nadera78

Just a longer way of saying "that's for the clubs to work out".

The guys orchestrating this mess can be summed up in one Q&A. Q - Why would fans buy season tickets when they only know half the fixture list? A - That's for the clubs to work out. Incompetent doesn't even begin to describe these people. Oh for the days of Richard Lewis.

Average price per pint would be good for SL. London would go on a run of championships to put Wigan and St George to shame.

Shhh! Don't ask questions. Presumably they'll be condemned to play in a re-branded Championship 1. And all of those people on here complaining about the lack of P&R will remember the clubs left behind and continue to shout about it......

Fantastic editorial. I just hope someone with some authority reads it and takes notice.

Watched the first episode of I, Claudius last night on BBC Four. Typical for the period the whole thing looks very staged, but the writing was spot on and the acting top notch. Even Brian Blessed managed not to shout.

Perhaps an inch or so in Ealing, west London. I've got the day off too, might take my nephew for a snowball fight if it keeps up.

###### off Chel***! West London is R's!

Only a couple of days ago I was explaining to my girlfriend the importance of Count Ossie's appearance on 'Oh Carolina' in terms of the development of Ska (then Rocksteady and into Reggae) and the spread of Rastafarianism that followed on from there.

If the RLIF insisted on a stand down period then I could live with it if it was strictly enforced. A player should have to write to the RLIF stating that from the date of his letter he intended to sit out a period of time (perhaps a world cup cycle?) and from that point on represent x country. On the more general point of the PI nations, I'd suggest people take a look at the actions of the Cook Islands over the past few years. They've worked slowly, deliberately, to build a team from the ground up. They've used a mixture of players born/raised in the Cooks, Australia and New Zealand and developed a group that knows one another well and has played together for some time. In fact many of the team in last years Pacific Cup played together for the Cooks in their U-16's and 18's, such is the system they've put in place (despite their lack of financial clout). Compare that to the likes of Tonga and Samoa, who wait until Australia and New Zealand have picked their squads before selecting their own from what's left. That means their teams change quite drastically from one year to the next, there is never any consistency in selection or performance, and it is near impossible for them to genuinely develop a team or a national programme. The results are there for all to see in the 2008 RLWC and the 2009 Pacific Cup. There is only one way to see genuine internatinal development, and it is by looking at the Cook Islands and Fiji.

I heard it the other way round, Williams' agent said he wasnted to play for Australia but if not then to play for Tonga. Presumably that leaves NZ third on his list, and that's assuming he meets the criteria.

The ARL press release naming the PM XIII squad stated quite clearly that all of the players picked were eligible for Australia in the Four Nations. Which is a blatant lie.

Williams and Uate have been included in the Australian Prime Minister's XIII to play against PNG. This is despite the fact that they are inelligible having played for Tonga and Fiji respectively in the last 12 months. Ta'ai has told the NZRL he want to continue playing for Tonga. I don't know if the NZRL spoke to Ta'ai before picking him in their preliminary squad, if they didn't then they're idiots. They have also been made to look foolish by chasing Tony Williams who is not only inelligible but has come out and said his first choice is Australia, with Tonga second and NZ presumably nowhere. This whole thing gets worse by the day. Internatonal RL is made to look foolish by this pathetic, ridiculous scramble to grab players, any players, no matter their eligibility status.

Now, I don't have kids so may be wrong here, but I'd rather be playing for my country in a test match against the Aussies than sitting in a hospital room with a screaming wife.

It's not fine by me. Heighington has openly said he's only putting his name forward for England because he can't get a game with NSW. He can get stuffed as far as I'm concerned.

What he said.

International competition is the pinnacle for me, and that goes for any sport. BUt I'm waiting to see what squad the RFL allows McNamara to pick before getting excited about the four nations. If Willie Manu or Chris Heighington are selected then I'll not be watching.

When Bailey elbowed Radford in the head he must have known there was a strong chance Radford would retaliate. If he then took his eyes off him then he's an idiot.

Every team needs a prop forward like Ryan Bailey, he serves a valuable purpose in upsetting the opposition and getting them to think about him instead of the game. It's part and parcel of rugby league, and only right that everyone should hate him except his own club's fans. That said, I can't believe Lee Radford got sent off and suspended for throwing a couple of punches. IMO two players trading blows should be allowed to cool down in the sin bin, or if it's only a little scuffle them give a penalty against the one who started it and get on with the game. I just don't see it as a sending off offence. The exception, of course, is if one player is hit from behind, that deserves a red card. "Third man in" is a different matter as well because it causes everyone else to join in.

Now, don't get me wrong here, it's great to see Quins trying to get more people to go to the game on Friday but why are they doing it for the final game of the season? Do they think someone will go to their first game of RL, fall in love and immediately buy a season ticket for next year? With a five month gap before the next game? Surely they'd be better off doing this at the start of the season so that anyone who attends and is impressed can then follow up with a second visit soon after?

The people running the two clubs in West Cumbria need to take this as an opportunity to re-evaluate where they are, how they got there, where they want to be, and how they plan to get there. From the outside they look as if they are only heading in one direction, and it's not going to be pretty.

Isn't the pitch about 15 metres short though? Makes it difficult to take a test match there.

It woud be a cracking location. Excellent transport links right across London, nice size for 8,000 or so capacity, and with the added bonus that if the club was pushing the limit then Millwall is just down the road for one or two bigger games. The land, afaik, is in the hands of two Italian brothers who were involved with Fisher Athletic before winding the club up and keeping the land. The whole thing was a bit dodgy because the council sold tha land to the club specifically so that they could redevelop it with residential units alongside a new ground. Now the club is gone, the fans have set up a new version playing in Dulwich, and presumably the requirement for a new stadium is no longer there. Leaves more room for residentials, of course.

The pitch and the concrete stand are still there because it's listed, but a health club has been built alongside it. Plus, public transport is awful.