LeytherRob

If they are going to invite applications for more clubs, they should at least be properly funded. It's a joke how little league 1 clubs get.

Absolutely, fairly sure the previous longest reigns as coach were around 4 seasons(Murphy 67-71 and Rowley 2012-2015) so to bring it to at least 6 years will undoubtedly be the longest period of stability in Leighs history. All we need now is the green light for our cat 1 academy(due end of this month and club are very confident) and we can start to really build something.

So I've done some digging since I posted this and found an RFL article states that it will be top team in the Northern Championship versus the top of the southern championship to be crowned national championship winners, then the winner will play bottom of SL so a tricky route upwards. Agree though, Leighs women should really be in the SL and we're paying the price for a dissapointing playoffs after only just missing out on finishing top last season. Hopefully we can make it this year to avoid players getting picked off by Wigan etc.

Does anyone know what the P&R is between the Womens SL and Championship this year, is it 1 up/down?

I'm a fan of this idea. This years comp produced some good games in the SL v Champ ties - the Sheffield/Wigan and Batley/Cas in particular but Fev also put up a very strong fight against Leigh. I think the system in the 2010's worked great and produced quite a lot of upsets and interest in the earlier rounds. Leigh's run of beating Salford, Wakefield than running Wire close in the QF in 2015 will forever be some of my favorite RL memories.

Feels like a lifetime since these were released now. Any Hull fans still wearing their Pele shirts?

I think Amone will more than likely be playing NRL next year, and probably doing very well. Can't compete with the draw of playing NRL. Not worried though, Chester/Lam have a very good hit rate on imports for us so I've no doubt there are some big signings coming considering how much cap space is being freed up.

Looks like Lam is staying at Leigh based on Beaumonts latest tweet.

I think it was a very brave move last season from Leigh to open up the East stand to season ticket sales in 2023, basically committing to opening that stand for every game rather than just using it as overflow for the odd game as previously(other than during covid for social distancing you could probably count the number of games on one hand). There were only around 50 ST sales for that stand last year based on what was unavailable whenever tickets went on sale but fans have started building habits for that area of the ground which is starting to really pay dividends. One thing i've noticed the past few home games is there is a lot more noise coming from the east stand than even last year and the atmosphere has become a lot less dependent on the North stand carrying things. I'd also say that the monthly membership scheme that replaced the standard 'pay up front' season ticket is one of the most genius strokes of marketing the club has ever produced. We've gone from hundreds of comments every year critiquing every price point and complaining about costs to people queuing well over an hour to collect what is by far Leigh's most expensive season ticket and probably the most expensive tickets in UK RL on average. No one even mentions the cost anymore, if anything people are clamoring for the more expensive options as evidenced by the Platinum tickets(£500p/a) selling out.

Really looking forward to this one as a neutral. Hoping KR can get the win, firstly because I'd love for them to go one better than last year and for their fans to get the experience we did last year. Secondly and more selfishly, Leigh play KR the week before the final and I wouldn't say no to facing their 3rd string kids in our quest to catch the pack back up. Added bonus of sorting the issue of Wigan/Leigh's rearranged fixture due to WCC.

Can he at least hang on until Myler takes Nakubuwai off our hands?

Was wondering that myself. Always seemed to be hitting 10k more often than not a few seasons ago. Would have thought they'd be climbing back up with their good form and pretty attractive brand of rugby currently.

My tip for any Wakey fans(which was given to me by some of the extended Saints backroom staff I bumped into after our CC semi) is to look at Airbnbs or hotels in Watford. Shortens the drive down and direct tube down to Wembley doesn’t take long. I got a 2 bedroom flat plus sofa bed for under 200 quid a short walk from centre of Watford and the tube is quiet going that way than it is the centre of London.

Cracking result for London, very please for their fans to get the win on the board. As for Hull, just wow. They are seriously lucky IMG is going to save them this year.

I think you'd have to be going back to the very earliest days of RL if at all to be honest. Even early 80s when we won the league it was 5/6k unless it was a cup game or Wigan were in town.

Can't comment on in the ground as I had to miss both games as ST holder. I was flying to US for work during the Cas game and arrived back about 3 hours before Salford extremely jetlagged so opted to watch on TV rather than risk driving. What I will say for Cas is it looked a lot fuller than last season which was our lowest attendance with just under 5.5k which I think is a massive positive.

8,103 for Leigh vs Salford on Friday

At this rate he'll be turning up with a transit van when LSV do their annual pitch replacement later this month.

It's crazy that Charnley was struggling to even break into our championship team when he first came to us. Put in a huge amount of work in preseason last year though and the switch from right to left wing seems to have given him a new lease of life. Even his pace seems to be back up slightly.

Usually it's Rowley teams showing that energy against Leigh, its nice for the shoe to be on the other foot for a change

If you can post this every week it would be much appreciated

Josh Charnley rolling back the years there!

Are these semi finals being streamed/broadcast anywhere?

He wasn't, a Salford player took out Lam on the inside shoulder earlier in the play resulting in the gap that was created for McDonald. The penalty was given for crossing/obstruction. The commentary team were just clueless and missed the call.

I would imagine any deal offered by Leigh would have been on vastly reduced terms. Think 2 years for a player declining as fast as him is madness to be honest. He’s been very poor this year.