JonM

Presumably waiting until it's official. Brilliant news if true. There needs to be a plan to capitalise on this - make sure that the BBC games come across as big events with good crowds and so on. If it's a multi-year deal, that's a great opportunity for clubs selling jersey sponsorships, advertising hoardings and so on.

There was a link to RFU accounts on a thread on cross-code last week. The largest component of their annual revenue was hospitality and catering - pretty much came to the same amount per year as ticket sales + tv deal. I wonder whether clubs could make money by adopting the US model of having burgers, hot dogs, coke etc, brought to your seat during the game. In principle, the costs shouldn't be too much different - instead of having to staff up for a hectic 10 minute period at half-time, you can have those same staff working for the first hour or so of the game.

You could make the same argument about many sports though. Who can name the (British) 1500m World Athletics Championship winner from 2023? Zharnel Hughes profile today vs Linford Christie back in the 1990s?

This point interested me. PDC have quadrupled revenue inside a decade, so you might think there was something interesting happening there. However, it doesn't seem to hold any obvious lessons for RL. They were previously holding events in pubs when they started and only had four things on tv - now they have a proper tour, with events all round the world and use bigger venues, such as the O2. They turned down CVC in 2022, too.

That's a good crowd for a friendly. Was that Brad Walker's first game for his home town?

Widnes 42 Workington T 0 Att: 1011

For some reason, I thought we'd had quite a high amount of turnover since last season, but if you compare the starting 17 based on the squad list, there's 5 new signings - Sam Brooks, Rhodri Lloyd, Danny Langtree, Nick Gregson and Liam Kirk and 3 outside the 17, Mike Butt, Lloyd Roby and Martyn Reilly. The players who left at the end of 2023 are Danny Craven (Oldham), Adam Lawton (Oldham), Owen Farnworth (Oldham), Aaron Brown (Keighley), Olly Davies (Halifax), Brad Holroyd, Ryan Millar (Sheffield Eagles), Shane Grady (retired) and Lewis Hatton (Keighley). I think the 2024 squad looks slightly stronger than 2023, but there's not a lot in it. Probably short on cover at half-back and size in the forwards, and probably Joe Edge is the only one that I might think should be in SL rather than the championship.

Widnes squad numbers announced as follows: 1 – Jack Owens 2 – Ryan Ince 3 – Matt Fleming 4 – Joe Edge 5 – Kieran Dixon 6 – Joe Lyons 7 – Tom Gilmore 8 – Callum Field 9 – Matty Fozard 10 – Sam Brooks 11 – Rhodri Lloyd 12 – Danny Langtree 13 – Nick Gregson 14 – Jordan Johnstone 15 – Liam Kirk 16 – Max Roberts 17 – Liam Bent 19 – Sam Wilde 20 – Mike Butt 21 – Ollie Brookes 22 – Ant Walker 23 – Will Tilleke 24 – Lloyd Roby 30 – Martyn Reilly The previously announced season long loan (Harvey Wilson from Wigan) and dual reg (Lucas Green & Tom Whitehead from Warrington) don't appear to have been allocated numbers in the press release, which seems odd. Mid-table seems realistic, with a chance of making the play-offs in 6th.

SA v India shortest completed test ever in terms of number of balls.

You don't think being from Warrington will mean that he goes for the next 70+ years without actually winning it then ?

Pretty sensible statement overall. There's very few people in RL administration that I could imagine delivering anything like that.

Special bit of idiocy by Tom Curran there. What on earth could they expect to gain by appealing that?

Wondered what you were all talking about, but then I remembered that there's only one person I've ever put on ignore on this forum. (And it's not Old Frightful, obviously).

Adult male teams definitely on the decline because we've spent decades making the game too hard for most people to play, plus the same trends that have caused declines in all other team sport participation. On the other hand, the amateur club I played for as a kid in the eighties now has a clubhouse, pitches, several hundred junior playing members and dozens of qualified coaches and volunteers. Massive improvement compared to the past.

Speaking as a Widnes fan, the one bright spot in RL after the steady stream of bad news over the last four or five seasons has been the now approaching 70 years failure of Warrington to be league champions, so that definitely qualifies in the glass half full category for me

Saw an article in La Depeche about her a while back, unusual for them to interview a RL referee, perhaps something to do with the fact that she had won the Miss Lot-et-Garonne beauty contest rather than her two brothers also being referees?

They presumably tour in December because Australian school children have a long summer holiday, but want to be home for Christmas. The tours currently taking place in other sports are in places as far apart as Fiji, Canada and Ireland. Canada in December isn't particularly warm either. I'm sure a trip to Widnes and Huddersfield will be just as eye opening in both winter and summer ( Actually it seems like they were delighted by the hospitality from Halton Hornets and to be playing a game of RL with snow on the ground.)

The Wanderers girls team from Australia has been an interesting match-up for a few clubs - Halton Farnworth Hornets, Stanningley and Greetland have also played them I think. It's a business putting on tours in netball, hockey, soccer etc. https://www.waus.com.au/girls-rugby-league-tour-2024

Not as far as I know, although there is a a certain proportion of the fanbase who have been campaigning for the town crest to be on the jersey for many years, and I suspect those people are also of a vintage to appreciate the nod to the 1980s design. Not sure whether they are the demographic who buy replica jerseys though.

Widnes one seems to have divided opinions pretty sharply. I really like it, a lot of fans seem to hate it. Unusual to have the home kit without the team name or logo on it.

Bit premature to be making predictions when there are still plenty of signings to be made - Fev picked up Wellington Albert yesterday, for example.

Yes, Greece v Netherlands Women's international coming up.

I do see people using chains from time to time - generally farmers or contractors who have to get up and down hilly farm tracks. It's illegal to drive on the public roads with anything that could cause damage to the surface, so if you're going anywhere near a main road, which will generally have been cleared, you need to have taken them off, so it's not generally worthwhile. Emergency services also use them from time to time. The fact that you can buy them in places like Halfords tells me that they're not so rare in some parts of the country.

I live in a place where it can snow in reasonable amounts from time to time, but still it's not going to be more than a few days a few times per year. I just stay at home until the snow has gone, but some people use winter tires. Friends who live up in the cairngorms do the same. Ice is the issue, not snow.

I was thinking Maxime Greseque must have fond memories of the fans at Post Office Road