LeytherRob

https://lsv.venuetoolbox.com/LeighSportsVillage/ASP/selectArea.asp?bookEvent=true&eventID={C504703C-55B3-4A6D-A861-67065DEEE919}&packageID={6F9619FF-8B86-D011-B42D-00C04FC964FF}&homeArea=home Looking here, looks like it's most of the blocks in the West stand are single seats. Only about 25 tickets looks to have been sold for the East so far but it's always a good sign if they open that up. Hopefully Batley bring a few and pack out the South Stand.

Games so far against Batley have been: Batley 0 - 52 Leigh(May) Leigh 64 - 6 Batley(September) I expect it might be a little closer, certainly in the first half but Leigh to pull away second half and win by 30+ providing nothing crazy happens

urgh, how uninspiring..

I wouldn't exactly put Millward in a one club wonder bracket. Both spells at Leigh he basically inherited a basket case and kick started a boom for the club. The year before he arrived in the late 90s we were whipping boys of the second tier and turned us onto promotion contenders, second spell he joined the off season we'd been reprieved from relegation to league 1 and put us straight back in contention for trophies. May only be second tier but it still takes some doing to perform 2 essentially 180 degree momentum shifts at the same club 10 years apart.

Playing JSL when leaving out players like John Davies is a failure of BM though. The pack against Batley was full of either high impact battering ram players(Springer, Eseh) or aging players(Cuthbertson, JSL, Moors) with no work horses to pick up the slack. It was a poorly balanced squad.

Huddersfield outspent everyone in their last season in the 2nd tier in 2002, but more recently Ken Davy has propped the club up far beyond having crowds consistently around 9th/10th best in the league, coupled with probably the cheapest season tickets in the league. But for his spending power giving the ability to take players like Theo Fages from Saints etc, you wouldn't be in the position you were fighting in the playoffs. Not that any of the above is a bad thing, the game needs people with money like Ken Davy, Derek Beaumont etc, it's just highly hypocritical for a Huddersfield fan to be making negative comments about clubs that are basically doing the same as Huddersfield.

It clearly does bother you, as you've put multiple posts referring to Leigh/Fev as 'bullies', hoping they lose because they spent money etc. Do you think Leigh really care whether the narrative to the championship is them buying loads of players or Batley beating fev? Let's face it, Batley have done Leigh a massive favour in beating out Fev in the semi. Fev are an unpredictable team with players that can create chances out of little, whereas by Lingards admission Batley are a hardworking team that enjoys the grind, that's not likely to be going the full length.

i'm not a Fev fan, FeatherRob didn't have the same ring to it

How exactly have Leigh been brought down? What an odd post, particularly from a Huddersfield fan, a team that has been consistently bankrolled above and beyond what they'd afford on their crowds by a great chairman. Why does it bother you so much that another team might do the same?

Can't see him getting another gig now. He inherited one of the best teams of the SL era at Leeds and left them in a worse position, he had Toronto looking miles behind the pack despite outspending most of SL, came in as a consultant to see Oldham relegated and has now dismantled what was a pretty formidable Fev team in 2021 to a collection of aging stars on short term deals. He clearly has no idea how to build something at a club.

Fev were a team, before BM dismantled the team spirit they seemed to have in abundance last year. Yesterday they were reliant on the individual efforts of Leilua and a couple of others to try and win the game and they probably should have pulled it off in the end, but for choking the last couple of sets.

True and I don't want to take anything away from what was a great effort from Batley, but if the attitude and intensity from Fev was what it should have been it shouldn't have matter how well or poorly Batley played. There is too much quality in that Fev team.

I think the attitude of the players is entirely down to the coaching staff and that failure lands with BM. Yesterday Fev looked like they were expecting an easy win with one eye on Leigh and Batley made them pay.

I hear Leigh have called in a favour from St's for Mike Rush to put the case forward

https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/lachlan-lam-leigh-centurions-quota-25068267

how does 4 additional quota players translate to 64% of the squad having to leave exactly? Of the 24 players currently at the club, 12 are currently on deals for next year and beyond, with potentially another 1-3 retentions to be announced depending on the outcome of the application for Lachlan Lam to be quote exempt due to playing his junior rugby at Wigan St Pats. This idea Leigh are going to have to make wholesale changes is a myth perpetuated by fans too lazy to do the most basic due diligence and look who is/isn't contracted for next year.

Happened when Dewsbury beat Leigh in the 1999 Northern Ford Premiership Grand Final, there was no promotion or relegation that year.

Interestingly, the Championships(so far) have followed the exact same wins as SL. 5/6 beat 4/3, 1 beats 6 and 5 beats 2 to contest the grand final.

Well done Batley, incredible effort

If Fev's was an 8 point try, then so should Batley's, basically identical situations

Very harsh call for the 8-point try

It's not free on virgin, although there is a channel called 'free sports' that's free on virgin, sky and free view that has ran full match repeats the following day from time to time.

True, but in those 3-6 places anyone is capable of beating anyone. Considering the current aggregate score is 140-8, it would take one of the biggest upsets in rugby league history for York to get to the GF.

Leigh were 1/7 to win the GF with Sky bet prior to this weekends games. Edit. 1/9 now, Fev 5/1 and Batley/York both 40-1

Must be weird looking at the fixture list for your holiday ideas every year. Should try Thomas Cook it'll blow your mind...