Trojan

Not that the "wonderful community" has been broken then?

No you're wrong there Parky. In 1990 we came within a disputed referee's decsion of beating them in a series. We gave a creditable performance in the World Cup Final in 1992 and also in the Ashes series that year - also in the subsequent 1994 tour and 1995 World Cup. It's since then that the game has been declining internationally as far as England are concerned.

It seems to have killed it as an international sport in the UK. England's performance in the current contest can only be described as abject. The Premier League is effectively an exclusive club that has had billions lavished on it. The perfomance in South Africa is what this has produced. Surely we don't want to go further down this route. 15/20 years ago we looked to have the beating of Australia within our reach. But after 15 years of SL we seem further away than ever. Will the lack of competition for a SL place improve or detract from what for me is the holy grail of any sport - a successful international side? Plus of course the added benefit in the profile of such a sport in the UK. And of course what this thread started to be about the excitement that pulls the fans in.

Just curious as to why you use the past tense?

Find out about Ben Gronow - a Welsh convert, the first man to kick off at the then new Twickenham. A member of the great Huddersfield "team of all the talents" And his subsequent treatment by Union. http://www.rl1895.com/gronow.htm http://ww1talk.co.uk/showthread.php?2262-B...ow-Rugby-Player "In 1936 he coached Morley RFC but, due to his RL connection, his name was deliberately omitted from the caption to a photograph in the Club

It's not Wakey v Cas he's looking for though - it's a game where something is at stake - like the Union game he cites.

"The reason that has made me change my mind about relegation being a performance issue is when you get 10,000 plus at Headingley Carnegie watching a rugby union game

They had to change the rules because of Murphy. In the 1966 CC Final, Wigan's hooker had gone off injured and in those days it was necessary to have an experienced hooker to win the ball at the scrum. With Wigan in possession, Murphy persistently stood offside, the ref penalised him and gave Wigan a penalty - they kicked the ball into touch and at the subsequent scrum Saints got the ball back. The penalty and tap was introduced to prevent this sort of thing. I personally think flouting the spirit of the rules is just as bad as breaking the actual rules. It's true Murphy was a good player, but IMO he should have been cited on more than one occasion with the catch all of "bringing the game into disrepute" Either he'd have packed it in or eventually got a sine die ban.

I thought that too. Last twenty of the first, and beginning of the second, the ref seemed determined to get them on the scoreboard - and he did. I don't mind what decisions refs give against us as long as they are consistent, there is no way that today's comic could be described as consistent. Having said that, I wouldn't have given our next to last try - and it was right in front of me.

Got a bad feeling. I'm usually right too.

Moonlight Serenade by the Miller Orchestra (sorry - I can't help it I love swing music)

I'll Look Around - Billie Holiday.

Nose to tail eating. A woman went to the butchers and asked for a sheep's head, and would he leave the eyes in. Because it had to see them through the week. It's too warm for a coat today

I have a video of the Scrumdown programme of our game at Watersheddings in 1988. At the beginning is a sort of prologue about Fev, and it's on there as bright as day

I heard a story about Murphy from a guy who was the manager of the bar at Wilderspool. The bar had just closed and they grille had just been pulled down, when Murphy entered demanding a drink. My acquantience told him the bar was closed. Murphy said that he was the manager and demanded a drink, my guy said he was the bar manager and the bar was closed. Murphy apparently nutted the grille.

The Animals - what a fantastic British blues band, Burdon really had the voice for it. The perhaps little known For Miss Caulker (released on the B side of Bring it on Home to Me) has asome fantastic blues piano introduction from Alan Price, and Burdon's vocals are great.

I have Werewolves of London by him.

I'm wearing a blue and white striped tee shirt, that looks remarkably like the old Fev shirt.

Begin the Beguine - Artie Shaw

According to the Mail if you know what Hummus and Prosecco are you're posh. I quite like prosecco. I've never had hummus. I consider myself the absolute opposite of posh.

Easy. The stand-off if the player the defending backrow forward hits as hard as possible as often as possible. (at least it was in my day )

I know what you're saying and there is some truth in it. But on Saturday, I watched Leeds v Wigan and TBH I thought the decsions on ball stealing were inconsistent to say the least, I also thought that Senior should have been binned. I had no axe to grind whatsoever.

I posted this: "We didn't think we were getting a fair shake from the ref. either particularly in the high tackle area. So perhaps he was equally bad for both teams. If Dewsbury can perform like that every week surely they'll win more than they lose. Someone remarked to me before the game about referees. I said it's a truism that refs. don't miss tackles, don't drop passes, or commit offences. But British Rugby League fans at all levels of the pro game continue to complain about them. Who's right and who's wrong? Is it a case of the RFL establishment saying "everyone's out of step except us?" The fact remains that fans complain weekly about their treatment by refs. And refs. can and do materially affect the outcome of games (Fev v Catalan ) and possibly yesterday's and possibly Saturday's cup-tie. So perhaps it's time that their performances were monitored for a while by a scruitineer independent of the RFL or the clubs. And a report produced. Or does that sound too much like common sense for RL. " on the Dewsbury forum - I don't know what Fev fans views are. I daren't put it on the main forum I'd get banned but I think it represents what a lot of RL fans think.

TBH I thought Dewsbury deserved to win today. They looked committed and there was some urgency in their play. They took the ball up well and made some intelligent kicks. We seemed to have the attitude that all we needed to was turn up. Hard lines Dewsbury. Lucky Fev.

Cindy Incidentally - Faces, one of their greatest. Fantastic Ronnie Wood guitar riff to start.