Maximus Decimus
-
Posts
8,699 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
4
Posts posted by Maximus Decimus
-
-
21 minutes ago, Eddie said:
Oh yeah I agree, while we couldn’t see how big the hole is he potentially could have done. It’s a shame about Catalans but on a personal level I’d prefer they weren’t there either as I’m taking three mates down this year, none of whom have been to a RL match before, and I hope the crowd is as big as possible - KR v Wire preferably.
As a Widnes fan, I'm hoping KR play themselves in the final.
-
1
-
4
-
-
Just now, Eddie said:
It looks to me like he’s just looking at the hole where he’s about to put his hand rather than checking the balls out, you’d need to do that before looking away. Also there’s zero reason to fix the draw, the four teams are all quite comparable I wouldn’t particularly favour playing one over another, it’s not like Wigan and a championship team were left in there.
I don't think he did, but he certainly could've done.
He just would need to see which is which ball is where and then put his hand in to find it. He does look like he's looking in rather than looking for the hole. While they're reading out the first team he's pretty much looking in.
The teams are well placed but of course the RFL would prefer it if Catalans didn't make it. Hull KR are the current best ranked of any of them.
Again, I doubt very much he actually did, but if it'd been a draw with an easier route and he'd have pulled it out for Saints.... I suppose it's about pre-empting possible controversies before they actually happen.
-
1
-
-
23 minutes ago, langpark said:
Very strange that they would not used a 'concealed' ball, that you would then open to reveal the number. As they do in most draws in any sport.
Any word on when venues will get announced?
Are the RFL so strapped for cash that they can't afford to heat the balls anymore?
-
1
-
2
-
-
Got anyone thinking I've lost it, here it is and I must say it looks worse second time!
-
1
-
-
I watched the semi-final today, and was a bit surprised by the draw at half-time.
They invited Stuart Pearce down, which was great and he spoke well about the game. They also had Jon Wilkin there.
When it came to the draw, they had this large bowl with a hole cut in one side, that seemed quite large. Pearce put the balls in and made sure to look completely away before drawing out Hull KR.
However, Wilkin took a look to see where he needed to put his hand before looking away and drawing. It seemed very open to abuse IMO. He could easily have seen the 3 numbers, grabbed the one he wanted and then swirled the other balls around.
I'm not for one second saying that he actually did this, just that he could have done . But when one person drawing is a big Warrington fan, and the other is a Saints legend (who played for Hull KR) you're almost asking for controversy.
On a completely separate note, I'm sure the RFL are pleased that Catalans drew Hull KR in the draw.
-
2
-
1
-
-
2 hours ago, Barry Badrinath said:
Interesting experience at widnes last night, they didnt bother to open the bar in the away end and people were queueing up to an hour in that awful corridor and missed kick off.
They were selling cans of beer which the widnes fans were lobbing on the pitch, including at the players at one point.
No stewards, which is amazingly baffling.
At one point a widnes fan even jumped on the pitch and started taunting the wire fans after they scored. No stewards to be seen, their mascot had to get him off the pitch.
Proper trip back in time.
It wasn't well organised, which was baffling because they knew about the pre-sales.
In the North Stand (the main Widnes one) they had one set of turnstiles open. The queues were nearly round the stadium and they had to put the kickoff back.
Inside the stadium, the queues were so bad for the bar, I didn't bother going. They essentially have a set up that is used to a couple of thousand diehard fans, and didn't bother to upscale any of it for a crowd of 7000 many of whom wanted to properly drink. There were two choices on the beer, Guinness and Coors which is bizarre in itself.
I didn't see any trouble, but when I was in the queue regretted not taking my lad to the South Stand. There were a lot of young men who clearly haven't been for a long time, and were probably thinking it wouldn't be competitive so were more interested in getting hammered. It wasn't particularly similar to the make up of a crowd during the SL days. The balance between families and young men was askew. I purposely moved to the far end near the unpopulated side in anticipation.
As I said, I didn't see anything and had a great time. It was like a game I haven't seen for years at Widnes, probably 2016, and might not see again for a long time if ever. It helped that we did well so people were in good spirits.
-
It was like a blast from the past. A good old-fashioned blood and thunder derby.
I wasn't planning on going until today, just couldn't face a 70 odd nil drubbing. It went pretty much as well as I could've hoped.
Widnes we're almost perfect today. Very few errors, plenty of decent attacking play and did everything they could in defence. Wire were very poor I thought, especially in the first half. Dropped loads of balls, and didn't offer very much outside of the forwards. They essentially only won because of their superior fitness.
At 60 minutes, you started to wonder could it happen? It's the hope that kills you...
-
4
-
-
14 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:
Hopefully you can get in with either ticket responding to the scanner and it being in good working order, when first introduced at my club they malfunctioned on a few occasions.
What ever happened to the pensioner's taking your money and operating the foot pedal to release the turnstiles?
It's an improvement on the interim system of forcing everybody to buy a ticket from the ticket office on the other side of the stadium. It added an unnecessary step and led to many missing the start of games!
-
1
-
-
2 hours ago, Harry Stottle said:
Doubt it has anything really to do with it being the Challenge Cup Jon, the sense of occasion, long standing rivalry and locality of the two clubs will give it the impetus, great attendance with those tickets sold, and bolstered with getting airtime on the regional TV programmes.
I hope it proves to be a competitive game, I can't imagine there is a shock on the cards but if it does happen then that will be one hell of a game I would think.
Yeh exactly this. It's about the rivalry more than anything.
It's my first game for quite a while and I was really in two minds. I didn't fancy paying to see Widnes get hammered by Wire but as the day got nearer I thought better of it. I'm just hoping for something to shout about. I remember before Widnes got to SL the first time, we played Leeds and it was 10-10 at h/t before Leeds pulled away to win 46-10 something like that. I'd take that today.
It being my first time in a while, I'd forgotten what it could be like to watch Widnes. I currently have a pdf ticket and an e-ticket, which is fine apart from the fact they have two different start times on them. One says 5pm and the other 6pm.
-
1
-
-
44 minutes ago, graveyard johnny said:
question for the darts fans on here- would Phil Taylor (in his prime) still be as dominant as he was in this era of players as he was in the previous era of players?
Not as dominant, but still very successful. His numbers absolutely hold up, and his ability under pressure was obviously very good.
For a bit more context, he still holds the record for the highest ever average in a Worlds final, and his lifetime average is over 100.
-
1
-
-
-
-
Chiefs, Lions, Eagles, Ravens
-
20 hours ago, Futtocks said:
Tyson Fury has announced his first retirement of the year.
The worst bit was his insistence he was robbed still.
I've never seen a robbery where 90%+ of pundits agree.
-
1
-
-
As for my darts journey, I've tried it all over the years. When I started, I thought I'd just try to figure out a throw that worked but soon got frustrated with the inconsistency.
Then I went down the route of seeing what was good technique alongside proper practise routines and even had my throw examined. This hasn't necessarily helped scorewise (which is important) but I tend to know what went wrong. This can lead to a situation where I can't settle on one stance or style of throw and just keep flipping from one to another.
I'm definitely better than when I first got a board again 4 years ago, but I'm still in the low 50s. There have been some real shoots of improvement over Christmas, that haven't quite transferred into the average yet. For instance, I've hit 12 proper 180s in my life, and 6 of them have been in the last month.
The key is I still really enjoy it. There are times when it's frustrating but they are not nearly as often as the times I've had enjoyment out of it. I've noticed a big difference in the appeal of darts recently with family, friends and colleagues talking about playing a lot more.
-
2
-
-
On 11/01/2025 at 18:55, graveyard johnny said:
while not been able to do much due to the bad weather this week I got one of the spare bedrooms cleared out and got the board and arrows back out -did watching all the skills of the PDC players over the past few weeks have any effect on me? erm no - I still play darts like a donkey plays the violin!
On 11/01/2025 at 20:59, Eddie said:You have to be natural I think. I was watching a pub league match the other day and they were all pretty awful, like most people are - anyone who says if they practiced all the time they could be in the pro game (which I’ve heard a lot) is a fool.
As someone who has played quite steadily on and off for a few years, I can definitely second this. Tbh I probably thought it was just a case of playing a lot and I'd get better, and if I had the time to dedicate I could be as good.
There is a guy on YouTube, Ronnie Rickner, who is doing the 10,000 hours experiment with darts. He's currently 2,000 hours in. He has got better but just entered Q school and exited in Stage 1 with an average of 66. He's been better than this, but darts is like that, it isn't consistent improvement.
There are a couple of famous examples of players who say they were good pretty instantly, Gary Anderson and Adrian Lewis being famous examples. I think the number of players who have succeeded despite bizarre throws is testament to how much it is down to natural hand-eye coordination.
-
1
-
-
On 08/01/2025 at 16:42, Eddie said:
I’m a big darts fan but I find the PL rather dull, not enough players and it seems to go on forever. I’d prefer they scrapped it and added another couple of televised tournaments.
It's a decent idea, but you're right about it. Also, I've never warmed to the new format. Maybe it's better for the fan who goes, but week after week it's pretty repetitive.
-
2
-
-
Chargers, Ravens, Bills, Eagles, Commanders, Vikings
-
Pretty much all the classics have been mentioned. In no particular order, my faves are:
Only Fools
Father Ted
I'm Alan Partridge
Peep Show
The Office (UK and US)
Blackadder
Royle Family
Phoenix Nights
There are loads of other good ones like Derry Girls, but the classics are ones you can watch again and again.
I was surprised not to see a mention of Gavin and Stacey. Maybe it's a bit mainstream, and I get that Cordon is a polarising figure but it's objectively a good show and very rewatchable.
It also made me realise that we're perhaps seeing the death of a certain type of mainstream sitcom that can command a Christmas special watched by a huge portion of the country on prime tine BBC 1. Now Gavin and Stacey is done, I genuinely can't think of one that even has the potential of filling that slot on the horizon.
-
Ravens, Steelers, Falcons, Texans, Eagles, Colts, Commanders, Packers, Buccs, Bills, Chargers, Cardinals, Broncos, Rams, Dolphins, Lions
-
He dominated tbh, and it never seemed in doubt. A phenomenal talent.
-
3 hours ago, graveyard johnny said:
which board are they using then?
Winmau Blade 6 Triple Core, they've used it for a couple of years.
It's certainly much better than my Argos paper dartboard I had in the late 90s!
-
49 minutes ago, MattSantos said:
We all need a link to that board and the app
Haha, the board is lovely, so much brighter and the wires are really set into the board.
There are probably better seeming apps, but the Russ Bray one has the most features. The rest also struggle to replicate a real-life player. Even if you set it to a 37 average player, if they have 3 darts at a double they'll usually hit it.
At least Russ Bray lets you have a few legs in the madhouse!
-
1
-
-
Talking of playing Darts, the wife got me the dartboard they use on TV for Christmas. I use the Russ Bray app to play against the computer as well as sporadically playing online.
I've been playing longer form matches akin to what they do at the Worlds, and there is a physical aspect to Darts that most wouldn't realise. Your arm starts to suffer after a while and the leg you balance on is affected.
The upside has been a slight improvement, and my 4 180s (I've previously gone months at a time without hitting one) I've also broken by checkout record (129) but don't know how I feel about it. I nailed the D16 and the T19 before it, but accidentally hit double top when going for the treble with my first dart!
Challenge Cup Draw
in The General Rugby League Forum
Posted
Absolutely no chance of corruption there!
I used to be naive and very trusting and thought all talk of heated balls etc was conspiracy nonsense.
Then they basically admitted to it with the 98 World Cup!