The Blues Ox

"We couldn't believe it, could you?"

They will have all these stats but as I imagine its clicks that they make money from then all that matters is that there has been an increase in people arriving at the website. I imagine most regular readers will be using adblockers anyway and theres a chance they may have stats on that as well so that would be intersting to know.

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At least they are making an effort to raise the quality of the content. Fair do's.

Clicks bring money so volume is key rather than quality. Sad but true. Its a nice short term business model but ultimatley all it leads to is diluting the brand.

Not sure where to start with that.

Decent odds for Walmsley that. Comfortably averaged more tries per game than any other player last season but a few things could hurt him, obviously injury, maybe like last season he doesn't play early games depending on conditions, the other thing it looks like Maizen is set to play as his centre which could take some tries away from him. Might be worth the 0.10p bet I can get on at SkyBet.

Lachlan Walmsley for top try scorer.

If enough of us report the posts on Twitter as spam do you think they would get the message?

Go on Rob. Nice signing for Hunslet. Some great memories of him at Fax.

Its absolute rubbish that is getting churned out. I unfollowed as it were doing my head in seeing all the click bait that they and others were putting out. Click bait is one of the lowest forms of advertising but it obviously works hence why it is so popular. Its lazy journalism as well, I mean do I really care which SL team has the greenest grass or rubbish like that? Interview some players, maybe speak to clubs find out some feel good stories about the players like who's doing some charity work that nobody knows something. Aim for raising the profile of the game, instead all this does is alienate people who are actually interested in the game.

Me too. Sorely disappointed after arrival, didn't even realise there was another Panthers but leaving educated.

The latest piece of genius reporting.......... "BRADFORD BULLS appear ready to bring in five new recruits following the release of the West Yorkshire club’s squad numbers last night. There were no numbers 23, 24 ,27, 28 and 29, hinting at further recruitment for Bradford going into one of the most important seasons for the club in their most recent history." On another note I hear Fax are also ready to bring in 5 more players following the announcement of their squad numbers the other day.

Yep very disappointing if true.

As this is the rumor thread looks like theres a rumor that our intrepid Bradford fanboy reporter has been stealing ideas from the SARL reporter. I really can't do with either and don't like that style of "journalism" but I made for a funny read on Twitter.

Or laughing that he has not only been paid off but Bradford are paying him as well in what might be his last season as a pro.

If anything it just speaks more about Joe's contribution that Fax would pay somebody to get him off their books rather than let him see out his contract.

I was going to say something similar but didn't want to jinx them in to a 3rd place finish.

Bradford defo going to push the top 2 on what I have read so far in the off season. They should be way shorter than 11/1.

Imagine that famous Alex Murphy interview at Wigan nowadays. Bullying, constructive dismisal, there's allsorts going on in that interview.

Brilliant and well balanced read as always PH. You really add a lot better content on here than we see from some so called journalists kicking about. I'm really looking forward to this season even though it does seem very similar to the build up to last season with a well defined top 2. What I don't see though is either of those top 2 suddenly making a run of signings to make it a top 1 which then does give more of a chance that one of them could slip up and allow another team a chance. This year there feels to be a bit of pressure on certain teams as well to add interest and I don't really include the likely top 2 in that. Bradford are been heavily hyped and to be fair have made some decent signings but I still see the most interesting thing about their season been whether they can finish above Keighley who even though they are the promoted team, I think with their signings there seems to be a bit of expectation on them. You would imagine they won't be near relegation but could they be this years surprise package that can break the top 6? Speaking of surprise packages, Batley have now well and truly lost that tag and its going to be really interesting to see how they go after losing key players. Their pack is still formidable though and its hard to see too much of a drop off from them. A few teams have been pretty quiet like York but as PH says the signing of Henderson is a very shrewd move in my eyes. Widnes another team I almost feel are treading water, Gilmore is a good signing but its hard to see past a will they, won't they scenario when it comes to talking about teams that may sneak in to the playoffs. For Fax I am hoping we hit the ground running this year as a slow start really did cost us last season but we have a bit of size in our pack this season which hopefully can get us through the first couple of months where the grounds really don't allow for the type of rugby we try to play. For me the most underated signing we have made is Will Maher, he did ok for uis on loan and he impressed me when I saw him play for Hull KR so this one has gone a little under the radar. I can't wait to watch Doro in a Fax shirt and he will obviously become a fan favorite just from the way he plays and he is just the type of raw talent that Grix seems to be able to get the best out of. With Arundel leaving we do have a bit of a gap at centre but we need to remember that when Worthington, Tibbs, and Arudel were all fit it was Tibbs that was starting over Arundel and averaging a try a game. Another Grix success story there and he has shown in his time as coach he expects the same high standards that he set for himself as a player, shape up or ship out. Less than 3rd would be a disappointment but can we start to bridge the gap to the top 2?

Any reason given? Scott Murrell to Cas as asistant coach. Good signing for them in my opinion, I was disappointed when the deal to bring him back to Fax fell through but can't blame him for taking up a more stable opportunity in SL.

Albert Kelly to the Bulls to help with their promotion push? Our excitable TRL reporter seems to think it could be a possibility.

Funny thing is I would have said that Arundel is a perfect fit for Bradford on how they did things last season but it does seem like they are looking to turn things around so maybe not for the coming season. Maybe they will see Arundel as someone who can help them in their big push for SL this season.

Grix certainly doesnt mince his words but it spoke volumes when he could not get his place back from Ben Tibbs and I imagine the decision had been coming from as far back as then.