Colin James

Interesting to read your views on Woods. He was good for us at Swinton and I thought he played well against us for Newcastle this season. You may be right about him not reaching SL heights again, his kicking isn't brilliant and he perhaps lacks a yard of speed but he's young for a HB and I think he'll be playing at a good standard for many years. Would take him back at the Lions in a flash.

Good luck to both teams. Whatever the result I hope people who claim to love our sport will cease talking Fev down with sneering comments. They're a well run club which has improved it's ground and is at the heart of its community. If you think we should have a SL made up of big city clubs or lots of foreign teams that's fine. I happen to agree that Toulouse in SL would be good for the game as a whole and has potentially bigger benefits than Fev going up but we don't need to put Fev down to make that point.

Would certainly be a strange final for players from those clubs knowing that if they win there's a fair chance they'll lose their job.

The poll was 20 years ago and has little relevance today. I doubt it would make the top 100 if the poll were repeated today.

Your average Joe Public under the age of 50 has never heard of Don Fox. It might be iconic for RL fans of a certain vintage but in the wider public consciousness I'd argue it's way down the list.

I wouldn't be hugely enthusiastic about Ford if I were a Salford fan. With the resources he has had this season at York they've had a very poor season truth be told. And from his point of view, I don't think it's an attractive time to move given the general direction of travel of the two clubs.

Mick Nanyn would have played with Martyn Ridyard at Leigh. Different ends of their careers so not both at 2500 at the time but Ridyard may reach it before retiring.

The article says their playing budget is under £60k. That's really not very much in the grand scheme of things across a squad of 20 players. Playing devil's advocate somewhat but how little can we pay players whilst claiming to be a professional sport? I hope Coventry manage to find a solution to the cuts and continue their progress. They have always seemed to be the best run of the expansion clubs that came in to League One a few years ago and are seeing some rewards on the pitch.

I assume from that post you have read Beaumont's piece in the paper (or are the man himself). I found his sneering attitude to Dave bizarre. I dare say a RL Raw type show would go down very well on Dave. It would reach an audience we don't currently reach being hidden away on subscription Sky Sports services.

There's a balance to be struck between ruthlessness and looking after the whole sport. Three or four years ago a club like York would have been up there with those clubs being named as worth sacrificing because they were a financial basket case close to not completing the season. Now they have turned it around and are doing well and being heralded as a SL club in waiting on the back of a few good years. We can't not draw lines and make decisions but we do need to be aware that the current status is only a snapshot of the game. You can pick any point in history to swing an axe and there will be clubs lucky/unlucky to be on either side because their peak/trough happens to coincide with the axe swinging. Seems quite simple to me that a SL with promotion and relegation in place but also with strict minimum standards is the way to go. Give clubs a timeframe to meet the standards and then accept no excuses if they aren't met. 12 teams playing home and away with no Magic, simple play off series with League Leaders into the final to meet winner of (2v5) v (3v4). Clubs need to sell their tickets. If 11 home games isn't enough they need to find other revenue streams. A shortened format increases the importance of individual games so they should be easier to sell. The space created can be used for internationals. We don't need to reinvent the wheel. Consistency allows clubs to plan, whatever format is eventually settled on, it has to be long term. We can't keep restructuring like this a few weeks before the end of the season. It's amateurish.

They weren't ousted. They tried to change the name of the club and when they didn't have universal support of the fans they left. They were doing a lot of good things bringing the club back from the brink but it seems the Manchester thing was a red line for them and the morning after going on radio promoting the idea and talking it up Mazey walked away. What's done is done and despite bad results on the field, the club is in a strong position off it. We'll never know how things would have turned out if they had stayed the course.

By deducted two points do they mean had a win scrubbed off their %? Points are meaningless this season aren't they?

If a player tests positive you can either do what Scotland did, and claim nobody else has been in contact with them no matter how ridiculous that claim appears, or if you don't fancy it claim half the squad now have to stand down. You could say RL has been more responsible and stuck steadfastly to the rules than other sports/businesses. If that is the case it's commendable but it's not good for the sport. You can guarantee if a SL team is going into a game missing squad numbers 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 14, 17 like Swinton were at the weekend they'll have had a Covid contact and have to pull out of playing.

SL clubs calling off fixtures every week gives the Aussies the excuse they need. If we can't manage to field domestic teams because squads are so riddled with Covid then it doesn't paint a good picture of the situation over here.

London are doing well.

Realistically I would like to be in the Championship with some home grown players in the first team. Junior teams running at every age group and the Lionesses competing at a good level. A reserve team would be fantastic. Heywood Road is a good base and unless somehow a stadium in Swinton becomes possible I see no reason to leave. There are amateur clubs who have contributed more to the sport along those lines over the last 30 years than a lot of clubs in the professional game who have become bogged down with trying to compete/survive and spend all their money and energy on the first team and players who are here today and gone tomorrow. We want ambition in the sport but that doesn't mean every club has to try and be Grand Final winners because it's just not realistic. If Swinton is a good Championship club which engages new people in the sport that's fine. It's more than the club has been for a long time. On the back of engagement you have to hope that new younger blood will start attending games because the average age of our fans must be well over 50. I'd rather be doing the above in L1 than playing in front of 400 in the Championship with a load of Dual Reg players going into the season thinking we'd be happy finishing third bottom. It's about substance, legacy and community. If someone wants to try and create Manchester the Super League franchise playing out of a big stadium I hope they are successful. We don't need to be that club and we don't need to kill off Swinton/Rochdale/Oldham/Salford to create that club.

That ship has sailed. I was broadly supportive of the change because we had a good board and recognised the club couldn't continue operating as it was (small loyal group of fans funding a first team and nothing else). But the current board has shown that we can be so much more whilst also respecting the heritage of the club. There remains potential for an elite club in Manchester under the Manchester banner but Swinton doesn't need to be that club. If someone else either existing club or new club wants to give it a go then good luck to them.

Thanks, not sure what went wrong, I've edited the correct links in now.

Like this? Lions and Rangers Partnership Greater Manchester Player Development League Head of Youth Development England Talent Pathway Got women's teams running at under 16 and open age for the first time this season with plans to expand that next year. Things aren't going well on the pitch for the men's first team at Swinton but away from that the club is flying. So much progress being made.

He makes some good points but offers no solutions to the problem which is the lack of money in the game. I'd be quite concerned if I were a Batley fan that their coach is saying there's no incentive for them to win any more games this season.

I'd guess it's because the squads in SL are together every day so more likely one positive test takes out others within the squad who have to isolate.

Very interesting to read these predictions and nice/unusual to not see everyone predicting relegation for Swinton. I too think you are way off with Newcastle. They were good against us with 13 debutants in what was a very high quality game with few errors and penalties. They have decent depth and finances to strengthen. Only one game but on that showing they're a top half side even though we did beat them.

Swinton were dreadful first 40. That they were leading at HT is very worrying for Oldham. The Lions missing first choice prop and lost the other in the first half. I thought they stood up really well second half in adversity. In the circumstances a very fine win for the Lions.

Is the Oldham pack bigger than Bradford's?

Thought the coverage of the Swinton game was great albeit the commentators didn't hide their desire to see Bradford come out on top. Not sure I'd pay to watch as a neutral but definitely happy to pay to watch my team. Service was fine, didn't cut out at all. Good value for an entertaining game and professional presentation of it.