Rowan

Yes, Pete, realistically we'll probably lose, maybe even heavily, but this match won't define the Raiders season. We will have far more important games ahead of us. Featherstone are almost certain to go up replace one of their neighbours (Cas or Trinity) so it's just a case of giving it a go.

Australia/New Zealand or more likely Never Never Land

This comes up every time we hear about the latest game-changing schemes and ideas for RL (which is quite often) but there really is no chance of it ever happening. Cumbria is the second biggest county (I think) but it has one of the lowest populations (most of it is a National Park) and has only three towns and districts with any interest in the sport. And in any case Super League is not the be-all-and-end-all for many RL fans. Sorry, folks - there's nothing to see here. It's a non-starter.

Hope he lasts at Oldham longer than he did at Barrow - came on a month's loan and played here for just one match. Played well, though.

Albi are through to the French Cup Final in a fortnight so Miloudi won't be going anywhere until that's over

Those calling for Cresta's head six or seven games after he was the voted Championship coach of the year are not only jumping the gun, they have yet to come up with a single suggestion to replace a man who has brought along more local players than any long-distance coach could ever achieve. We're all disappointed the way things are. Sure, we are going through a rough patch and I'll be the first to agree that our recruits have not been up to what we hoped they would be so we will not repeat last season's fourth placed finish. But sacking the coach is not the solution. It's just the Premier League's answer to everything. It's up to the players to knuckle down and show just a bit of the spirit that got us through so many games last season. Oh, and it isn't just blind faith that has me believing that there were enough wins aged for us to avoid the bottom two.

OK, maybe brag was being a bit flippant but I still believe we have devalued the Cup to such an extent that it has stopped being special. I'm old enough to have been among 90,000 crowds made up of supporters from just about every club. Just an old fogey living in the past, I suppose.

I realise that for the last couple of decades the Challenge Cup has been kicked around as though it was some sort of nuisance getting in the way of more important things like not finishing bottom of Super League but I think we have finally reached the lowest rung of the ladder. The 12 Super League clubs do not enter the Cup until round six were they will join the survivors of the previous costly five rounds. That's about as close as you can get to renaming the competition the Super League Challenge Cup with the 1895 trophy the Leftovers Cup. I'll still retain an interest in the Cup but I doubt if we will ever see another Wembley final attracting a crowd we can actually brag about.

Oops, too late. Sorry

As Oldham have always been my "second" team let's all hope for good news - except I can't see Latics having a G4 pitch installed as I understand they are not allowed in the EFL which would rule out any hopes of promotion from the National League which is surely the target for OAFC.

Losing to Toulouse, Sheffield (who put 42 points on Widnes yesterday) and York at their place were hardly major shocks considering the changes we have had to make after after last season's successes so the games at Swinton and yesterday's draw with a very average Newcastle side are the real reasons for concern. But as 2Cents pointed out the tries scored by Mikoudi and Ritson are unlikely to be repeated this season. (We were definitely spoiled last season!) and as the chairman said in his match programme page: Supporters perhaps forget that we had a sticky patch last season with 6 defeats in 7 games before recovering with scratchy wins over Workington and Dewsbury. I am not trying to gloss over the problems because they are there for all to see - the usual ones that afflict struggling teams. but I think it's a bit too early to press that panic button. Maybe it's wishful thinking but things will get better. Surely we are not one of the two weakest teams in the Championship.

Seems my memory's all right - I just can't spell.

if memory serves me right, John refereed the Wigan-Manly game at Central Park, the match that sparked the call for a regular World Club Challenge in the mid 1980s (85 I think). Wogan won a tryless match 8-2 and the crowd was recorded as 37,000. (give or take).

Don't want to start any conspiracy theory but can the fact that Salford City have pulled out of any move to the AJ Bell have anything to do with the fact that the money man behind the football club - Singapore businessman Peter Lim - is also owner of struggling Spanish Football club Valencia who have fallen on hard times and cash is short? According to a BBC report Mr. Lim who bought Valencia in 2014 (his friend Gary Neville became manager there) has not been seen since 2018.

Are Whitehaven going to get four points for beating London?

Mine was somewhere in the EIGHT thousands so it ain't me.

Back in 1969 I was part of a small group that formed Corby Pioneers and Fred was instrumental in launching the Midlands Watney Cup - a four-team competition of Corby, Walsall, Loughborough University and Sheffield University. Later as a RL journalist I got to know Fred and Billy Thompson better that most. He was always helpful, always keen on helping new clubs along to such an extent that he came down to Corby to referee our one-off promotional Sevens tournament that included leading amateur clubs. David Oxley, now Fred Lindop a day later .... sad times for the game.

There was a time long ago when the RFL and its sponsors held Press Conferences to announce the figures. If memory serves me - and I maybe being unfair here - it stopped when Maurice Lindsey announced JJB the sponsors of Super League. No mention of prize money came that day and it got us in the press wondering why.

Barrow 52 North Wales Crusaders 24 -closer than it sounds (22-24 just after half-time)

Thanks, Barnya - feel a bit better already. On another French connection topic - can you tell me why Elite clubs stopped playing in the RL Challenge Cup or could we not restore the Treize Tournoi of all those years ago?

Like you, Futty, The Leopards (not the Leigh ones) have been my favourite French team ever since I was given one of their badges many years ago. But they really are in a sorry state at the moment. They kept Limoux out for nearly half an hour but the collapse was inevitable. When they did get the ball they couldn't hang on to it for more than a couple of tackles.

We'll be reading from those RL people who think the honours list is corrupt and should be scrapped and then moaning because X or Y RL person hasn't got one.

By that reckoning why do they bother to play ANY games?

As the RFL and just about everybody else could see this was coming and nine home games a season is not enough to keep the remaining ten alive, surely there is time to introduce an extra competition along the lines of two sections of five, giving two more home and two away games with the winners meeting in a final (Let's say it's the Coronation Cup) with a travel subsidy from the RFL) Section One (south-ish)- Skolars, Cornwall, Hurricanes, Crusaders, Donny) Section Two - (north) Workington, Oldham, Rochdale, Hunslet, Dewsbury) Thee are enough empty weekends in a League One season but I doubt if there is the will)

Just to clear up something for an old timer - is this discussion about changing the name of the sport or the name of a competition inside the sport of Rugby League?