EagleEyePie

Trying to create a club from nothing in a random location and then keep it going was always going to be difficult. When that random location is one with deep rooted economic issues, no real affinity for the game, no city/town with a significant population and no history of being able to maintain a half decent sports team then it just seems like madness.

I think what you describe has always been the case when describing geographic location as larger areas are more well known. I don't think I've ever met someone from Wigan or Leigh who actually says they are from Manchester, bar someone from Atherton with delusions of grandeur thinking an M postcode makes them as Mancunian as the Gallagher brothers. The same with people from St Helens sayiny they are from Liverpool. 'Near to' of course, but not actually from there. The satellite towns are still fairly distinct for the moment. There's geographic separation. Less so with Salford as it sees more and more development to serve those working in Manchester. I don't think Salford could ever represent a larger area of Greater Manchester though. The same obviously goes for Swinton who have flirted with the idea. It's not the same as Everton being named after a small area of Liverpool or West Ham as you said. I think that only works with clubs that have already established themselves as big teams decades ago. Mancunians don't relate to Salford. It's only the other way around. West Ham can represent London because they are one of many large London football clubs. They are more well known than the area they represent. For Salford to represent Manchester from where they are now would seem pretty much impossible without the kind of success that has gained Leeds, Saints and Wigan casual fans from outside the local area. I agree about the generational and cultural gap. It's been one of the issues the sport has faced for a long time. Leeds probably struggle with this too. The university and city status attracts plenty of younger people but for a city the size of Leeds, which is pretty much the same population as Manchester in terms of the city itself, the attendances aren't that spectacular. They are lower than Wigan and even the Wigan Borough population (shared with Leigh) isn't close to that of Leeds. There could be so much potential for Leeds and Salford but I think it's the sport as a whole that isn't quite appealing enough to young professionals. It's the old fashioned and long standing working class perception problem.

I think this is a really good point. It's hard for rugby league in general to break through the wall that is football but when you're on the doorstep of what is arguably the modern day stronghold of English football it must be so hard to get any sort of attention. I've also found Salford to have a bit of an identity crisis too. Most of the people I know who were born in Salford say they are from Manchester. They also support the Manchester football clubs. That hometown pride is actually directed towards Manchester rather than the town they were born in. They are all aged 30 or below too, which is probably another issue given clubs are always desperate to attract younger fans. Salford might be going through a period of redevelopment and it's almost certainly a much bigger draw for young people than most other rugby league towns in the local area, but it feels a bit like Salford is split in two. 'Old' Salford as the traditional working class areas, skewing a bit older, less affluent but more likely to be rugby league fans. 'New' Salford is essentially just an extension of Manchester. More affluent and younger but pretty much always looking east rather than west. Places like Wigan and Leigh might also be mostly football obsessed but your local sports team is Wigan Athletic, Wigan Warriors or Leigh Leopards. The big sporting events in your local area are mostly going to be rugby league games. For Salford it's always going to be a Man Utd game. I also think the lack of a proper derby has hindered Salford too. Big games, the 'us vs them' games, have always been a good way to get people hooked on rugby league. I know so many people whose first taste of rugby league was the derby with St Helens. Warrington games have a similar pull and also now the derby with Leigh. When I worked in Wigan no one I worked with was interested in rugby league but everyone knew when it was a Wigan v Saints game. Most knew if it was Wigan v Warrington. Salford just don't seem to have that so there's no really big rivalry where you can drag along non-fans to experience the big game.

I don't know if the video ref sees a slightly bigger image that what gets broadcast, but there was definitely a point where the ball was completely lost from view as it approached the height of the kick. It seemed weird that it was given as unsuccessful rather than inconclusive.

Tomkins had a cracking game tonight but he completely forgot about the strength of the wind at the end. Any kick in that situation was going to have to be along the floor

Without hyperbole, this is some of the worst defending I've ever seen

I thought any contact to the head with the shoulder was a red card these days, even if it's secondary contact? Mind you I think refs just go with the flow these days. Outcomes seem to differ massively from incident to incident

More of a pong

Made by Castore aren't they? Their football kits were notorious for design issues and getting torn easily

Sounds like Fred Elliott

That's poor from a winger in the modern game. Briscoe should be doing better than that

Where's the shoulder contact to the head there?

1. Will a Super League team win to nil? No 2. Will a Championship team score more than 7 tries? No 3. Will Huddersfield be bottom of Super League at the end of the weekend? Yes 4. Will there be a game in League 1 that has a combined points total of 70 or more? No 5. Will there be a match that finishes level after 80 minutes across all 3 professional divisions? Yes Tiebreaker: How many combined points will be scored by teams (place names) that start with the letter 'W' in all 3 divisions? 101

It's early doors but Rovers have very firmly established themselves as the benchmark this season. The first couple of games may have been underwhelming but they also demonstrated that ability to win when not playing well which all champion teams possess. Against Saints and now Leigh they've shown how dominant they can be when they are playing well. The only thing standing in their way is whether they can play at their best in a final.

The 'it's just a nice guy persona' is a self-fulfilling prophecy. I doubt anyone on here actually knows the guy outside of press conferences and interviews so whether he's a nice guy or not is a complete unknown. He's been outspoken at times as the comments about Warrington showed. As soon as people start putting him on some sort of pedestal there will be people just desperate for him to slip up. If it was a deliberate pretence any negative bits would have been cut from the documentary, such as the comments to Willie Peters after the cup game. At the end of the day he's probably exactly like most of us on here, trying to say or do the right thing most of the time but capable of saying or doing the wrong thing at times too. People waiting for the 'gotcha' moment is a bit silly though.

It's a bit weird when pundits act like Wigan losing twice in a row is such a massive shock. We won everything last season but we didn't win every game and we did suffer back to back losses last year, twice in 2023 and again in 2022. We aren't even in uncharacteristic territory yet.

"Are you stupid" asks Harry Smith The answer is yes

Ellis has been uncharacteristically poor in this game. Shocking error to make and gifted Leeds good position.

He's getting old. It'll be his back. It happens to us all. Don't be ageist

Finally we get something! No surprise it's Smith who is pulling the strings. He's been behind most of the good things we've done this season (and admittedly some of the bad too).

Attacked is a bit of a stretch. That's not a penalty

Great return from Eckersley. Got us out of jail there

Basics of kicking. Make sure you touch the ball with your foot

Leeds all over us at the moment. Sure we're missing a couple of players but it's the pack that's not performing at the moment. When Thompson and Ellis are having average games there's no one else who seems to step up. Some lazy defence in the middle of the field.

Nightmare from Douglas! He should be taking that cleanly. Not really under any pressure and an absolute gift.