Pricey81

Total agreement. Well deserved

Well, that wasn't quite the toss of a coin, tight encounter I had envisaged...

Went to the Alex to cheer him off this morning. There was a decent crowd there considering it had snowed overnight and was freezing. He really is an inspiration and he is right, we should all be a bit kinder to one another. I'm a 42 year old bloke with kids and when Kev nodded in my direction as I shouted "Go on Kev" on his way past I was the starstruck kid watching one of my heroes again. How he can combine coming across superhuman and totally normal at the same time is one of his amazing qualities. I hope this raises millions.

Mine arrived by email today as well. If it gets to Thursday I'd say give them a bell but 4/5 days beforehand is pretty normal from my experience.

I think they gave the attendance as 824

It was indeed a fantastic performance. Was going to bring my stepdaughter up (who has loved her first couple of games) but she was laid low with the lurgy so, rather than waste a junior seat, I borrowed my best mate's lad and bought him up, having never been to a game of either code before. He spent most of the evening saying "oof", shouting "go on Oldham" or "go on Patrick" or "go on Jordan" and asking me to remind him of the rules and then trying to add the score up (sorry Hornets). He said it had been brilliant and then slept most of the hour and three quarters it took to get home. On arrival just after 11pm, he roused himself to ask his Mom if he could go again, explaining it was normally a Sunday afternoon so wouldn't be this late. What with him, my stepdaughter and my little one approaching four and wanting to come, I might end up with nearly a school outing in my car later in the season. As far as the performance goes, the intensity, the ability to be clinical and to build that massive lead the first half hour took the sting totally out of the game. Even when Hornets did improve slightly (briefly either side of half time), the lead was such that they couldn't really build any pressure and the lads were able to turn on the style again the last 20mins. Massively encouraging and too many good performances to really focus on individuals.

Up the Yeds here! Unbelievable start this

Sam Doyle is an absolute gem. When I bought my daughter and my step daughter up v London last year, he greeted us, showed us round, organised a signed ball for the girls and was the most approachable, helpful and polite person you could wish to meet. I did write to the club about him too. Glad someone else has highlighted him. Does a great job. If all goes to plan, our first trip up this year will be Good Friday. Good luck in the meantime and see you then.

You'd have to have a heart of concrete not to have your bottom lip going at that. Rob Burrow is an absolute warrior and Lindsey is just extraordinary. I pray to God I never have to cope in that situation. They deserve more than the recognition they get and please God, medicine can make some progress on this.

Picked up my old man, drove to Sale Water Park, jumped on the Metrolink (£6.20 return for the pair of us), free parking for tram users and jumped on the tram to Trafford bar. Worked like a dream and only waited about 10mins max at the other end to get back after the trophy presentation etc. Were in the safe standing at the very back corner of the South Stand (Bobby Charlton) where it joins the East Stand - it seems this is the away section for football and everyone did stand which would be my preference anyway. I have to say we had a terrific day. I wish the women's game had been a bit tighter but no criticism there, the Aussies were just too good and the men's final was similar albeit on a lot less of a scale. Getting behind Samoa (like everyone else did) was a real buzz and I was delighted they did get over a couple of times. Their efforts after that first game have been superb this last month. As I said on here after the Warrington QF, I have loved this tournament. Finances dictated I was lucky enough to do five live games at five different venues but given unlimited money I would have done more. Some crowds maybe were disappointing but others weren't and all the games being on the BBC has meant work colleagues who don't follow the game, have done. One fella got hooked in by the Fijian hymn in their opening game v Aus, made a point of watching all their games, and was genuinely gutted at them losing late on in the QF v NZ. The upshot of this is he is coming and bringing his daughter to England v France at Warrington in April. This is a tiny sample size and is anecdotal but I do think the TV coverage has been crucial in reaching new potential fans (he is a Walsall FC season ticket holder who has never attended an RL game in person but loves sport and goes to cricket as well as football). I also realise I have drifted off topic and this may be in the wrong thread now To sum up in terms of Old Trafford though, had a great day yesterday, would definitely go safe standing again there, public transport worked well...but the PA system in the back corner of the Bobby Charlton Stand is awful. Probably the Glazers' fault that!

Thank you. He is doing pretty well really and treated himself to a kip most of the way home but that's to be expected I think. Turns 70 in March but the look in his eyes was like a kid when Jarome Luai thanked him for his support and had a photo done with us. This game ey?

Absolutely amazing day out. Took my old man who has just finished six weeks of radiotherapy. Pre match was spine tingling, the game was superb and then got a picture with my Dad, me, Jarome Luai and a Samoan flag after the game. People can crab about the tournament all they like but today was sensational. Took my eight year old step daughter to Bramall Lane last week and she adored it and thinks Dom Young is Superman. My only regret is my three year old daughter is a bit too fond of an impromptu pitch invasion to come with us yet. There have been mistakes made by the organisers and some fixtures may not have lived up to the hype but I have done four in total so far (Wales v Cook Islands and England v France the others), have tickets for the final too and honestly have made some terrific memories. Days like today make you realise why live sport is incomparable to anything else.

What a call that was! Get in!

This does seem ridiculous. If you showed someone unconnected with either club a picture of the two grounds and asked them which one they thought would be able to offer more tickets come derby day they wouldn't believe the real answer would they?