Tubby

I’m fairly sure Deryck Fox’s birthday is today too. I only know because it’s mine as well.

That's pretty much my point, catchment areas aren't quite as clear cut as some would suggest. My mother lives in Selby too and she's a Featherstone fan. Her husband (originally from York) is a York fan. Although since they're both elderly, neither attend games any more.

But if Toronto have a couple of injuries, or even just an off day, then the consistantly best team in the Championship may well not be promoted. As a fan of Featherstone, I'd obviously like them to finish strongly an be promoted, but if they did, then the consistantly best team would not be the one going up. I think defining best as 'the best on the day' is a little disingenuous.

Irrelevant and deliberately provocative. But thanks for taking the time.

I understand there is a slight imbalance and that could have a bearing on final positions and I've always believed that the Bash games, if they must be a league game, should simply be a relocated home/away fixture for clubs with the club losing home advantage compensated in some way. Even better, make the Bash the first round of a cup competition or similar. Obviously, I realise that I'm a luddite and possible too stupid to be allowed to follow RL, but I think a simple balanced fixture list with the top team promoted and the bottom team relegated would work quite well.

I think this issue of 'crowd potential' due to the population of a place is a bit of a distraction. Wherever a club is located, there will be major conurbations all around them, from which they could potentially draw a crowd. I appreciate that other clubs being close by can dilute the potential, but Wigan and Leigh, for example are in the same town and both have had healthy crowds simultaneously, almost certainly not all of those fans lived within 3 miles of the ground of either club, but within 10, 15 or even 20 miles.

Toronto should be promoted as champions for finishing top of the table. There would then be no need for any of these arguments about venues. Toronto are clearly the most consistant team throughout the season and should go up on that basis. Had it been any other team at the top (particularly Featherstone!), then I would say the same. All those years Featherstone finished top and there was no possibility of promotion were damned frustrating. The best team should be promoted, not the team who hits the best form/has the fewest injuries for a month at the end of the season.

Worryingly like last season. Hope Leeds stay injury free this year.

I would imagine there are people on here who know exactly who the culprits are too. Perhaps they'll have a whip-round to pay the fine.

For me, it's not necessarily the racist angle that is the main issue here (although the chant in question makes you wince a bit), it is the generally offensive bull that is chanted by the minority and the few who want to fight when they've had a sniff of the barmaid's apron. The first game of the season was a case in point with a number of Featherstone fans scrapping with the big daft Bradford lad in the luminous orange coat (who wears hi-viz then picks a fight at a rugby match). Absolutely all clubs have a small group of bother-causers who's behaviour reflects badly on the club, but just because everyone has the problem doesn't make it acceptable. I appreciate that bad language is rife throughout society and I would imagine that no-one swears more than I do in certain circumstances, but shouting it out from the 'family-stand' just sounds crass and dare I say moronic. Merely saying that there are worse things around is a ridiculous argument; it's like me saying that I'm not that fat just because there are fatter people about. I'm still fat.

This has gone on for years and it will take some time and effort to stop it. A Bradford supporter friend of mine loves to remind me of an incident years back when someone stood next to him in the Bullocks shed was shouting racist abuse at Gerald Cordle and then turned and shouted to Owen Simpson, 'not you Owen, you're alright!'. Beer has a lot to do with the racist and profane chanting and has been for the best part of 40 years to my knowledge.

What did they cost?

Sadly, I believe you’re right, certainly on your last point. The sport is in its death throes. I just hope the selfish SL chairmen suffer most at the demise. There you go, I can do bleak!

I know Nige, but the catchment area is bigger than just Featherstone and other small towns have shown that decent crowds are feasible (Cas is hardly a metropolis). The geography is only one factor, there is far more to the ability to generate good crowds, of which I would suggest a successful team is by far the greatest.

This is better news than any signing and let's hope Featherstone aren't the only ones re-establishing an A team.