JonM

I was hoping someone called langpark might now the answer to why lang park is a sellout at 80% full ?

51 minutes in the first half with the number of head injury assessments for Widnes players. I think TO have been rather lucky not to be down to 12 on several occasions. If Toulouse were less intent on bullying the Widnes players and bit more focused on playing rugby league, they'd be miles ahead given the difference in size and speed, but it's 18-4 Widnes HT. If they come out and play in the second half, they'll win - they're absolutely dominant in terms of territory.

Widnes 6-0 up against Toulouse after 5 minutes, after a penalty. Rob Butler's tackle was so late the ball was 40 metres away in the other half of the field. Fortunately for him, the referee and touch judges were already in the other half of the field too. The T.O side look about 10kg per man bigger than Widnes, can't see them staying behind for very long.

Seems strange to have announced a sell out at Lang Park and then a crowd which is 9k below nominal capacity. 18 191 for St. George v Parra in Wollongong. 17 055 for Manly v Wests at Brookvale yesterday and 17 527 for Newcastle.v Canberra.

Exactly. I don't think London Spirit or Oval Originals were particularly great names. I don't think naming a team Saracens or Wasps or Arsenal or Spurs at whatever point in the past would've done anything all by itself either. It's not the actual name that matters, provided it's not too stupid. It's what you do with it.

I suspect most people in the UK would have no idea what a Bronco was and the most common answer would be a Ford Bronco SUV.

It was Jamie Morley anyway, wasn't it? Or Adrian Fielden? I forget.

Who can forget the England 2008 World Cup song? Sadly I can't even find it on YouTube https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearts_of_England This one from 1995?

Phil "he's a stepper" Ford? Sadly, no Mike Gregory to run the length of the field. Suspect Paul Eastwood probably doesn't want to be reminded of the two missed kicks that might have won us the Ashes.

John Kear back as Batley coach until the end of the season. Up against his former assistant in his first game I think?

I ran the length of Hadrian's Wall back in March, and to turn it into a proper coast to coast thing, continued on to Tynemouth, before getting the metro back. The priory, castle, beach, town centre etc. are beautiful. The station feels very grand relative to its current status, but seems to have had a fair bit spent on it recently. Judging by the adverts, they have regular book fairs and Farmer's markets inside the station, so it obviously gets a lot of use.

Indeed. Likewise, I doubt HMRC have just accepted vague promises. Hopefully this is good news.

It seems equally bizarre to assume that the L1 clubs would ask for more games and an official at the RFL would just say no. There's no obvious reason why the RFL would want to restrict the number of games played by L1 clubs - what would they gain by it?

I dunno. Having England v France as a curtain raiser for a Fev game in Toulouse last season seemed to go well.

My assumption is that L1 clubs didn't actually want more fixtures, because presumably if they did, they could simply have told the RFL that there needed to be loop fixtures and it could have been arranged well before the season started. I don't see any reason why the RFL would have said no, you need to play fewer games. Perhaps the risk of two away trips to Cornwall was too much for some clubs?

Just adding 2873 for Toulouse v Oldham - presumably the 38C temperature reduced the attendance somewhat.

Jacobsen Venture Group Limited was added as a supporting creditor to the court case yesterday. A supporting creditor is a party who joins the initial creditor in their attempt to have a company wound up. That seems pretty strange, as Sosaia Kailahi is Jacobsen Venture Group Limited's owner, and supposedly also the majority shareholder in Salford. I guess we'll see the court case outcome today and maybe things will become clearer.

Seems like the third time they've played this week, with another fixture planned for this evening. I'd suggest not clicking on the adverts for live streaming of the game though I really hope it's something like this: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-62123966

It's a very good system, although sometimes the only words I understand in fellow passengers' conversations with each other are swear words.

Yes, all outcomes are still possible. Hopefully the showers will occur during the early tea break. Forecast for later on doesn't seem too bad.

Run rate is barely an issue unless we get a lot of rain - 108 off 39 overs is well below 3.

Good final couple of sessions in prospect if the weather holds. England 117/0 at Lunch requiring 371 to win. India with about a 70% chance of winning according to Cricviz and the bookies, but all 4 outcomes definitely possible.

You're absolutely right - it had passed me by that Murdoch had sold Sky UK to Comcast.

Bit of a promo piece in the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/jun/24/nrl-png-franchise-permanent-holiday-says-peter-vlandys-club-board

Unusual to see a News Ltd. publication talking up the value of tv rights owned by Sky by suggesting a rival bid is in the offing, rather than pouring scorn on it. Most unusual.