fighting irish

You have the advantage over me, in that you are much closer to the club and must have witnessed Smith ''acting appallingly that day'' (which day?). I sadly, have not seen the press conference you refer to, nor am I aware of what provoked the behaviour/actions you abhor. I sense that you may know him personally and have formed a less than complimentary opinion of ''the man underneath''. I'm just assuming that his beliefs about his position at the club were erroneous (delusional, perhaps) and he must have endured something of a rude awakening. Why else, would he suddenly announce his decision to leave the club at the seasons end? I don't know who, might have upraised him of his error, surely though there can't be many people at the club with the authority to knock him down a peg or two? Perhaps you can enlighten us? Let me just finish by adding that I'm not trying to be provocative, I certainly didn't mean to cause you (or anyone else) any offence, I was just speculating about what would move him to announce his resignation, mid season.

It's obvious something happened there, which shattered his illusions about his standing in the club. I'm afraid they might live to rue the day, they knee-capped his ambitions. I get the impression, there's some bitter resentment (on his part) about the whole episode. He's obviously a very talented coach.

Me too. I think if not for Percival, Grace would have lit the game up like a Christmas tree. With his attacking capabilities, it was criminal to starve him of the ball. It's very sad that he'll have even less (ball) du mauvais côté obscur .

You can't chastise a killer whale.

Bravo, Oxford. This is how to spread the game fellas. Great (can do) attitude, great initiative. Things like this make me feel very optimistic about the future of our game.

I don't know who's tracking what's going on over there and providing the updates for this thread but I'm always eager for news of USA/NARL developments. Please keep them coming?

Has anyone actually seen the lad play? Everyone's writing him off but can he do the business? Francis Cummings seems to thinks so. Just as an aside, but I reckon there are loads of RaRa wingers and centre's who would make good league players, but never show up in union because they hardly ever get a pass! Then frustration and utter boredom sets in and their career starts to nose-dive. A huge waste of potential talent (for us).

They should be.

'compost mentis' doesn't that mean s...t for brains?

If anybody's looking for a reason why Harry behaves like a d....k there it is.

It's utter rubbish RP. Isn't their 'cut' dependant on improving the games income? Managing steady decline would mean they don't make any money at all just managing for nothing. Was it you who asked me what it means if you can't see the lunatic in the room?

They can't maintain their prejudices against us openly, using the false ''amateur ethic'' any longer, because due to competitive market forces and the slow awakening/enlightenment of the ordinary man, they've had to abandon it. It doesn't mean their fear and loathing has gone away, because the underlying motive still exists. Envy. They envy our game and our founders courage to break away from the establishment and their creativity (daring) to change the rules to improve the game for everyone's enjoyment. They fear being eclipsed, (eventually) by our continued growth. They are angry that they can't make similar rule changes (without it being obvious they are copying RL) because they would dearly love to. They are hamstrung by their own arrogance. So be it. You'll have heard the argument that if not for the break-away, we would all be playing to Rugby League rules now. You are right that many young players today are completely unaware of the things I'm speaking of. I don't believe the progress of RL in Wales is held back, by my personal memories so you don't need to worry. I'm not (big enough, or influential enough to be) the problem. Even if I was, I'm not constantly banging on about all this, even if it seems so, to you people in here. Rugby League is of course, slowly growing in popularity which is very encouraging. I make these arguments to make our people aware, that we were right all along, that we have the upper hand, both morally and in terms of the quality and inherent appeal of our game. We should be confident that our cause is just and get on with enjoying (and spreading) the game guilt free, because as long as we don't completely bug ger it up, we will win in the end.

Well let's hope so. I suppose it depends on her inherent sense of right and wrong. Or perhaps, god forbid (time will tell) she's prepared to brush all that aside, as long as Wales keep winning the RaRa six nations championships.

Look fella's let me set the record straight. My grudge is not a century old. The life ban, ostracism, sneering suspicion, and local prejudices, I'm bearing a grudge about happened to my father, my cousin, some very good friends of mine and to me personally. Just because you have no experience of it Jannerboy, doesn't mean it wasn't/isn't real. Please tell me, you're not going to say it's my fault, or I should get over it. That would be the worst kind of ''victim blaming'' and a willful blindness to the reality of their vile treatment of our best and fairest. What would make it easier to bear this disgusting injustice and engender a willingness to forgive and forget? How about an honest acknowledgement that their ''amateur ethos'' and punitive (lifelong) treatment of our players was immoral all along, that they were hypocritical, in the maintenance of prejudice towards us, while paying their own players boot money and a heartfelt apology, to every player and their families, that ''went north'' in the last century?

You might as well, but don't forget Tom Jones mind you! (That's a Wenglish colloquialism, just for you).

I can throw a stone to Dic Penderyn's grave, from where I am.

Yes the depression, a wicked and woeful time in 20th century history. Of course the Rugby League, who were putting on sporting entertainment to packed houses, chose to assist their impoverished players by actually sharing the gate receipts with the very people providing the entertainment. The Welsh Rugby Union however, maintained it was unsporting, ungentlemanly and even immoral, to accept payment for playing a game, deliberately obfuscating, by this callous sophistry, the vast gate receipts the WRU collected and banked while the players went hungry. So perhaps, the next time she's looking for a reason why Wales didn't win a grand slam between 1911 and 1950 she should lay the blame where it really belongs, with the knobs who ran the WRU for profit and couldn't give a toss for the poor players who through their own blood sweat and tears, were actually providing the entertainment.

I'm surprised you decided to pick this quotation to support your claim she's a national treasure, especially if you mean we Rugby League fans should see her as such. National treasure she may be, but that quotation is bound (and may even be designed) to stir resentment towards Rugby League, blaming us as the reason for WRU failures between 1911 and 1950. She makes it quite plain in the article quoted above, by Angelic cynic where here loyalties lie. I wait with bated breath, for the first pro-Rugby League feature as part of her new tenure.

Yes I know it was scheduled, but I couldn't watch it live. I was at our local club match in Bridgend. I was asking because it doesn't appear in the list of recorded games, the ''video on demand'' list, not yet anyway. I've noticed this in the past, that games seem to take a while to be listed there. I just don't understand why.

What concerns me about this, is a vivid memory of Vlandys saying something like, ''We'll show them who really runs rugby league'' when referring to the IRL organisation, during the debacle around their callous withdrawal from 2021 WC. I don't think they support the IRL and in fact, deeply resent it. I also believe they are persistently working to undermine it. There was no mention (by Abdo) of the IRL in this last piece. If they succeed in eviscerating the IRL, then who will nurture the fledgling European Nations or the Middle East and African nations, not to mention the America's, or provide worthwhile competition for England? We need to give some encouragement to John Kear and rally round to get the NH playing international rugby league. I'd say we need to ensure the survival of the IRL, by promoting growth in the Northern Hemisphere, or we will be frozen out by an Australian monster that only cares about maintaining SOO as the premier RL tournament in the world and NRL as the premier league.

How come the Cornwall game isn't on 'Our League'?

That was great!

I met him, he ran a press conference in Wales before an International match. I remember him asking the assembled press to give us a fair hearing. He was great for the game, very professional, very friendly, so well spoken, so knowledgeable. It was a very long time ago, but he made a huge, lasting impression on me. Someone I would like to have spent more time with. God speed Harry.

Let's get down to what Rugby League fans really care about. Killing the ref that officiated, when their team last lost.

What does the science say? That's the big question Dave, isn't it. I believe, from my own experience that prolonged hormone treatment, (testosterone reduction, elevated estrogen levels) has ongoing effects over time, which may plateau eventually but are not fully manifest immediately i.e. as soon as the testosterone levels reach cisgender norms. So it could be that a transgender outlier comes within cisgender norms after say 2 or 3 years. I think (originally) the rules governing Lia Thomas's participation allowed her to compete after 12 or 18 months of hormone treatement. So she was always competing within the rules set out by the governing body at the time. Of course Rugby League and Swimming are very different sports, with different risks associated with including trans-gender athletes, but if my supposition, that the effects of hormone treatment do take time to fully manifest, then it could be that an extension of that settling-in period may be the way forward. If the attributes purported to give the trans-woman ''advantages'' over cisgender women can be defined (and measured) then any trans athlete that falls within the cisgender normal distribution curve, for these specific attributes, should be allowed to compete. By the way and this is a crucially important point, if these ''advantages'' can't be defined and measured (and compared to cisgender norms) then they can't be used to exclude anyone either. On this basis, the exclusion would reek of transphobic prejudice.