Adelaide Tiger

IIRC the 2023 score above given to Castleford was to be amended to, I think, 12.91 as Cas made an error in the submission.

Just like to give a big thank you to the people behind the scenes at Cas as many supporters, including myself, we’re not sure that we would make the twelve after the mock gradings last year.

SHOCK NEWS - IMG delay announcement!! A statement from IMG said ‘We have closely followed the ‘IMG Grading Thread’ on the Totalrl.com web site and it would be incredibly churlish of us to announce the successful twelve teams before Mr H Stottle achieves one thousand posts on the topic. He only has one hundred and ninety to go to achieve that target so we will be delaying the announcement by thirty minutes. Come on Mr Stottle, all of us at IMG are cheering for you’.

Oh, i am so sorry to hear that ….. I am sure that you can get some cream for it.

The excitement is really getting to me so I am going to take the dog out for it’s night time walk and poo. I will be scanning the night sky in the hope that I see a shooting star. If I do, the usual wish of Carol Vorderman, a jar of peanut butter and a Raleigh Chopper bike will be pushed to one side for Cas to be one of the twelve names in SL.

Totally agree Tommy. Absolutely gutted for Lingard. This season was ideal for the club to give youth a chance and then spend the next two years bringing in more experienced players to continue the rebuild of the squad with an emphasis on players coming through the system. Something that Powell totally disregarded and it led to the complete lack of a pathway for youngsters. I admit that I have fully supported the approach and effort from Jepson towards - hopefully - retaining a place in SL but this move just smacks of Jepson wanting to show everyone that he is in charge. It would be a kick in the teeth to the youngsters if the new Coach disregards the youngsters and the club goes back to signing over the hill, overpaid and over rated players.

I have no issue with the 3 teams per league format. Less can be more. But why keep it as a Pacific Championship? By adding England, France along with this years non Pacific competitor Samoa you have nine teams that can provide competitive games across three leagues and have a Global competition with P&R. Each game is meaningful. If France and England are in different leagues if means you could have one group in the NH each year.

Harry, like you I have no interest at all in the social media stuff. I go on Facebook to see how friends are going back in the UK and that’s it. Last week I made my first Facebook post in the last two years. I am not on X as I cannot understand why people have such sorry lives that they want to follow, or indeed give a stuff about what another person does, says or thinks. Influencers ….. influencers … that just a posh name for a person who has not got the ability to hold down a regular job. Tik Tok … get a life. Blokes over 20 years of age that still play video games ought to be ashamed of themselves. But, I totally understand why Social Media metrics across platforms that I do not frequent are incredibly important in promoting a business and are a key focus for potential investors. P.S. I do go on YouTube so I am not a total Dinosaur.

Just watched a video from Cas Tigers where paraphrasing Martin Jepson who said ‘I would not have taken up the option to buy the club if I was not fairly confident that we would be a Super League club’. Quick question …. I assume at this stage each club only knows their score? Also, I have just read a post on Facebook by Love Rugby League where Derek Beaumont is quoted as saying that he would not be surprised if Cas scraped a Grade A. But, Derek being Derek, then put the boot into Hull about their overall performance this year! Never dull in Derek’s world is it.

Beer … check. Fruit and nut bar … check. Hope it’s a good game!

Just listened to an item on the ABC National Radio sports bulletin. Apparently, PNG will only be allowed to compete in the NRL if PNG does not sign a Security Pact with China that would allow China to place Police and Military personnel on PNG.

BB, I would stop eating cheese before you go to bed ……. you will soon stop having these weird dreams.

Firstly, it is absolutely pathetic that Catalans are being asked to pay for this. I recall reading a post on here a couple of years ago stating that Leeds chartered a flight and encouraged local business people to join them for a weekend in the south of France. No doubt each attendee charged it to their expenses account. Therefore most, if not all of the cost of the flight was covered by the business people. Is this something that should be encouraged for all clubs to do as it will certainly introduce business people to the game? Or, is it a case of clubs just wanting Catalans to foot the bill as it is the easier option? P.S. If I am incorrect about the about then I am sure someone will let me know.

Yorkshire promoted, Lancashire relegated and ManUre get mullered by Spurs ………..there is indeed a God!!

I’m not really into music. Only listened to 3 on your list. Namely, War of the Worlds, Tubular Bells - which I only listened to a few weeks ago - and Slade in Flame which I bought after I saw the film of the same name in 1975 as I was, and still am, a massive Slade fan.

That reminded me about a radio program a couple of days ago about where a local Real Estate Agent was talking about Govt legislation to stop disingenuous Agents. He gave an example of a young bloke having an advertisement stating ‘Australia’s Number one Real Estate Agent’ with minute lettering below adding ‘as described by my Mum’. Apparently his Mum was interviewed and confirmed that she thought her son was indeed ‘Australia’s number one Real Estate Agent’.

Well done to Leigh for achieving a ‘subject to Audit’ Grade A. Watching the game played last night it certainly looked good seeing a full house there.

Yes Harry, I agree that it most probably will be replicated, to some extent, every year by some clubs outside of the top 6. But, because of your dislike for the new system you naturally see this as a negative. However, to some people it offers the chance for their club to build for the following season by giving youngsters a chance that would not be available to them if the club was fighting relegation and bringing in more experienced players on short term loan. IMHO it may lead to an increase in the number of ‘home grown’ players in SL leading to a decrease in overseas players. Is that a good thing or not? Re your last sentence. I struggle to see how rules can be brought in forcing clubs to play ‘experienced’ players in place of youngsters. Let’s be blunt. Leigh had a shocking start to the season. If that had continued do you honestly believe Beaumont would have told Adrian Lam that he could not use the latter half of the season to blood younger players?

Exactly!

Harry, no need to be so condescending. I look at the issue of individuals giving to charity from a different perspective. I think more of a person earning for example £400 a week and giving say £10 a week to charities of their choice than of someone who has a net worth of £30m - as an article states that this is Beaumont’s net worth - and may gives £1m a year to charities. It is a far bigger commitment to give to charity when you are on a low wage than knowing that you still having millions in the bank.

Here is my thought based on the comment from Derek “drop the dead donkey and give me the headlines” Beaumont. If ….. if ……… there was to have been relegation this year did Beaumont really believe that Hull FC would have continued to blood all these young players or is it remotely possible that Hull FC might, just might, have gone out and recruited/loaned seasoned players throughout the season in an attempt to avoid relegation? Hmmmmmmmmm? Although, fair play to Beaumont if Hull FC do finish bottom and he forks out the money for a legal challenge.

Perhaps I wasn’t clear enough. As I understand it IMG have been brought on board as consultants to the RFL. Therefore they are not an Independent Board to govern the game. I was referring to the Chairs of each club agreeing to bring in a totally Independent Board - with no club affiliations - to govern the game. Therefore, the clubs WILL NOT have any power in deciding whether or not to accept some/all of the vision/strategy/actions put forward which appears to be happening with IMG proposals.

I totally agree. The first action needs to be the Chair of each club agreeing to an Independent Board that builds the vision and strategy for the game. Without that commitment from the Chair of each club then I fear for the long term health of the game.

What about the Bovril?

Spot on. I believe that there are some RL followers that want the game to die so they can rejoice and say with glee ‘At least our team was still there till the end!’. I have asked the following question many times on this Forum over the years but nobody has ever responded. So here I go again as Whitesnake sang ‘Can anyone please explain to me how the game can grow if we continued as we did prior to IMG?’. I will not hold my breath …… For those that are apathetic about a possible NRL involvement with SL there is a documentary on google titled ‘NRL hits Vegas: Dream to Reality’. Just take some time to watch it to see how the NRL hierarchy operate. It might make you think twice about your stance.