Father Ted

Living on Merseyside, the Wirral, I talk to soccer fans of Liverpool, Everton and Tranmere. Ask any Everton or Tranmere fan "how was the game" and most of the time the answer is "rubbish". Liverpool fans are less critical but very often they are not best pleased with their team's performances. Reds fans are in dread of the day Gerrard finishes. I do think that watching Wigan regularly I see far more games of a better quality than the soccer fans who watch regularly. We see plenty skill and plenty scores in a game that is played by honest players. Soccer rarely has plenty goals, last night's 0-0 being an example. There is plenty skill on show in soccer but also plenty cheating which I simply can't stand! The one thing that will always keep me watching RL and keep me away from soccer is the spitting hatred from the sections of the crowds. They are angry, volatile, foul mouthed and abusive. No wonder they don't allow alchol be seved in sections of the grounds. At Wembley we mixed with HullFC fans in the pubs, on the trains to the game and around the stadium. I didn't see any trouble and I doubt there was any. The mixing of crowds is excellent yet we forget that only happens because the Metropolitan Police allow it. Our good reputation precedes us and this is something I'm proud of. I believe I follow the best sport in the UK for all the reasons above. The game, its players and us fans who overall I think are great no matter from which club.

Been a good signing for Leeds and will continue to be. Agree at 28 5 years is a tad long, although with the way interchanges go he could do well throughout his contract.

Still think they should have held the Cup Tie at Warrington. A direct train service from Euston in under two hours then a 10-15 minute walk to the HJ. Wigan fans its 10 mins on the train. Also good Motorway access for both sets of fans. The RFL could have marketed it as not a good ground for Wigan, neither v Wire nor in the 2007 semi v Catalans. As for Leigh, they must have offered a lower rent to the RFL to hold the gig! That's the only explanation I can think of.

No one has yet suggested how supporters will react when they hear the details, whatever those details are. Fans don't like their club playing others three times in a League season. So, if the extra games are a play off type then we will have to pay again. Or, those few who attend will have to pay to watch. On the other hand, will they be added to the season and be covered by the season ticket? This is tempting fans to dump their season tickets, select games and pay on the gate. Has there been a financial appraisal of the new system based on crowds, local sponsorship and subsequent revenue levels? We need to be told their thinking and why because if they present us with a done deal, fans may well not buy into that deal!

I like Rod Studd, he runs a fast paced show something B n A isn't. He likes P & R although it has failed before and will again as Rod well knows. What isn't mentioned is that clubs voted to go from 12 to 14 as there weren't enough home games with just 11. What they will gain with extra central funding theyr will lose in gate receipts. Those at the bottom end of the SL will look to recruit mature NRL journeymen who will cost a fortune in the hope they will keep the club up. Thought they made a good point about the Magic weekend saying it has no place in a League with P & R. Noting London v Catalan and Salford V Widnes. The Magic needs to be transferred to the C Cup and be the round in which the SL clubs join the comp. Start the C Cup Spring Bank Holday and end August Bank Holiday as now.

Excellent programme once again. Should go to an hour with B & A taking the 30 minute slot. I like the fast pace of the show and Rod Studd is great at keeping it topical.

Will any of the clubs hoping to be promoted be any better than those being relegated? Looking at the Championship - Sheffield don't get the crowds to sustain a SL club. Halifax couldn't cut it last time, their final season in SL they won 1 game then got the two points deducted for a salary cap overspend. Leigh, they almost went bust not long ago after the sad death of Arthur Thomas. Fev, is not a large enough conurbation to sustain a SL club. IMO none of the above are worth a place in SL. Catalans played a game in Toulouse v HKR and got over 14500 in. That's around 14k local Toulouse supporters and Toulouse weren't even playing! Toulouse everytime over the current Championship clubs. The Intl last year in Avignon had 16k at the game. The South of France is our best development area at present. That's where we should be looking to expand.

When there are money worries the same old lazy remedy comes out. "Lower the salary cap". Clubs have two catagories of salaries. Those governed by the SC and others that are not. There have been amendments to the SC which have lifted the figure for some clubs but the general £1.65m has been around for some time. However there are those employees who's salaries are not governed by the SC, that is the non playing staff. At most clubs the salaries for those staff go up each year and the clubs appear to be able to fund that. So how is it that the players have to have their salaries capped and the other members of staff do not. It's time clubs dealt with their costs problems honestly and not hide behind the salary cap. As for Steve O'Connor, he's right of course. Relegation when we last had it was a disaster. So why re-introduce it?

Hock won't be at Widnes next year. Where he will be isn't exactly known yet but he won't be at Widnes.

Already missed the Wakefield and Widnes games. Now almost two weeks to the Warrington match. Probably will play, if he's fit why not? If he isn't then Wigan may play Farrell at 13 with Hansen and Tuson in the 2nd row. Wane rarely plays injured players as we found out at Widnes.

Two more in Dean Collis and Shannon McDonnell. I just think Bluey will have them going full belt whereas England will be totally underwhelmed after hearing McNamara's pre game talk. How can a coach who was so utterly dreadful at club level get the England gig?

He's too good for Sale.

Sam and Joel Tomkins. Gleeson, Fielden, Coley O'Loughlin. All should be in. Maybe's or one's for the future who may get on the plane but not play. Farrell, McIlorum, Goulding.

Agree totally with Allan M. The NRL are looking at a system which will address the player pool and availablity rather than the monetary based cap. We should do the same. It is only two seasons ago that the RFL/SL did away with the 20/20 or 20/25 rule which had the effect of reducing the number of British players in SL. It was supposed to level out and distribute the players to all clubs but failed in that. Interesting that my club, Wigan, are now looking at having a squad of 35+ full time professional players next year ranging from the 30+ age group like Fielden, Coley & Carmont to lads in the U20s who have only just turned 18. Wigan gave debuts to five players from their academy this year. We need to replace the cap with a model that suits British Rugby League and the need for more players to be brought through academy set ups. It must reward "home grown" talent in the squad whilst discouraging the signing of players from other clubs be they from SL or overseas. The RFL/SL need to work on this soon and initiate a system which will suit the needs of British Rugby League rather panic when the NRL introduce theirs and simply copy it.

Cudjoe maybe the next Hanley or Boston or whoever. So which sugar daddy is going to outbid Huddersfield's own sugar daddy Ken Davy? He might not be as rich as some there's no way any of the others mentioned are going to outbid him for any of his players or any other players. Huddersfield would have gone bust years ago but for our Ken! As for the cap stopping players going from smaller clubs to larger and more successful ones. Well it hasn't stopped them. That's why Shenton is going from Cas and LMS from Quins both to Saints. Atkins went from Wakey to Wire as Myler went from Widnes to Salford and now Wire. Leeds have soaked up talent from Cas, Wakey etc for years. We need a new approach. The Aussies have admitted their SC has failed and our SC is theirs in transplant mode across the world. The NRL are now devising a new system to replace the SC and no doubt it will improve matters no end. The system they are suggesting is an open one, transparent and where secret deals and payments will be irrellevant as it is not money based. I do hope that our RFL/SL develop a replacement system for our needs and not just copy the NRL's ideas as they may be fine for them but unsuitable for us. The SC has failed and a replacement is being devised. That's the NRL's verdict and the sooner this is acknowledged here in the UK the better it will be for British Rugby League.

Sorry, meant to say "not allowed to" rather than "now allowed to". Apologies for that.

The "salary cap doesn't work" quote that is credited to me is true. The "level playing field" Quins beating Wigan, Cru winning at Headingly etc has nothing whatsoever to do with the salary cap! What has caused this is sky tv investing in rl to show our games on their channels. SKY TV

There was also the bit about living in a

Oh yeah! And Moran is going to out bid Ken Davy? Don't think so! As for Leroy, been very impressive at times this year. Irony of ironies though, when Wigan visited Hudds Karl Pryce played him off the park and at times made him look very poor indeed. At one point he showed Cudjoe the outside, let him get past him then turned round caught him and tackled him into touch. Another time Pryce broke downfield after swatting Leroy like a fly and gave an inside pass to Carmont who scored. Our Leroy is getting all sorts of praise and rightly, I just think it's being a bit overdone re internationals. If Karl Pryce can do to him what he did the thoughts of what the Aussie or Kiwi backs could do doesn't bear thinking about. Cudjoe's a good lad and improving all the time but lets not get ahead of ourselves here.

Huddersfield have a sugar daddy in Ken Davy. He's bankrolled them for years. HullFC are a great club with great support but unfortunately for them very poor management and and even worse coaching. They still do make a profit but with their wealth they must now be considered the leagues under achievers. The SC hasn't worked, the Aussies now know that and are looking to replace it. As I've said here before, we must look to replace ours too with a system that suits British Rugby League rather than at the last minute transplant the Aussie system which may well not fulfill the needs of RL in this country.

Mo was Chairman of Wigan following his return in 1999. He might have been elected by other SL clubs as chairman of SL but that hardly compares with his former job as RFL boss. As to replacing the SC, I've always been against restrictions on RL wether it is the SC or the insane 20/20 rule which is now thankfully in the bin. Why would I want to replace a failed system with another? If anything then we should go with the soccer idea of clubs making a profit over a rolling three year period. The SC was originally brought in to stop club getting into financial difficulties. Although that idea has long been dumped, if all clubs had to make a profit and did we would have secure clubs and a secure sport. In reality the RFL will jump at some idea if the NRL dump their SC. I just don't want an Aussie idea that is designed for them being implanted in our game when it may not suit us just because the clubs haven't been up to speed in replacing the SC.

The salary cap has proved to be nonsense as they have found in Australia. It's unworkable and unmangeable. The NRL never found out about Canterbury or Melbourne and have no idea if others are doing the same. The RFL have fewer controls then the NRL and theirs have been proved to be useless. The more equal competition has not been provided by the SC but by SKY TV money. Without SKY we would have four or five full time clubs and the rest would be part time. We have fourteen full time clubs and that is the reason for a more equal comp. As for a league that is likely to be won by any club, that is total nonsense. We may well have a fourth Leeds v Saints GF which says it all! The NRL are to now dump the SC over the next two or three years and will trial a replacment system next year. I do hope our RFL/SL will trial a replacement for our SC that reflects the needs of RL here and not just replicate the NRL system simply because the Australians are doing it and therefore so must we

Wigan haven't lost back to back matches all year and I don't think it will happen this week. Maguire is going with four props and that should ensure the Wigan pack overpower the HKR forwards. Wigan struggle with three props or less v the bigger teams as proved in games v Leeds, Wire & Saints. When they are going with four props they beat their opposition no matter who. Should be a good game though and it seems HKR are bringing a very good following. Well done to them!

This is McRae's last year on his contract. At the end I'm sure JW will say "thank you and goodbye"! He will then bring a high profile coach in who will in turn sign a couple of high profile players. So when Salford move into Barton they will have all the publicity they need from all form of the media.

Of course they should be in and why shouldn't they know it? The decisions next year are more about who is going out if anyone. A 15 team SL isn't beyond the possible outcome. Highly unlikely but it is possible.