OriginalMrC

Looking at the article he is not leaving Hull to join All Golds. I assume he will be available to offer advice but it's not a full time role

Adam Lawton, ex Thunder and now Ottawa second row is 6'7 or 6'8 I think. Tallest player I've ever seen in the flesh

And Gareth Ellis has played RL all his life. Anyway it's not just his age, it's the fact he hasnt played for two years and before that was injury prone. Don't get me wrong he was a fantastic player but playing your first game of RL at 39 would be a challenge for anyone, no matter how good you were. I don't want to take away anything from the signing though, it's a great signing for Raiders bringing a lot of publicity and well done to them for getting it over the line.

I doubt he'll be able to cut it at his age and he spent the last 10 years of his career injured on and off. Still a fantastic signing for publicity more than anything, and if he does get on the pitch his kicking will be a sight to behold.

Ralph Rimmer gets alot of stick but he puts himself out there and is positive about the sport. The only things that Elstone tends to say are negative. I'm not sure what he has done to sell the sport to potential investors

He led Everton into decline. I remain completely unconvinced of his value to SL and RL in general.

Coventry Bears have got Peter Ryan (who incidentally is fluent in Irish) https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/rugby/arid-30983318.html Mikey Russell, was also signed from the Irish league and was an excellent player. Moved home due to personal circumstances but for me was one of the best players in league one and could have made it higher. There's plenty of talent in Ireland and if players are given the opportunity they'll be able to show it.

There's about 10,000 people playing weekly which I would say is pretty big. Most of the leagues are concentrated in London but it's growing all the time. Leagues are now in the midlands, Bristol, Manchester Yorkshire and Lancs.

I grew up in Fermanagh. Thinking a bit more about it you are right. People mostly call it Irish but it is sometimes referred to as Gaelic

Ahem....

Try Tag Rugby in the UK is a RL Variant and falls under the RFL banner. It was brought to the UK by Phil Browne (of Mascord Brownz). I play in the Coventry league and there is also a league in Leamington and Solihull. For me as someone who played RL I love it (though wish I was fitter!). The Coventry and Warwickshire leagues have links with Coventry Bears and are growing all the time. I agree that more might be done to ensure people know its RL they are playing but equally it needs to be seen as being accessible to everyone. The more people playing all versions RL the better IMO

Can be called either. Where I grew up in Ireland everyone called it Gaelic.

Would be great to see another Midlands club, hope you manage to get the players needed to enter the league.

I've said all along that there is nothing to stop EuroXIII working within agreed structures and by not doing so it's potentially going to damage the sport. They now appear to be making moves to lead a breakaway from the RLEF. I don't see what benefit they get from attacking the RLEF. Seems to be about control, and it all continues to look really dodgy.

Thanks so much, your comments are very much appreciated. It started as a fans podcast (and is something I'd never done before). It's obviously focused on the Bears but along the way we've interviewed Ralph Rimmer, Dave Woods, and Kurt Sorenson amongst others. The Bears have got some pretty big announcements in the next few months so there'll be lots to talk about