dead man inc

Exactly this The season before Covid, most teams had proper reserve squads and the fixtures weee competitive and meaningful. This year loads have been cancelled .& most games propped up by the weaker academy players, while the ‘real reserve potential’ players went to play in the championship/league 1. Some serious blowout score lines. Have also heard that some of the ‘borrowed players’ used to make up numbers were told they would not be paid for playing. Until loans/DR is scrapped not sure under the current financial constraints if the teams can actually afford a reserve squad that makes the point of a reserve league meaningful.

No, I definitely know one club that did not. (There may be more, but have no knowledge of what percentage took them up.) It will be interesting to see what happens if any club defaults on paying back their Covid loan - will the RFl then be liable to pay it back? Mr Rimmer was questioned on this a few weeks ago & was suspiciously silent in his reply!

I’ve seen Doncaster a number of times over the last few years and each time they looked very strong promotion contenders. Some of their losses have been real surprises.

They seem to have a couple of wobble games each season - really surprised as last year & this year they were up there with the best opposition i’ve watched. Is there any obvious reason for the wobble?

Seen Crusaders twice this year & both times they looked very impressive. For the last 3 seasons at the games i have been at they have looked a very strong team.

Skolars club statement about cancelled game... With Skolars’ regular Doctor unavailable and a number of other doctors used by the club in the past also unable to attend the game, after an extensive search, the club has been unable to find a suitable replacement, and, after consultation with the RFL they decided to cancel the BetFred League 1 game at New River, Skolars vs Keighley Cougars “It’s been a unique situation this week,” explained Club Chairman Adrian Fraine. “Eid starts this weekend ruling out several Doctors we’ve used in the past and there’s also a huge demand this weekend in A&E Departments in London. We’ve tried a number of different agencies to find a doctor, without success with both those reasons cited as a factor for the lack of suitable agency doctors. Given the long journey faced by the Cougars we did not want to be in a position tomorrow where we had to cancel the game when they had already started that journey.” “Having suffered a heavy defeat at Keighley earlier in the season, we wanted to give a good account of ourselves in the return game at home and show how much our young squad has improved in the last two month. It’s very disappointing to have to postpone the game, but we’ve exhausted every alternative to get the game played” Tickets booked in advance will be valid for any re-arranged date for the game and refunds made to those spectators unable to attend all tickets bought on the Eventbrite website have already been refunded

From my understanding of the rules, it’s not that there is a lack of suitable doctors (fully registered with the GMC, be practicing, possess the appropriate professional indemnity insurance) in London or Llanelli it’s that the doctor must also have completed the RFL Immediate Medical Management On the Field of Play Course (IMMOFP). As a fan i have seen Skolars normally have a main doctor & a back up for each game. No idea what has caused the problem this week which is a shame as was really looking forward to see Keighley who have looked the best team in the league from the clips i’ve seen.

https://rugby-league.com/article/60298/england-confirm-student-tri-nations-squad

Must have been typing this at exactly same time as Tim York’s was putting up his post Thank you Tim for your very informative post

I expected Oldham to bounce back from their Skolars defeat & really step up a gear so expected them to put in a very strong performance against Midlands, but from what i have seen of Midlands i thought today’s game would have been a evenly matched closely fought contest that could have gone either way. Did Oldham just play exceptionally well? or were their loan/DR ? Did Midlands just have an off day? or injuries etc... No ulterior motive just genuine question - curious to hear from people who watched the game.

Think there were 4 on loan, 3 of who were ex Skolars players & 1 very young Broncos academy graduate.

FT Skolars 38 - 16 Oldham

Sad to hear of your frustrations & I can understand how draining the years of following a struggling team, coupled with the double whammy of RFL 80%funding cuts/no travel funding & Broncos cannibalising Skolars team has just been the final straw for you! Its more of a shame to the game down south because Skolars could do with any help they can get whether that’s season ticket/sponsor/volunteering or even just turning up for the odd game & having a few beers in the clubhouse. Although this season the results have been very very poor, it’s also quite satisfying seeing a significantly home produced team that is very young slowly start to learn and improve after taking the significant step up from Skolars/London youth & London amateur leagues. The first half against Doncaster showed what the team might have the potential for - the HT 12-14 score wasn’t because Doncaster were playing bad, it was because Skolars stepped up and played really well & were competitive. Skolars just did not have the strength in depth, experience & fitness/skill yet to keep this up for the whole game. Whilst on the pitch the results are not there & are unlikely to be there for at least the rest of this season, it has been interesting chatting to the away fans who generally seem supportive of Skolars efforts & enjoy their day trip to New River stadium. Good luck to you during your break from the sport, i hope your headspace and feelings improve during your chosen exile. If you ever feel like turning up again in the future you will always be welcome at Skolars - thank you for the time & resources you have previously committed to the club.

Really pleased for raiders Glad i’m not a betting man - with Cornwall having 5 on loan i was confident they were going to get their 1st win!

Skolars vastly improved performance compared to previous 4 games. 10-12 at half time. Doncaster the better team & deserved the win, but will certainly feel like they had been in a game today. A flurry of quick tries for Doncaster mid 2nd half when Skolars got tired/had limited bench replacement options probably makes the final scoreline a bit of an unfair reflection on how competitive Skolars were for a lot of the game. Met some really friendly Don fans who all spoke highly of Skolars performance & seemed to enjoy their visit to a sunny New River stadium. Willie Poching was there watching his son play for the Dons.

I’ve been against dual reg & I oppose the loan system for same reason - If you claim to be a serious candidate for a Super League/Championship place you have to be able to play your own players not someone else’s! It does distort the league table. Clubs need to make their case for promotion to Super League/Championship on their own players merits not by fielding up to 5 players in their match day squad from a team a division higher than them. The same applies to teams at the bottom end of the leagues. I would have much rather Cornwall & West Wales played this fixture with their mostly local players - it would have been fascinating to see how close the game would have been and given a real indication of the standard of players in each squad.

Who have Cornwall taken on loan & what teams have they come from?

As a Hull KR fan living in London, i was hoping a KR win & final appearance might help to soften the complete debacle that is London Broncos on and off the pitch & the knock on effect of their near death knell blow to London Skolars. Todays performance leaves me nearly as disappointed as the the 50-0 loss to Leeds in the 2015 final! Congratulations to Huddersfield & their fans

Very humbling & classy posts Your positive comments are very well received & will be much needed by the fans who are going to endure a very long season.

Skolars 17 on Saturday were pretty much all based in London. Of the players i have a bit of knowledge about they had at least 6 Skolars junior pathway players and at least 4 players from other London junior pathways. There were about 4 Aus/Kiwi players from the London amateur league. Not sure about the rest of the lineup, but think they are all from down south routes. They are a completely new team with only a very few players from last year. Most are very young and very inexperienced.

Kev Flanagan (son of Peter "Flash" Flanagan) has been the community development manager at Skolars for about 3 years.

Have any of the Exeter university players signed for Cornwall?

Northumbria have been ‘the team’ for a number of years now. Really good & i think Midlands Hurricanes have signed a couple from there.

repeat post.

repeat post.