tjhrads93

All the best everyone

Quiet one this year with myself, the missus and the dog, we got engaged this year and bought a house so celebrating that and still trying to avoid Covid as much as possible; hope everyone has a safe and happy night and best wishes to all for the new year; personally I’ve got tickets to the World Cup final (and a wedding) to look forward to so here’s hoping for a belter for all!

Sounds fabulous sir, and good on you for taking time out of your day for others too!

Merry Christmas all, a good drink, a good scran and a good day, I hope everyone on here has had the same.

Slightly off topic, I thought Jullien was excellent at Warrington and am always shocked that he doesn’t seem to have kicked in at Catalans, does anyone know why that’s so? In terms of the signing, the lack of remorse - when there seems to have been an acknowledgment of guilt - bothers me.

Like the home wire one but it’s very parra, love to see them do a white one with a primrose and blue stripe or v, seems to have been a long time since blue was not the predominant colour.

Brilliant, still think it’s a decent if unspectacular shirt, the basic design could have been much better mind

I think that is a brilliant assessment mate.

Thought that was a very good hype package by sky

First time I’ve not been to a grand final in a long time - exclusively due to finances with a wedding on the horizon - but the one I’ve looked forward to most in a while as I think this could be a high scoring cracker. Voted Catalans by a score but really have no idea, as said above I think the first twenty are crucial, I can see saints getting a lead and Cats clawing it back but it depends on whether that early lead is too great. Best two teams in the comp this year, good luck to both (but particularly Catalans).

Not sure whether he will be the stand out choice when everyone matures but in the games I have seen Thewlis play he has looked fantastic. Agree with all the names mentioned and in my 8-10 years watching league I have to agree that this is the most exciting crop of youngsters.

Well said, as disappointed as I am in our performance, the best team won and were really slick, had they been doing that to someone else it would have been a good watch! Good luck Cas.

Both this wire team and probably Powell himself have something to prove. Will hope that the rugby is better to watch than it has been at times under Price. I like Cas a lot, and as a rugby outfit they seem well run, it’s intriguing to see where they go from here as things do seem to have stagnated a touch. Could be good for all parties.

I think this is so difficult to capitalise on. I am a Mancunian who supports Warrington - mostly due to Briers - but I grew up on football till I played league purely by chance at school. Being a league fan is separate to being a football fan, I enjoy both for different reasons, but will always be a football fan first, as would my friends who I have converted to league. I am a city fan first because of my Dad and my fandom with football is so closely linked to my relationship with my dad. Despite that I enjoy watching “random rugby league” more than random football. My - admittedly longwinded - point is this, I don’t think location and an absence of something else is sufficient to develop a fan base, I think it’s far harder to truly develop an affinity for a club than being the only place in town. I have followed wire for 13 years now, 8 years ago and a lot of games watched and attended later wire lost, I forget against who, and it hurt; properly stung! That was when I became a fan. This despite the biggest football club in the world - not city the other lot - being 2.5 miles away from my home. My league fandom is a different fandom, not sure why, but it is. For instance, Despite winning the first city game I attended, we lost the second, I saw how that hurt my Dad and, by extension, that hurt immediately. As an aside, it was 6 years ago when my Dad swore when wire lost, he is now a fan because I am, that was the first loss he cared about. It was the happiest I have been after a loss.

Has been a brilliant level in the half dozen games I’ve seen , not suggesting it’s the only thing but a crowd makes a big difference. The retirement of the great players since the last World Cup seems to have made little difference to the quality available to the Aussies.

Hoping for a wire win, particularly as I understand Cas have a few injuries. I hope we play a bit less predictably this season and hoping that BMM moving on - as good a player as he is - helps us play a bit more off the cuff. Should be a good game, Going wire by a score.

Is Roby nailed on? I would play him but Hodgson will be there or there abouts won’t he?

Really good game. I have not watched many games since the restart, found it hard with no fans, but that was fantastic and a reminder as to why I love this game, hard, fair, skilful and dramatic. Needed that to reaffirm why I love rugby after this year!

Really well said mate, incredible game, fantastic drama.

Wow, first time I have posted on a while, totally amazed by that game; my dad who I converted to league said wow, the “lowest scoring game I have enjoyed “ sums up the effort on display, fantastic!!