fearnowt
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Posts posted by fearnowt
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Just announced, Cru v Doncaster, Sunday 16:30 KO.
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48 minutes ago, Rob Nash said:
Glad to still be in it. Crusaders won't be relishing playing Doncaster
Bring it on, can't wait!
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One consolation for anyone who can't go is that it's on Our League, (I wonder if that has something to do with the timing). As Gogledd has already posted elsewhere, Eirias Park is hosting the Welsh open Taekwondo on Sunday, so that might also have had an effect.
I think the timing will affect the size of the crowd, especially with Wrexham playing at home, and it will be a very long journey home for the Keighley fans. It is what it is, and I'm sure it's the best (probably only) option for the club.
As for the floodlights, the stadium is an international standard rugby stadium, and hosts the Wales under 20s six nations games, which are televised live on Friday nights in February/March. So I'm sure they will be good enough.
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Enjoyed our visit to Barrow, despite the result. Very impressed with the setup there.
Worthy winners, congratulations.
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Just been announced:
Cru v Keighley Saturday KO 6:30pm
Donny v Hunslet Sunday KO 4pm
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Not the most convenient time, but confirmed for Saturday 18th September KO 6:30pm
https://northwalescrusaders.com/2021/09/13/schedule-for-league-1-play-offs-confirmed/
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I had some memorable moments like this in my Wrexham supporting days. Winning the third division championship in 1978 and the LDV trophy final at the Millennium Stadium in 2005. This is right up there with them.
It's hard to believe that we left Wrexham to survive just five months ago. I am so pleased for the board, the coaching staff and players, not forgetting of course the sponsors and fellow supporters who have stood by the club, especially over the last five years. A very proud moment indeed.
I think we go into the playoffs with a huge advantage over the other teams, we were not expected to be here at the start of the season, we were never mentioned as promotion candidates, so we have already exceeded most people's expectations. Anything else now is a bonus, the pressure is on all the other clubs, we are just going to enjoy it and see what happens.
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36 minutes ago, gogledd said:
Not confirmed but theres a big Tae Kwon Do (sp?) gig on in Eirias Park on Sunday.....
Would have thought the Tae Kwon Do event will be held in the leisure centre and not the stadium, Eirias Park is a big place. If they can host a concert for 15,000 people, I'm sure they can find room for both events.
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36 minutes ago, Chronicler of Chiswick said:
Take it that the Cougars' game will be on Sunday. Not sure if the Cougars are favourites to go up - remember that matches are to be played on the ground of the team finishing higher in the table, which could mean having to win twice at Derwent Park.
I'm pretty sure that the winner of the semi-final at Derwent Park in two weeks time will host the final. For example, if Cru beat Keighley and then beat Workington, the final will be in Colwyn Bay. Workington would then get a second chance to reach the final, but the only way they can host the final is to win the 2nd round game.
I've just found an explanation on Wikipedia:
For the losing team of the Elimination Final the season is over but the other three play in the semi-finals of the play-offs. In the semi-finals the 1st semi-final will be between the winning team in the EF and the losing team in the QF; while the 2nd semi-final will be between the team who finished second in the regular season (and had a bye in the first round of the play-offs) and the winning team of the QF. The team winning the 2nd semi-final will have home advantage in the Grand Final while the losing team will have home advantage in the Preliminary Final.
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1 hour ago, BD20Cougar said:
I still worry about our ability to get the job done in big away games. I wasn't at the game today but it sounds like Doncaster were well on top up until the red card. The only thing that I'm certain about is we'll see some cracking games over the next few weeks
I was hoping you might say something like that.
I am basing my opinion on your performance against us last week, and that was quite some comeback today, red card or not. But as you say, it's going to be a great tournament.
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17 minutes ago, BD20Cougar said:
3rd Crusaders
4th Cougars
5th Donny
1st round of play off games Cru vs Cougars, Donny vs Hunslet.
Congratulations on the top four finish, Cru and Cougars guaranteed at least two playoff games, with the winners away to Workigton in the 2nd round, and losing team at home to Doncaster or Hunslet.
Looking forward to welcoming you back to Stadiwm Zip World next Sunday, although I would make Cougars favourites for promotion on current form.
Absolutely over the moon that we have finished third. What an achievement!
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9 hours ago, FearNothing said:
Haven't seen anything on our game, nothing on faceslap page and I don't do ****tter. Anyone else seen the attendance?
Must admit I don't think it was massive, maybe 600-ish?
The crowd looked similar to the Rochdale game, so yes about 600 or thereabouts.
I'm not convinced by the playing on Saturdays experiment. From a purely selfish point of view, it allowed me to attend the Rochdale game but I've spoken to several people who have not been able to attend. The clash with Wrexham FC's home game knocked a few off the gate, so at the very least they need to avoid fixture clashes with Wrexham.
Travelled on the train yesterday for a change, it's quite an easy walk from the station to the ground, only about 20 minutes. Quite a nice town centre in Colwyn Bay, plenty of places to eat but not many pubs, and of the four pubs we visited, two of them had no draught beer!
Anyway, nice to secure the top four finish. It's now up to Doncaster and Keighley to decide who is playing who next week.
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56 minutes ago, Rob Nash said:
The way I see tomorrow in terms of percentages is if Keighley beat then Dons they swap places from 3rd to 5th. Crusaders are 4th regardless. I think that's right but I'm working on mental arithmetic. Regardless the game at Keepmoat tomorrow has got me very nervous. I don't mean Eagles v Swinton btw. God only knows why we change our kickoff time to accommodate them. Glad to see the back of them but that's a different story.
Keighley can't catch Crusaders now.
If Doncaster win tomorrow it will be Dons 3rd (67.65%0, Cru 4th (64.70%), Keighley 5th (58.33%)
If Keighley win it will be Cru 3rd (64.70%), Keighley 4th (63.89%), Dons 5th (61.76%)
If it's a draw, Cru 3rd (64.70%), Dons 4th (64.70%), Keighley 5th (58.33%) Cru would finish above Dons on points difference.
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Can't believe we are playing for a top four finish tomorrow, sixth place would have been success this year.
Great gesture from the club to allow free admission as a thank you to the fans, not just for this year, but for the last five years of supporting our incredible board, players and coaching staff to keep rugby league alive in North Wales.
Some of us setting off early on the train to make a day of it, and if you are in the area you are more than welcome to come and join us. We're having a party, it's free entry, and you're all invited!
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22 minutes ago, FearNothing said:
however, for us to finish on same percentage as donny, we will maintain our pts diff over them(win-draw or draw-lose). Can't see us slipping up against skolars, so it's deffo 3rd or 4th for us
Thanks, I was too tired to work that one out.
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A big weekend indeed.
As far as we are concerned in North Wales, the target for this season was to reach the playoffs and then see what happens after after that. So mission accomplished so far, from now on anything else is a bonus and I think we might be the only club who are actually going to enjoy the whole process. Having said that, just like everyone else we will be aiming for the big prize.
I've just worked out the percentages for win, lose or draw for each club. I've put North Wales first because we are playing on Saturday.
North Wales win 64.70% draw 61.76% lose 58.82%
Doncaster win 67.65% draw 64.70% lose 61.76%
Keighley win 63.89% draw 61.11% lose 58.33%
So it is possible for North Wales and Doncaster to finish on the same percentage, but with points difference at +85 for North Wales and +82 for Doncaster it is too close to call until Sunday.
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Despite the result, we really enjoyed our day out at Keighley. It's a great set up there and the weather was kind for the families day which made for a really good occasion.
We had the upper hand in the first half and thought we might be in with a chance of our first win at Cougar Park, but Keighley played some really good stuff in the last 20 minutes or so and were the better team on the day, and deserved the win.
To start the day in third place with two games to go, and a mathematical (if highly unlikely) possibility of finishing top, is a fantastic achievement for our club and goes some way to explaining the celebratory mood in the bar after the game.
I think yesterday's results confirm the top six teams, with only the final placings between 3rd and 5th to be settled next week.
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3 hours ago, DavidM said:
Solid win soured a bit by bad injury to Dave Weetman who dislocated and broke his ankle
That sounds awful, hope he makes a full and speedy recovery.
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13 hours ago, Chris Taylor said:
Offering the product cheaper will only cheapen the brand.
Think outside the box to attract crowd, make it an event.
To be fair, the club is thinking outside the box, in fact we have moved about 40 miles outside the box and our crowds have doubled.
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On 29/08/2021 at 11:46, FearNothing said:
Personally, I think it's the cumulation of a lot of hard work over a number of years to get where we are now.... it took many years of being in recovery after the dodgy CEO was found out. The hardship of those years has given the club a resilience, and now the on-field performances are building nicely to reflect that effort and dedication.
The enforced move away from the Racecourse and landing at Queensway didn't help, it was (and still is) very basic, and it lost us many fans. The move this year to Colwyn Bay can be a bit of a drag for the journey when you're used to home games 10 mins down the road but it is a much better home for the club. Queensway was soulless, but Stadiwm Zipworld is bringing back the atmosphere we enjoyed at the Racecourse. I think this has helped the overall feeling both on and off the pitch.
The current squad is the best we've had in some years, and they are pulling together very well on the pitch. They're playing much more as a team, backing each other up, and the combinations are clicking nicely. It's a good mix of long-term Cru, new signings and yes a couple of loanees, but when they're out there together on the pitch they look and play like a team.
The future's looking brighter in Cru-land
You sum things up really well in that post.
It has been a five year journey to where we are now. Like many others, I honestly thought we had lost the club in early 2016, which as you say is when the dodgy CEO was found out. He left us with a big loan to pay back to the RFL, which resulted in having to give back a big chunk of the central funding for nearly three years. Then the Wrexham Supporters Trust priced us out of returning to the Racecourse because they didn't want us there, so we have had more than our share of adversity.
We are so lucky to have an amazing group of people on the board, who are all fans of the club, as well as an incredibly loyal band of players and coaching staff, who have all worked tirelessly to keep the club afloat and bring us to where we are now. We have had fans on the turnstiles, running the bars, setting up the ground on match days, stewarding, and putting their hands in their pockets to secure the signings of key players.
The move to Colwyn Bay is the big breakthrough we have all been longing for and the club is looking more professional by the day. For everyone associated with the club, it's a great feeling to be part of this wonderful story, and right now we are enjoying every minute of it!
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On 28/08/2021 at 22:05, Bulls2487 said:
Since Ethan O'Hanlon and Matty Race have joined on loan from Bradford believe they are unbeaten. One is a prop other is a HB.
I was talking to a gentleman sat near me at the Keighley game a few weeks ago. He turned out to be Ethan's dad, and he said that he was loving it here.
The two lads are having a great time, and by helping us they are helping themselves which is exactly the attitude you want from lone players, you can't ask for any more than that.
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56 minutes ago, ShropshireBull said:
Cru's amazing form. How good would it be to have a Welsh side in the Championship. Home playoff game incoming. Idea of crowd today?
Crowd today was 617.
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56 minutes ago, ShropshireBull said:
Cru's amazing form. How good would it be to have a Welsh side in the Championship. Home playoff game incoming. Idea of crowd today?
Crowd today was 617.
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Sun 26 Sept: North Wales Crusaders v Doncaster KO 16:30
in The General Rugby League Forum
Posted · Edited by fearnowt
No one is underestimating Doncaster, far from it. I can understand why many people see us as favourites, we had an amazing run and finished higher in the league, and we were just one win away from finishing second. But let's not forget that Doncaster were one of the favourites for promotion at the start of the season, and it was a 68-0 defeat at home to Doncaster that triggered our winning run.
We are up against a team with a playing budget several times the size of ours, and no doubt they will want to prove their worth. On the other hand, we have come from nowhere, and were second favourites to finish bottom, so I think this "favourites" tag is more to do with popularity for the underdog and a recognition for what we have achieved.
Yes, we had loan players who made a difference, they came in as cover for players who were injured or self isolating. They made the most of their time here and in helping us they helped themselves, which at the end of the day is the whole idea of going out on loan. Any club can do it, and we were fortunate to get the right players with the right attitude.
Whatever happens on Sunday, this will be our last game at our new home this year. It has been a fantastic year, bringing to an end five years of adversity since we left the Racecourse. To be playing in the second week of the playoffs is a massive achievement for a club said to have the second lowest playing budget in the league.
We are not underestimating Doncaster, who will be given the respect that they deserve, but we have nothing to fear simply because we have already exceeded our expectations for the year. Of course we want to win, that's the whole point of playing the game, but we are going to celebrate, whatever the result.