The Blues Ox
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Posts posted by The Blues Ox
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Total waste of time unless England use this to put out a development squad which knowing Stuart Barrow, they won't.
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2 hours ago, Futtocks said:
Shall we have a round by round match thread for the women's game Down Under? Let's see how this flies.
I have meetings all tomorrow morning so will be watching the first televised match of the season on catch-up.
When are the games on? I wouldnt mind watching more of the NRLW. Think a round by round thread a good idea.
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4 hours ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:
There's a huge difference in refs encouraging an injured player to get up under their own steam and someone lifting an injured player.
edit: redundant apostrophe removed
Maybe but if the game has player welfare at its heart like we constantly hear, then neither should be happening. In my head one way around any shenanigans at the play the ball trying to work out if someone is injured or not would be a live review by the VR as the game went on. Play could easily be brought back and time reset if its an incident that warranted a card. Its not like the VR is doing anything else in their down time apart from maybe drinking tea and eating cookies.
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I didn't agree with the length of ban that Titus Gwaze got for lifting an injured player, I think he got 8 games, so in that respect Horne got off lightly but I still think its a bit of a shambles. On one hand we are saying do not lift an injured player and then in the next breath ref's are actively encouraging injured players to stand up and play the ball so we don't have a stoppage and a VR review of the incident.
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Oulton failing to raise a team for their fixture with Cardiff this week and rumors that they may not complete the season. Id expect them to be gone from the Championship next season with Widnes and potentially Wakefield moving up. Cas look like the other team that could give way although I am hearing we could even go to yorkshire and Lancashire leagues next season below the Championship. It would lead to an extremley strong Yorkshire league but I fear the standard in Lancashire would be pretty poor.
Around the leagues this week, London picked up a win over Salford but not as dominant as I thought it might be and Fev hammered Cas, Ive watched this one and cas are way out of their depth while Fev's pack completley dominated their opposition and they played some good rugby to go with it. Im not as convinced as I were that London will have it all their own way when these two play each other in a play off final.
League 1 with 3 pretty tight games, Illingworth with a nail biting last minute win against Fryston to throw spots 3 and below wide open then Wakey only beating Leigh by 16-0. Not sure what team Wakey had out or if they still have players in from Huddersfield but Im surprised how close this one looks. The same goes for Widnes who I am convinced are the best team in this league but only managed a 13-6 win against a tough Workington team at Widnes.
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3 hours ago, Damien said:
I cant say I ever saw or heard anything from Bloem that would give this any credibility. Lets face it he didn't have the best of track records.
Totally agree, I don't like him as a person so I take anything he says with a pinch of salt. He certainly said it though.
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9 hours ago, north yorks trinity said:
Did he say this on the record or was it hearsay?
Certainly on record but I can't remember if it is in his book.
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9 hours ago, sentoffagain2 said:
I don't mind who is promoted Toulouse ,York ,London even Bradford but not if they are playing out of Odsal.It has had it's day .
I know it will annoy some Fax fans but I likely won't go and watch a single game that we play at Odsal, its not because of some weird hatred of Bradford that some Fax fans have but just because its a really bad place to watch rugby. The stadium itself is pretty bad and food and drink prices are ridiculous but the pitch been so narrow just makes for really poor quality games. If you are paying a fortune to watch what is basically just a step up from amateur rugby then you want to at least have a chance of enjoying it.
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8 hours ago, The Future is League said:
Perhaps more needs to be done to encourge players to become match officials when they retire.
We had this with Jamie Bloem and it ended with him quitting reffing and claiming that he was told which teams to influence winning games by people above him.
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2 hours ago, DEANO said:
Had to laugh at the 2 clubs already promoted have been beaten this weekend
We have to remember this is the modern game where it means almost nothing what happens on the field.
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The big questions if the league does expand are obviously, where do the SL quality players come from to fill 2 more squads, and also who would be the 3rd team going up? Bradford and Toulouse would be nailed on and with Salford we have to presume getting the boot we would need another team. Could they just put London back in there? Other than something a bit leftfield like that you could throw a blanket over a number of teams and it would just be luck of the draw if it works or not.
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56 minutes ago, Damien said:
How?
They have at least one very rich investor pumping money in to them. They could comfortably give up the SL funding for the first season if it meant them getting in there.
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4 hours ago, gittinsfan said:
I have read a report that at least 2 Championship clubs are willing to form a SL league of 14 but will give up any central funding.If anyone thinks this is feasible I must be living on another planet.
I am assuming they think they will have a miserable season in the hope of a closed shop the season after.
I think Bradford could afford comfortably at least for the next 2 or 3 seasons.
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21 minutes ago, Pen-Y-Bont Crusader said:
Please elaborate ? I genuinely didn’t know about this?
In 2023 Bradford posted a number of attendances that were disproved on this forum with evidence. Obviously the Fax game stands out for me and I think the attendance was announced as around 4500 when there was not even 2k in the ground. This became a common theme through the rest of the season, I believe at some point it was also called out by a couple of Championship chairman. It is no surprise their attendance figures for corresponding figures over the following seasons became a bit more realistic.
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The experience he gained in faking Bradford's attendance figures 2 or 3 seasons back can only help when it comes to bodging numbers for the overall game.
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SATURDAY 28th JUNE
Widnes Vikings v Toulouse Olympique Toulouse by 16SUNDAY 29th JUNE
Barrow Raiders v Bradford Bulls Bradford by 10
Batley Bulldogs v Sheffield Eagles Draw
Halifax Panthers v Oldham Oldham by 16
Hunslet v London Broncos London by 12
York Knights v Featherstone Rovers I can't win with this one can I?
Regards Kear, I think hes perfect for Batley. His respect and contacts in the game, his ability to motivate players for a battle, and he probably is costing Batley next to nothing, makes him a good choice in my opinion. Its a tough ask for him as for the first time in many years they look a bit of a mess.-
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2 minutes ago, OldRedEyes said:
‘Backwards in relation to the ground’
The most used phrase this season went missing. Wrong call and it’s given Wakey a well needed rest
Hull KR player pulled it back towards the try line, never regained control and it touched the Wakey player. It really only needed one view not 20.
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One view to know that was not a try.
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Very good ref Aaryn, I remember having him ref some girls games a few years back and it was obvious he would end up at a high level so its great to see him reffing top end Championship and won't be long before he is taking on SL games. He's well fit as well apparently.
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I think in a couple of the cases its the players and coaches that are the problem, more so than the fans.
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2 hours ago, The Phantom Horseman said:
I do share the puzzlement of Fax fans at Eastmond still playing Woodburn-Hall at half back, I'd certainly say as an opposing fan that Jouffret (injured or just not selected?) at half and WH at full back would worry me a lot more than WH and Hansen at half. Caleb Aekins is exactly the same, he can fill in adequately at half but he's miles better at 1.
I think enough people see it now that it becomes a bit of stubborness. Jouffret fit to play last 2 weeks and he has to be in the team infront of Hansen every single week.
1 hour ago, Fevrover said:It's clearly says in the scores that the last try WAS a try
, good contest and for long periods good backing from Fax fans - and THAT drum 
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Nope not having it, in true Fax fashion, I am claiming the moral high ground on that decision and calling it a 10 point win.
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3 hours ago, RigbyLuger said:
What are they bickering over?
Reading the Illingworth and Fax statements, it seems Fax had 14 players available to Illingworths 16 and refused to play the game but then also refused to look for another date and just took the 40-0, or what ever it is now, loss. I think part of the gripe is the late decision and with the fact that Fax played Friday night it may have been a good crowd and a bit of a money earner for Illingworth. Trying to be as impartial as possible, but it seems poor form by Fax who stated player welfare in their announcement. I may be wrong but I think Fax played a team from over the pennines last season who turned up with 11 and then dropped to 9 with the game eventually been abandoned all the time with Fax refusing to drop numbers from 13. I guess in typical RL fashion it is player welfare when it suits.
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Sounds like its been an eventful week in League 1 with Fryston unable to raise a team for their trip to Workington due to Fev U19's having a game which subsequently got cancelled as they were also unable to raise a team but with Fryston players already making plans they were still unable to raise a team to complete the fixture.
Also a spat between my two local teams after Halifax forfeited their game against local rivals Illingworth at the last minute and refused to rearrange the fixture. It could be tasty if the second game goes ahead after the bickering on socials.
Fri 4th-Sun 6th Jul: The Betfred Championship Match Thread
in The General Rugby League Forum
Posted
FRIDAY 4th JULY
Bradford Bulls v Hunslet Bradford by 72
SATURDAY 5th JULY
London Broncos v Halifax Panthers London by 10
Toulouse Olympique v Doncaster Toulouse by 20
SUNDAY 6th JULY
Featherstone Rovers v Barrow Raiders Fev by 4
Oldham v Widnes Vikings Oldham by 6
Sheffield Eagles v York Knights York by 20