The Lad

That's a blow to RL, they have survived two seasons in the championship and it was something to build on. But if they are struggling it's another case of an expansion club running into trouble.

I agree that some ref's are quick to action, and in an ideal world every ref would go into every game with a blank canvas and ref what they see. Unfortunately humans are not like that and if a team has a reputation for being dirty or giving away a lot of penalties refs will not give them a lot of the 50/50 and be more prone to handing out harsher punishments.

Right?, i don't understand your point. i don't care about the penalty count the fact remains that we repeatedly get penalized for the same things. Talking back to the ref for example, how hard is it to keep your mouth shut. We do it time and time again. You don't seem that bothered that we are shooting ourselves in the foot.

It doesn't matter how the ref did, something seems to be happening in every game no matter the ref.

How is a red card to a headbutt an over reaction?, Rush was stupid and tried to rile up an opponent when we were winning by 12 with 10 to go after he talked his way into a yellow before.

A good game spoiled. I thought it was a good game today, end to end rugby and a close game. We played well and were the better team although some of these loose passes could have been gathered by Cornwall on another day. Was pleased that we kept Cornwall to 0 points in the second half, our defence worked hard in that opening 10 mins of the second half as they threw a lot at us. What was unforgivable was the way the game dissolved into needless aggression and cards, I believe it was Kieran Rush getting 2 yellows one for gobbing off and the other for deciding to rag a player around who had already been tackled and Fenton Rogers got a straight red for headbutting a player. On a team that is struggling to put out 13 with injuries and suspensions he takes it upon himself to make the situation worse.

He's a class act in the game, he has shown he's greatness as a player both on and off the field. Made a different's every time he took the field in Hornets colors and i wish him the best of luck in every aspect of his life.

They are an expansion club so it's more about the performance (as i expect us to win), keeping penalties and cards to a minimal will be key. The next few weeks are pivotal to our playoff hopes so lets start as we mean to go on. Hornets by 20.

With all this upheaval how do you think we will do against Doncaster?, teams usually do well the week after they get rid of a coach.

Im only trying to keep clubs semi-professional by making a big league out of the championship and league 1 clubs, maybe more becoming amateur is the future.

So 7 leagues with 6-9 clubs in each is the answer?

The trouble with League 1 is that it has no identity I don't think anyone knows what it is. One of the reasons for this is because there are two leagues in one, the heartland clubs and the expansion ones. The expansion experiment has for the most part failed Hemel, Gloucestershire and Oxford have all left the league, Coventry and West Wales have gone through name changes. No expansion club has had consistent years in the top half of the league only managing to win one or two games against the Heartland clubs between them. It's easy to dismiss league 1 because its the bottom of the pile, it seems like the powers that be always view it as an after thought rather than something that should be pushed and have a market for. I think that in the end there will be two leagues. Leigh Centurions, Featherstone Rovers, Bradford Bulls, London Broncos and Newcastle Thunder will go into Super league along with all the clubs that are there now. All other clubs will be in a bigger second league.

Great news for the Wolfpack and for the game out there, a strong american league is good for the sport.

The team has looked directionless with unconvincing wins over teams below us and not a single win over any team above he has left the club realistically making up the numbers in the playoffs. I said he should have not been given a permanent position after his embarrassing record over the latter half of the 2019 championship campaign. We have lost the physical hard hitting defense that had become part of our identity and replaced it with sloppy tackling and penalty ridden mistakes, the fast paced passing and good kicking has long gone in its stead are offloading at ridiculous times and kicking with no thought behind it. Cards have now become an every game occurrence we have always been physical but not dirty. There have been games were we have looked to good for teams but immediately fail to back it up in the next game. But the worst part is the lack of leadership or passion i see on the field, players looking around for someone to take charge, no communication or plan B sometimes no plan A. This is something that needed to be done but i hope the next coach isn't picked based on his past with Hornets but what he will bring in the future.

Why are the Bulls always seen as the team they where not the team they are?, Noble only cares because he used to manage them. City clubs have the same chance as another team by winning promotion and the Bulls can't do that so out comes the helping hand. RFL needs to decide what it wants, will it be a sport that has equality with promotion and relegation or more like the NRL with the same teams in year in year out with the occasional expansion. There needs to be several factors determining which teams get into the new super league if its to be a success and a closed league. what is more important than how many cups they have won in the past or if they are a city, is things like how the club is run and how many times they have gone into administration.

The only reason he got a yellow was because he used open hands not a forearm, he was lucky. Bottom line was you were loosing and so acted out.

Was worried that it might be a cricket score based on that first half but we played the best half of rugby i have see this year. The trouble is if that was against a better team we would have been finished, We are not consistent enough and either seem to win in an unconvincing manner or play two completely different halves. We didn't seem to be able to come up with a game plan in the first half to counteract oldham, we have a plan A and no plan B. You've got to be able to think on your feet and we couldn't yesterday. The lack of communication was also a worry, there was no talking or players taking charge in the first half and if you can't get up for derbies then that is a problem. Nobody looked like they cared. Second half we were unstoppable and were miles ahead of them, we made better decisions and showed an energy that was lacking in the first half. Rangi Chase led the team and showed his class, Players making good yards after contact and looked like a different side. It was a good game and yet again another Hornets v Oldham game that will be remembered but it would have been better if we had scored more of those 50 points in the first half.

There is no point calling this one as it's Rochdale vs Oldham. We need to win this if we want to keep around the top spot and i think we have the means to do it, Oldham are hit or miss and we have been pretty consistent this year when it comes to teams below us in the league, but the fact that it's our old enemy means anything could happen.

Idk something tells me we will be comfortable winners but something also tells me it will be a hard thought battle. The last time we faced each other we always had enough to counter them but this fixture seems like one Hornets will lose as a rule. If we play anywhere near our best we will win but if we drop intensity there maybe an upset on the books. These are games we need to win if we want to make the top three.

Seeing the Halifax vs Barrow game and the bif that has made the headlines do you think the ref got it right?. For me it's a no, Miloudi seems to have football dived his way to a one match ban after headbutting Worthington, Worthington defends himself and will get three game ban at least. And the most puzzling Gwaze may get a lengthy ban for picking up the "injured" Miloudi. This is a bad look for the refs of the game, it seems they are content with siding with the most theatrical player rather than logic. What is worse it seems they have handed out bans without looking at the footage, Miloudi headbutts Worthington and doesn't get penalized for it. I hope this is not a trend that continues through the leagues as we will be rewarding the player that makes the most of a situation rather than the right call.

Watched a wrestling interview with Sean Allen Morley Known as Val Venis in the WWE. He was wearing a Leeds Rhinos shirt, even though i didn't see it in person it was very surprising.

If a club travels it's subject to the location of the team and the significance of the game. In any league a fan base isn't going to travel up and down the country for games that don't matter.

And that is a positive, Im a Hornets fan and we have noticed the large gate for a loosing team, if you can keep it up it will be good average attendance. I just wonder if it will be the same after three years. I hope it will but expansion teams seem to disappoint.

For the good of the game i hope but with hemel, oxford, Gloucestershire all golds, coventry bears and London Skolars all either non existent or treading water it is hard to believe it will. Rugby needs to expand and every fan is happy to see teams south of Doncaster but you need to put in place the finances, players and long term plan to make it work.

This is the problem with expansion teams, hemel stags and oxford didn't do great either. There seems to be not enough players or infrastructure to make it work. If after years in the league they are the same as a first year team that is a worry and needs to be addressed, maybe giving them more central funding or some time away from the league to get a team that can compete.