watched the first 10 minutes of Huddersfield v Salford in a pub in Cockermouth.

If only RL had cricket’s problem of having so many international games that they need to spread the colours around a bit

See below Spot on. His workrate is incredible with the pressure he takes off the forwards early in the tackle count.

Their loss. His form speaks for itself. And to be fair so does his attitude judging by when he was running the water on shortly after he arrived and was clearly giving advice to the young players etc

2,400 likes on Twitter courtesy of my photography skills and my Mrs’ skills as a thumb model

I’d be pre-ordering that right now if it was the World Cup shirt (The fact everyone forgot about that shirt will be my retort whenever anyone next suggests Magic Weekend becoming a Nines comp )

A red V with a blue trim would, for me at least, provide the right balance between not being a Saints top*, would offer the red and white branding that we've spent years trying to build around the England side (something I've quite liked compared to football and cricket) and would be a subtle nod to GB without necessarily going all out on a full red & blue chevron. *Regardless of how petty and parochial it sounds, I do think it is a genuine concern that folk wouldn't buy a top based on that front, and if nothing else is quite indicative of any number of areas of RL, but in particular that our club branding is so much stronger than internationally

To add a bit of context to that, all four games at Leigh were sold out (albeit on a smaller capacity compared to RLWC) but there were still quite a few empty seats because of sponsors tickets not being used directly opposite the cameras. I believe it was a similar story for even the England games at Brighton and Southampton but didn’t seem to be last night and you’d hope Wembley would be similar.

I think they've been held off to be honest as they're the only availability in the first couple of levels. My next level of annoyance is that I need 10 tickets and it will only let me buy 6! And even more so that, as it doesn't give you your actual seat numbers, I can't even split it over two bookings to make sure we're all together!

Don't worry, another one incoming. Just had this e-mail from RLWC: "Breaking news: Standing seats have just been released for the RLWC2021 Finals at Old Trafford in Manchester on Saturday 19th November. Following successful tests during the 2021/22 football season, we are delighted to confirm Rugby League fans can take a stand and support their team at the men’s and women’s Finals. With record demand for final tickets, these additional tickets will be welcomed by fans hoping to see their team come out on top at the biggest and best Rugby League World Cup to date. Standing tickets are on sale now priced at £45 and available to those aged 16’s and over. Secure yours now!" You then click the "read more" and are met with; "Tickets in the standing area will be priced in the Category D bracket and buyers will be allocated a seat number to ensure the numbers within the section are controlled. Tickets are available in this area to anyone aged 16 or over." Category D tickets are £60, not £45. One job.

Really nice design. But absolutely not recognisable as an England kit. They’ve spent years messing about with the branding but at least there’s been a common theme with the red and white.

In that case could you please confirm the scenario around the aforementioned game at Barnsley?

It's been going on so long that such references don't even exist online. Wasn't the game at Barnsley in 1999 supposed to be a precursor for improvements being made though, or was that when the Benidorm end was put together?

They seem to be doing well enough without that lot bumbling their way in and cocking it up for them!

Interesting post, thanks for that. Just seen it mentioned so many times about UK passport holders that I figured there must be something in it, presumably along the line of UK passport holders having the right to work in the country. This year’s operational rules are here - https://www.rugby-league.com/flipbooks/2022-operational-rules-tiers-1-3/index.html Quite whether they’ve updated the relevant parts is of course open to question but it would kind of defeat the object if they didn’t

Ley

Well that’s my understanding too when reading the operational rules, but as I posted previously there seems to be a lot of focus on the Welsh and English heritage respectively on Caleb Aekins and Kai O’Donnell at Leigh, and presumably even post-Brexit we can’t, as a game, be seen to be prevented the employment of UK citizens?

Apologies, I’d misread the first part of it. Still no mention of UK passport exemptions though, unless that’s just taken as a given?

I suppose it could be seen as a means of promoting player development pathways rather than creating a market for UK-eligible Aussies, but you’d think the salary cap exemptions would be enough encouragement on that front. The Widdop and Farnworth scenarios are particularly ridiculous though.