Dunbar

I think we should come up with our own name and not use the Bunker, that would just be a lazy copy. I suggest we use Central Hub Evaluating All Team’s Erroneous Refereeing We would probably need to use an acronym to make it shorter and catchier, but it would work I think.

Indeed. And it is one per game, not one per half.

I wasn't a fan when it was first introduced but it has worked out ok in the NRL. I thought it may undermine the ref but when they say "do you want to challenge" it shuts down any moaning (which we know shouldn't happen but does). It is only one challenge per team per game (unless a challenge is successful in which case it rolls forward) and isn't too disruptive. I wouldn't want it to be any more. My main worry is if our tv games have the broadcast quality to make this work and whether a load will be inconclusive.

"Clubs were great with journalists when I started doing this in 2005. Then in 2010, Bradford and the Hull clubs were the first to forbid journalists from contacting players without going through them first. Having spoken to several long-serving journalists recently, there’s a consensus that that’s when the tide began to turn. It became common for interview requests to be turned down, and we’ve now had a whole generation of players who have had significantly fewer media commitments than their predecessors – which goes hand in hand with the ever-decreasing profile of the sport." So, what happened around 2010 that dissuaded clubs from allowing the media access to their players? Did they decide they didn’t want the attention that a higher profile in the media presented or was there something else that meant the benefits were outweighed. I don’t know the answers to these questions but it seems a strange thing for a whole sport to do without a motivation.

Love the early rounds of the Challenge Cup watching the London southern conference teams take on the northern community and semi pro sides. Always great competitive games.

I agree with your description and conclusions on women's Rugby League. From your initial comment, I thought you meant women found it easier to move between all sports but I assume from your answer here that you were specifically talking about Rugby League (or other sports in the early fast development stages).

Interested in why you say this/think this is?

I was interested to read that there will be 33 NRL-NRLW double headers next season. I am always in two minds on whether we should look to have men and women double headers (club and country) or if the women's game should stand alone.

No, this is all Australia. If you look at the Twitter page, you can see the data for the various states. https://x.com/footyindustryAU

There are very few things that would turn me away from our sport but a consensus endorsement of referees deliberately impacting the outcome of games is one of them.

I meant to say his first season was 19 tries in 13 games.

With respect, you are about a decade behind in your comparison between the Australian and UK game. In 2024, the average points scored in a Super League game was 40, in the NRL it was 47. The NRL is an attack based competition and is absolutely full of players like French who are superb on their feet despite being relatively slightly built. The crackdown they have had on late hits etc. has opened the game up for these game breakers. As for French, he scored 19 tries in 13 appearances in the NRL which wasn't too shabby. He would be exceptional now.

If that is true, it is terrible. The referee should not try and deliberately influence the outcome of the game.

Beggars Belief had nine runs on flat in 1999, with two wins and three placed finishes.

It should see us through to February.