LeytherRob

Poor challenge that, would have been better using that earlier on the penalty given against Hanley for the challenge in the air

Been a great first half with both teams looking threatening in attack. Glad to see we’ve used the week off well and are playing with better shape than we have all year.

If they haven’t pulled the tag off it’s play on and the ball is live. On the flip side, attackers on the receiving end can get one hand on their next tag for a quick play the ball.

Just been catching up on the game as I was out yesterday but what I think you are all referring to, is a fairly common tactic in the wheelchair game where teams will grab a tag but intentionally delay ripping it off(usually by grabbing a handful of shirt at the same time). It gives your team time to get reset in defence and is basically the wheelchair game equivalent of holding up the attacking player.

Agree in principle, but you need money and arenas to do that. Both are hard to come by(unless you are Wigan).

The sport is growing at a very good pace, but there’s 2 huge challenges to growth: •Cost - it’s an incredibly expensive sport to get into both for clubs and individuals(if you want to buy your own kit). You’re talking £5-8k for a decent chair, £850 just for a set of good wheels. You then have all the costs of facilities(£5-10k a year) and all the other kit which adds up, then of course match officials etc. Games are free to attend(certainly below SL) so there is no return for a lot of outlay. •Player pool - it’s a struggle to get players in because there aren’t enough impaired players to go around and even for able bodied converts to the game(of which you should only be fielding 2 out of 5 on the pitch at any one time), there’s quite a tough transition to get used to the mechanics of a chair. There is a lot of organic growth happening on the back of the World Cup win that people won’t necessarily see. The WSL recently expanded and new teams are joining the Wheelchair Championship on a yearly basis - Salford joined this year after a development year in 2025, Leigh are aiming for 2026. Leigh incidentally were able to kickstart their team with a donation of chairs from the World Cup fund, with the club now taking up the significant levels of funding needed. I believe Saints are also in very early phases of setting up a team. A national merit league is in place for development teams which are springing up.

Why does Matt Peet always seem really ****** off on every sky interview lately?

Oh that is a brutal. Hudds did not deserve to lose that

They did in 2011 back when Thursday nights were Championship coverage on Sky.

You were quick, was seconds before I edited that

Poor from Lindop there, really let KR off

To be fair to you, Rhodri Lloyd could currently be sitting on the RFL council and no one would know

Probably focused on Widnes rather than discussing the cup

Definitely does seem to be paving the way. I think they will be planning to have a proposal ready for the Sky negotiation for 2027 and attempt to do similar to what was done ahead of the 8s introduction - sell sky a new format of 14 teams including 2 French + London to try and coax additional investment in the next broadcasting deal. They're not going to be touching the £40m+ per year of the 8s package, but it they can get somewhere nearer £30M to cover 2 extra teams and and few hundred grand extra for each SL team on top of the existing funding it would be a massive win.

An extension of the quota is something that's been on agenda for years. The 5-year exemptions were being discussed last year to potentially come in for 2025 but got delayed, and I know Leigh were pushing for a straight extension to 8 back in August 2023 to come in for 2024. It's more to do with the continued player drain of elite English players to NRL, especially with Perth coming.

I find it crazy that the only period of 14 teams in the SL-era was under a closed shop.

How is that relevant to SRD?

It’s absolutely wild they still have access to any lines of credit at this point.

Salford's debt plan in a nutshell

I really don't follow the logic of that plan. They say the issue halting investment is that the club needs to be debt free, but I don't see how their plan to go debt free by taking out a high interest debt consolidation loan against the club, is going to result in a debt free club someone is going to invest it?

Premier sports offered a deal to screen every Championship game in 2024. The clubs refused

Thank god Lam is picking the team and not Leigh fans is all I’ll say

I'm not saying Burgess is bad by any stretch, just that Huddersfield already had good/great props. Wasting a marquee spot on another one, however great is a waste and poor squad management IMO. Going from Leutele, to Marsters, to no Bibby is a huge downgrade in the centres and there's been a struggle for some years in the 9 spot since Levi left. You want your marquees in spots which really maximise their effectiveness like in the spine or a pacy centre/second row strike player.

If I was a Giants fan, I’d be hoping it’s Burgess who is a waste of a marquee deal IMO. That being said, even 4 frontline props plus cover is plenty and it’s the centres, 9 and halfback in that priority where I’d be using the vacant quota spot. Giants have always done a good job maintaining a good stable of non quota props at a time when most of the league are struggling.