GIANTSTRIDES

No wonder they have a race course, Wonder what they would make of me and the missus in the the old Minor 1,000, She would probably feel she fitted right in , Me i know my place.

There will be exclusive little enclaves in any area no doubt, What i found interesting in Ponte Rover's post was that all the cutbacks were nothing to do with recession, I wondered what was different about Ponte that it should manage to avoid the recession, Bodes very well for Fev's season tickets.

How lucky you are , It's a wonder there hasn't been a masive growth in the poulation in Ackworth, But re reading your post it appears you have suffered all the same cuts as everone else, It's just that they have been down to the council not doing their job and nothing to do with reccession, I live in the Holme Valley , regarded by many as well above middle of the road, but i have to say there's plenty of signs of Reccesion, or the council not doing their job, if that's what it is.

I don't particularly disagree with anything here, exept the bit about what allows Rugby league to exist, It may be a very desirable trait in many ways and may well have been a huge reason in the past, But it is not what allows League to exist today. Take away Sky money and see how well League exists then, It may be unpalatable to some and i can well understand why, But is reality. No amount of talk about fairness, desirable as it might be will make any difference, Until people finally grasp that we are not in the 1900s anymore, all the things that people are using for argument, that were very relevant in days gone are no longer so. If a very wealthy man came along tomorrow and offered to fund , Say Keithley, to the tune of Millions a year provided they were guaranteed a SL place, Who in their right mind would tell him to clear off because it wouldn't be fair to A B C or whoever, Why would anyone want to promote any team instead, who will never in the foreseeable future be able to compete with the Saints ,Wolves exc, It would be sheer stupidity. One thing this thread has shown is that you can indeed prove any argument any way you want to with Stats, You can argue them till Hell freezes over, It will make no difference at all, Spectators are a very desirable thing to have, every single pound they pay is needed by some club, But if people can't switch on their TV and see the amount of Union that is shown, and grasp which way sport is going, then i fear the sport is truly lost. It is no longer about Derby's with the old enemy,( Unfortunately the Uncle Eddie style commentators are still with us ) Derby's mean most to the clubs who are playing them, and some of them at top level are as good as anything in the game, When i watch on Sky i don't care if It's a derby or not ,I want to see the game at the top level whoever the teams are, thats why i have sky, And that is what is responsible for the major part of the funding of League. Someone on here one day suggested giving everyone the same chance and let them sink or swim, Fine that will just take us a few years to get to where we are now, A much better Idea for me is to say ,Right you would be SL clubs,, Have you got the required 3 million, good you are in SL for as long as you can compete, I am aware how bad that sounds, but it is actually what happens, And when they no longer have the 3 million they get in deep trouble, IMO until SL has enough clubs run by people like IL and co , some clubs are worth Helping back , Which do you help ? for me you help the ones that have the potential or have proved they can do it, Rather than the ones who have never had a chance , but neither have they showed any potential to be able to hack it All very unfair , and yet exactly the choices that have to be made. Fev, Fax and Leigh are the candidates to be promoted to SL on the face of it, IMO Leigh will never succeed living with a Giant, Fax are a great area for League , They produce lots of youngsters, but failed badly in SL, dont see what's changed then to now, They are i understand a very well run debt free club, but have they got 3 Million, And then we have Fev , Working wonders at a very small town club, The favorite of them all to move up, I think i saw somewhere their crowds were around 2,500, They will have to multiply that by 4, just to hold their heads above the Water, Personally i dont think they can get anything like that support ( but i would like to be wrong ) But as i understand it they have a wealthy man behind them, so that may well be the difference, Either way they can plan for a long steady climb up the table , If the past is anything to go by. So all in the melting pot at the moment, For me League is no different that any other bussines in the end, It's survival of the fitest, We can hough and Puff as much as we like about fitness, if we try and run the game that fair it will go down the tubes, Because when Joe Bloggs turns on the TV on Friday night he doesn't worry about whats behind the teams ,he just wants to see a top game.

And thereby lies the real crux of the situation, There is not enough money coming in to make a big enough or meaningful difference to the lower league's, not without reducing the quality of the present SL, and that is the worst thing that could happen. Judging by people's reactions to Bradfords misfortune's We may well (as someone suggested ) be better to let all clubs just sink or swim, At least we would find out who is really SL standard, The one's with either money or very big crowds and sponsership could well amount to around 10 clubs, I'm sure Sky would be happy with that.

There is a lot to agree with here, my main problem with it is that, getting on with it has usually meant the failures of SL are so badly mauled by their own efforts that Like Fax for example, they take a decade to get back to something like, If they are lucky enough ( as Huddersfield were ) they are strong enough to get straight back. I don't know the answers anymore than anyone else, For what it's worth my opinion is that ( Pretty much as you have said ) you can jiggle about with formats, change the game round and turn it upside down whatever, The well run clubs and especially the one's with rich men behind them, will always be the Elite, The reason they are up there is precicely because they are well run, I don't find that a reason to start bleating about unfair advantages and fair play, Leeds and Wigan are the benchmark for me and there are others who are getting there, Whatever happens or whoever plays in SL the aim must always be about the quality of the product that goes on TV, without that Sky money, the game in todays compeitive market is worth diddly, There would be Maybe 4/5 clubs with nobody else to play and below that ? Some may well prefer that, putting the clock back ( so to speak ) Not me, i want to see the best there is, whatever shirt they wear. But what i don't want to see is the same thing happening to Fev as what has with some others, But i do take the point ( made many times ) that teams deserve their chance, And to be honest i don't really care who the SL clubs are as long as they can compete.

There is a lot more to running a Elite club than just buying players, It Takes somewhere around 3 million a year, and as you say it has to be spent wisely. One thing is certain that kind of money sorts out the men from the boys.

So that's Fev sorted then, What's your plans for all the rest, Particularly the ones without a money man like Fev have.

This is true , But some of these have been able to run rings around the RFL admin, Who i believe " like MPs first priority is to stay in power, And the main tactic seems to be dreaming up new schemes to give the impression they have their finger on the pusle.

I don't think FT said anyhting about running RL, I thing he was talking about SL. I for one agree with him.

Good point, and if this came about how much could SL count on as their share.

I have been hoping for quite a while that the Giants would have a right go to sign him, He's a player i like a lot, However Prop forwards have overtaken our long standing need for a half, and that is certainly where we have been found wanting, Kafusi and Bailey may be the answer in our forwards we shall have to wait and see. I have wanted us to sign Broughton for a long time, and we finally have, maybe well get Mellor in the fulness of time.

What i should have said is ,we should have been looking to the future, and we still should, I grant you we shall not have the worst side we have fielded, but shall we have the best that's available. I am not anti K Sinfield, i recognise he has been a superb player for Leeds, I'm not saying he will be ###### for England, I'm asking is he the best we can do, If we are taking S Mac's point about sticking with experience and a settled squad, Why is Tomkins there, we have far more experienced fullbacks available, We have fullbacks who can organise defences better i would think, But the point is Tomkins is a match winner, he can produce magic at times, and so to an extent can Brough. But Hey Ho, we have who we have and we shall all be behind them.

When Brough came to the Giants he came with a reputation,and it may have been deserved I don't know, He was going to be trouble in the dressing room, on the field and just about everywhere else, Well it hasn't happened so somebody has shown whatever it takes to get the best out of him. I take Christopher's point though, The decisions have been made we have to move on, I wouldn't have Sinfield myself, with or without Brough , He is and has been a superb player for Leeds over the years, He never quite seems to do it for England, but there is no guarantee that Brough would either, We have other good young halves, we should be looking to the future

Don't everyone get so excited, It will only be another couple of years before the Knee jerks again. Sooner or later it will dawn that League has neither the player strength for anything more that a elite comp, Nor the quality of people at the RFL to take the game forward, whatever changes come in, they will be deemed to have failed long before they have had a chance to succeed, Just a opinion of course.

If the game is open and flowing, i fancy Wigans backs will be to good, If it's a tight game amongst the forwards Saints will have the edge, Just hope it's a good one, they are two great sides so it should be, can't call it.

Good game , the Giants needed the try from the video ref to ,but not to be . Saints clearly the better side second half, they were piggy backed down the field, as we were in first half , and they really made it count. Great support for the Giants who stayed to the end, and nice to see the Huddersfield players clapped off the field by the Saints fans. Happy with our season, we keep getting to the odd semi's and finals so we must be doing something right, i reckon most Giants fans will be happy enough, Wish we could take support like that more often. Well done Saints, better team in the end, and now in for a toughie against someone.

I'm beginning to get the distinct impression you dont like Yorkshire men.

Those were the days EH ! Black and white telly , and everone covered in mud

After Giants, who i have followed since 1953. In no particular order of preference. Wakey, cause they were a pleasure to watch in the sixties, and i still like em for it. Wigan, because they have great fans (by and large ) who support through the bad ,as well as good. Leeds, and in truth i dont really know why, but for some reason i do. Saints, because of the great style of play they have maintained over many years. Fev, because for such a small place they have punched above their weight.

I think the Pyemen will take this, Leaving aside all the hysterical drivel that was spouted on here about Mcquire, If Richards had been kicking to his normal standard Wigan would have won, so i would expect them to have the edge without Mcquire playing, It's a big ask for Leeds with three top men out, and it's just the sort of game you can see S Tomkins setting alight. I expect them both to go at it big style, which will be of definite advantage to Saints or hopefully Giants, I recon It's the real reason Saints picked the Giants, they knew there would be no quarter in this game. Ill go for Wigan in a close one,

Realistically i would have to agree, although that's what i thought last week, I think we will have a decent crowd for this one, and if we should loose there are a couple of players who will get a great send of to their new clubs, Hodgson has been a class act for us, i wish him well, S Wild has been arguably our best all round signing for many many years, Salford are getting a top man and i wish him and Salford the very best next season, As far as the match goes , pretty much the same as last week, all about the forwards winning some space for the halves.

Most of that is fair comment, I dont remember the incidents particularly but was probably when we were imploding, Cudjo is steadily improving, and i think will probably make it for England, but like you I think he is not quite there yet.