The Phantom Horseman

That "ought to score" is based on getting the movements precisely right though. I doubt teams will want to deliberately concede 2 points unless, say, they're maybe 10 points up with a few minutes to go. I think this is a rule change where we won't "see" the impact - I don't think many kickable penalties will be conceded because of the new rule, but we might see fewer offsides at scrums.

As I stated above - teams were choosing to give away the differential penalty by deliberately going offside, because defending the first play from a tap start with 13 defenders ranged across the field is patently easier than with six men in the scrum and a seventh obliged to stand directly behind the loose forward. For the attacking team, a scrum centre-field within striking distance of the opponents' line is a cracking scoring opportunity, in fact you could say they ought to score every time if they get their timing right given the advantage they have in terms of player movement to create overlaps. It's no wonder defences were starting to deliberately concede penalties and the rule change to allow penalty goals is a counter to that.

It's not hard to see why this rule has been brought in. Last season it was obvious that players were deliberately going offside at scrums, say, 10m or 20m out as it was easier to defend a penalty than with 6 men in the scrum. The attacking side frequently just opted to set the scrum again instead.

Yes, it was their call-up that suggested to me that one or two must be struggling for fitness. Presumably Toulouse would only travel with 18 or 19 to Barrow, and Richards would have made it 20 in the squad before Brochon and Lima were added. The puzzling thing though is I think Brochon and Laguerre are both outside backs aren't they? That's the one area Toulouse seem well covered, they really need an extra half back and more forwards. So does everybody else though!

It's interesting to see so many people tipping Barrow to beat Toulouse. They might be right, it's a difficult game to predict, but expectations for Toulouse seem to have taken a nosedive in the last few weeks since their squad was announced, even though it has been obvious for three or four months that they were going to be much weaker on paper. That said...it might have gone too far in that direction now. It's hard to get information on who is going to be fit for Saturday, as there are supposedly still one or two nursing injuries, but if you look at the potential line-up they could field, it's still not at all bad, they just lack depth. The players in bold were all in their SL squad and played in one of their last two games last season Ashall-Bott Schaumkel Rennie Jussaume Marcon Ralph Shorrocks Belmas Pelissier Hansen Stefani Peyroux Marion subs Akauola Bretherton Gahan Armitage

Ah yes, there was the Super 8s bit at the end of that season wasn't there? I wonder who could have possibly beaten them Gav...

An intriguing game because Keighley are so hard to assess. The first unbeaten team in League 1 since Toulouse and Toronto, like those two teams Keighley averaged around 50 points per game and they conceded fewer on average than either of those two high-profile teams. They've made some high-profile signings too, and in front of a home crowd and the TV cameras on their season-opener they're bound to be up for it with emotions riding high. Whether they can contain a strong Featherstone pack is the question really, if they can then Chisholm and Gale have the ability and experience to make them really competitive. As a Fev fan I'd like to think we'll be too strong for them but I wouldn't have chosen to play them in round 1.

Dean Bussey Day

Selected snippets from an article Matt Shaw wrote in october 2021 after the original deal was announced: "But plans are in place to help make it affordable. Exclusive, discounted subscription offers will be made available to season ticket holders of Championship clubs. Clubs will be rewarded if subscriptions surpass a certain number, too. As part of the deal, Premier will pay the production costs involved in showing games and they will receive all the money that comes in from subscriptions until those costs are covered. After that, clubs will receive a profit share from any subsequent income brought in."... "Clubs will be rewarded for being selected for television as part of new return on investment metrics. Clubs that are broadcast more frequently and who generate larger audiences will receive more funding. But clubs are also being challenged to make their games aesthetically pleasing for the broadcasters too. Each club will be given a budget for each home game they host. As an example, subsidised travel for away fans will be introduced in an attempt to incentivise supporters to make a trip on a midweek evening. Other plans in place include season ticket holders being able to bring a friend for free and enhanced community and schools engagement leading up to games will be encouraged. The aim is to ensure attendances for televised games are strong, which not only will look better on television but bring in matchday revenue aside from ticket sales. Games that are broadcast often see a dip in attendance but clubs are being challenged to buck that trend. The RFL has told clubs that the money they receive for being shown at home is a marketing budget rather than compensation."... "Financially, this deal isn't the financial saviour clubs are seeking. It's thought it has brought in a six-figure fee. However, what it has done is provide a platform for growth and exposure. Now, both the RFL and the clubs must capitalise on that." Presumably both the aspect of helping "make it affordable" and the profit-sharing from subscriptions applied only to year one of the two-year deal. It seems very doubtful there's much, if any money in it for the clubs. On the other hand, manuy of us moaned for years about the dearth of Championship RL games on TV, and the quality of the coverage was widely regarded as excellent, so I'm inclined not to knock it.

This is laughable. Are the other Championship teams going to be able to sign NRL-calibre players such as Asiata, Amone, Ferguson, Lam, O'Donnell, McDonald etc? The message to other Championship teams should be to learn from what Batley did, not what Leigh did. Batley beat Fev fair and square on a vastly lower budget.

That's exactly how I feel about Mackenzie based on his two games so far. He's great fun to watch, and there's a chance he could prove a tremendous signing - he's certain to be a big fan favourite - he just needs to tidy up some of his challenges.

No you're right, Ford missed the Cas game, Dean was (I think) on Warrington's warm-weather training camp for the Hull KR game. For me though the timing with the centre and back row on their side of the field (and full back) is more important than the two halves playing together, in practice half backs don't link up a huge amount with each other in the modern game.

Yep, putting that one down to old age. My guess is he'll play Locky, and one of Cozza or Yei will miss out from the 17 I listed.

My (Fev-oriented) take on the game at Wakefield... Fev had much the better of the first half, four or five line breaks compared to none for Wakefield and a couple of tries from kicks. Riley Dean again showing on a couple of occasions that he can create openings. Wakefield never really threatened at all and the only time they made it as far as the Fev 20m was in a 10-tackle set. Second half two things altered. Fev made several changes, removing Riley Dean, switching Aekins from full back to half back, then a few minutes into the second half switching Lacans from half to hooker and moving Elijah Taylor away from middle to edge. Secondly you really got the impression Wakefield had had a rocket up their backsides as they came out defending (in particular) like men possessed, in fact they were very impressive in that regard, throwing three or four players into most tackles and frequently forcing Fev to kick from deep in their own territory, which added to the fact that Fev had no recognised halves/kickers meant that Wakefield were repeatedly in good ball. Wakefield were steadily winning the arm wrestle and after surviving the first four or five sets Fev's defence started to give way and Wakefield got on top. When Fev finally managed to get some field position they didn't help themselves by turning over the ball 4 times through ill-advised offloads. From Fev's POV it will have done them good to have been under the cosh for so long as they were in the second half. Wakefield fans will take plenty of encouragement from the second half if not the first.

The positions I'm most unsure about are... centre...I think Hankinson will play, but unsure about who Long will go for out of Hardy and Hall middles - Koppy, Moors, Taylor nailed on to be in the 17. Springer very likely too. I think Locky will play, I think Long is a big fan. That would leave Cozza and Yei probably fighting it out for 1 spot unless we play 3 middles on the bench, which we may well do. Cozza is probably the "safer" choice and can play big minutes, Yei is the impact player who can put a dent in opposition defences but he's also mistimed or missed a few tackles. Tough call that for me, and if Hardy isn't picked at centre he's a possible for the bench because of his versatility. At half back, as much as I admire Lacans, I think Ford and Dean are our two starters, the only thing that puzzles me slightly is that he's played both Ford and Dean on the left in pre-season so one would have to switch. I'm going to guess we go with something like Aekins/Briscoe/Hankinson/Hardcastle/Evans/Ford/Dean/Kopczak/Jones/Springer/Bussey/Day/Taylor subs Wildie/Cozza/Yei/Moors

taking your points one by one... I don't think suffering losses is at all unusual for RL clubs. Saints and Wigan each reported losses of over £1m in their latest accounts (for 2021) but nobody seems to be saying they are in a financial crisis Sarrazain announced his forthcoming departure in October but said at the time that he had told the board about his intention to do so 18 months previously. The dozen or so players that have been retained presumably are all on fairly decent salaries and it was always likely that the budget for this year would be slashed (though they have said it's only gone down to 4 million euros). The front of the shirt does seem to be very light on sponsors and the Mutuelle Du Rempart logo is noticeably missing (the mairie logo is on the back of the jersey). The MdR logo still appears on the website though so maybe there's a legitimate reason, perhaps related to them having changed suppliers to le Coq Sportif, or perhaps negotiations are ongoing. But it's a good point, if they have lost a major sponsor then that is a worry. My take overall is that they are having to cut their cloth according to very different circumstances from previous years, but that's been obvious for many months. A budget of 4 million euros doesn't sound like they are in a serious financial crisis to me. But am only guessing really.

Indeed. Some of us are concerned about some of what passes as RL "journalism" in this country and the response to this story has been predictable, with "Championship club reportedly on the verge of bankruptcy" the sensational headline from one of the worst serial offenders. Unfortunately as a result I've seen fans on FB pages etc discussing whether they should cancel their flights to Toulouse for away games etc. As it says in League Express today, quoting a Toulouse spokesman: "We’ve seen the dramatic headlines online, but none of those people contacted us for clarification. “It’s a simple situation that many professional clubs find themselves in at the moment, We’ve suffered losses and we are dealing with it."

The fact that Long took Dean off at half time when we were winning 12-0 and played Bussey and Aekins at half back tells us he wasn't really bothered about the result, and that's how it should be in pre-season really even though it's nice to win. Wakefield clearly got a rocket up their backsides at half time as they were flying off the line and putting four or five into the tackle on multiple occasions, we didn't help ourselves in that second half by turning the ball over mainly through offloads which didn't come off (at least 3 or 4), but it will have done us good facing a team that were clearly very up for it in that second half.

Fev went into experimental mode in the second half and went with Caleb Aekins and Jack Bussey at half back. Fair play to Wakefield as they were clearly desperate to win and were throwing four or five men into every tackle, they certainly dominated the second half. A good workout for Fev today.

Jamie Hobbs has posted on Facebook that the connectivity is very poor hence why it keeps dropping.

Yes, this was a National Hunt Flat race, these are races under jumps rules but without any obstacles and are designed for inexperienced horses to get used to racing without the worry of jumps. Beep Beep Burrow is a 6yo and they were set to carry 11-02, the 4yos in the race who are considered much less mature received a hefty weight-for-age allowance, plus some of the jockeys (not Beep Beep Burrow's) were allowed an extra weight allowance due to their own inexperience.

Beep Beep Burrow, who is being campaigned to raise funds for the Motor Neurone Disease Association, made a promising debut when staying on from a long way back to finish about sixth on his debut at Doncaster today.

Probably something to do with us staging the BARLA finals today.

Our squad has been announced. A few names missing, presumably rested - Ford, Kopczak and Jones amongst them, as well as Davies (injured) and Leilua (compassionate leave). Triallist Jake Roberts is amongst the 21 we have named, with Dan Fleming the other player to miss out along with long-term absentees Kheirallah and Hepi.

I was watching an online video of a TV programme on ViaOccitaine and unless my French is failing me Bernard Sarrazain said Toulouse's budget this year is 4 million euros. I know they presumably have to run the Elite 1 and U19 teams out of that too as well as the travel costs but it still seems like a fairly decent budget by Championship standards.