idrewthehaggis

I like this. Probably more realistic than Manchesterleicesterbristoldublinclevelanddubairockallontario

This is weird. Success is probably going to be battered next week away at either Wigan, Perpignan or St Helens. And to achieve that Solly has to sneak a W against a vibrant Dracs who hammered a fading star last week. And hope Huddersfield does us a favour. So acres of potential disappointment, despair and disheartening emotions for tonight. The wonder of supporting Salford.........

Fella i support a team that hasn't won a major honour in all my days, endured their only Challenge Cup final during lockdown. Personally I would still be dining on Salford winning a Hubcap for the rest of my life if they ever did it.

Hurrah and so it should. With hopefully so much at stake then it should be an easy (coughs) angle to sell to the media or more importantly generates tension, ecstasy, agony and thrill that evening for us fans..

At least you are being honest and your post vindicates mine in stating Cas - and others - precariously think they have to postpone an upgrade to balance staying in SL or having functioning facilities. Just to say Salford City FC managed to construct a wholly new modular 5k capacity stadium for £5m and for the same amount the 2000 members of FC United of Manchester drew together funds from their fan base and various grant as/loan to construct a completely brand novel ground. So if in the Shock City it can be done, then so it can be achieved in the beating heartland of RL,

This thread should be a sticky mods. By the way I am massively impressed with that Wigan video. Big tick from me. The inclusive side that is, sort of imagined Mago at Solly, but hey ho.

Yer Skylights.

I once got all terse about the moribund state of Cas' and others grounds. Now I do not. To me, it is an equation that values SL survival on the pitch rather than off. Fair dos, snap Evalds and that Richardson (remember him?) off us Salfordians with bigger wages. Ah well. But ultimately it is the supporters that suffers. It is they who are being short changed, patronized and treated as third case citizens with ram shackled stands, crumbling terraces, medieval toilets and fairground level hospitality, whilst the latter day "Gerald Weavers" comfortably plumps his backside on the new padded seats. The sad matter is if you added up the cost of repairs over the decades it could have afforded brand new facilities in a host of RL stadiums. And surely these grounds break various modern Laws on accessibility, safety and hygiene. Come on kids, Cas aren't alone on this. Is it OK that the "disabled" section at Wakefield is a small wooden shed with dirty plastic chairs? Does a rotten Odsall tick all the necessary inclusive boxes? Now as I said, I sort dont blame the clubs entirely. Certainly not the fans. My finger points towards the cozy culpability of the RFL and perhaps IMG on not either imposing better standards and not directing additional resources so ye supporter can enjoy games in safe covered stands and retreat to a clean toilet? That finger extends to town councils and developers. Just get it built.

Jolly Gee, Rugby Bloody League eh? It's a day plus and i'm still buzzing from it! Astonishing. Whilst yes some tired bodies struggled for quality and the humid atmosphere literally made it a High Noon of slippy hands and dropped balls, the error fest made it into an even more frantic occasion. Neither side nor fans gave up. To start with the Wire, there is something-albeit not much-missing. There's a need for a shake up, so I am not sure if qualifying for the Play offs would help or hinder. As for Solly to reach the last six requires a massive Herculean shift. Beat both KR and Le Dracs - erm. As this is Salford it's usually calamity after triumph, hope crushingly smothered. Let's see. Yet again the fate of SRD and KR rests on a field in east Hull. Who wants a dull or predictable life? All or nothing.

Great fondness for the man. Just before my time but I recognize Watkins is a huge part of SRD's story and deserves his place in the Pantheon not just at Solly, or even in the city of Salford or Cymru but in the Sport too. A cherished memory from the past. Hopefully an inspiration for the future at Salford.

I guess any forward planning amounts to being contracted out to IMG or considering what to do with the future resignation lump sum.

Well just back from Wrexham and the second of hopefully three excellent days of watching the Tour of Britain. Tomorrow Notts. A well run tournament. Conversely back in RFL land, Friday went as expected for me. Have to say Wigan look marvellous. It was for me the best I have seen this season. Their defence was outstanding. Solly just added to the red mire with some woeful brainf@rts. I stopped Addy em up after half time. Surely the Title is for them now. Yup another Pies v Saints final kids. I know we can't discuss referees anymore, but truly mystified that The King was not shown Red for that utterly shocking lunge (it was not a tackle). It was ###### and dangerous. And how French escaped at least a sin bin for that tip tackle? I hear he has just received a fine, which on his wedge isn't actually a punishment. (to digress should fines be fixed or proportional to a players salary?) Seemingly also curiously at just at this exact time, the gremlins have flung bans at Partington and Watkins as well. Missed how -just as perhaps someone who can't be named did on the King and Bevan incidents. But it was well deserved win for Wigan. I will say this- the cheese pie was gorgeous unlike two nearby big clubs, the staff at Wigan are great and polite clearly success fatigue reigns at the DW as not a frisson of cheer was felt from the cherry red end on going top. We'd still be dining on that at Xmas if it was Salford. And can someone tell whoever the DJ Piemeister is that tacky 80/90s Eurobeat house faded along time ago. Next up the Wires. Truly big one of which apprehensive and comprehensive fatalism has took hold. Ah well onwards goes the People's Club.

Well I feel I need to say the obvious. It's about money and personal. And priorities. League 1 needs investment to function. Alot of that should be gathered by the clubs. Cue IMG. But some should come from the wider RL community. Priorities. What's best? Monies for SL club's to travel to France or Cornwall to visit Yorkshire? Development officers or CEO payoffs?

To quote John Cooper Clarke, "Quicker than lager turns to p!sh." When Wakey does open the new stand, it will make the West terrace look even worse. Its crumbling, it's encased with grime and out in the open. To quote the Bard of Salford again, to me: "Its like a night club in the morning." But even so stay up lads.

At a guess, I'd think professionalism of Elite 1, youth development and maybe how they integrate with the RFL.

This needs Harry Stottle to muse on this. Both Kok up and Konspiracy if it's SRD and RFL. Remember the RFL once miscalculated the number of non Fed players at Solly?!

You were one of the missing 4000 then? Albeit Tony you have a very good reason to be away. The warmth of the sun or shivering next to the ship canal? Ah so Jack Deardon. There was a sense of end of the summer , if not end of the season at times last night. Certainly Jack can add a end of the pier sense on occasion. Good man. At least yer man can count, which seemingly the RFL can't. I am hoping for more than one win.

Erm First it's the RFL and second it involves them and Salford. Normal business continuing.

Tony, the girls and myself were there and , whilst your deconstruction makes it seem close, in hindsight it wasn't so and on other occasions the score would have been greater. First pleasing matter is that the game wasn't decided by (coughs) a "curious" refereeing decision. Hurrah! Second the play-got so frantic in the second half it almost felt like a sevens game or nines if you prefer. And those pitch side LED ad screens might gather Scooby snack points with IMG, but they glare harshly on yer eyes. At one time, a brilliant incandescent white turned the players into shadows. Sort of like an artsy Hebden Bridgesque physical theatre in silhouette. Yup. The attendance was shocking. 4000 were missing, but be honest so was Wakefield sadly. And yup, I too would rather Wakey stay up as at least that new stand shows some (albeit belated) desire to live in the 1990s at least. Unlike some others eh! Plus their supporters seem a fine bunch. Now for us Reds, that win was essential. The thrills, spills and belly aches carry on. Next up. Back to yer Wigan. Fun n' games, erm. As Curtis says "Move on Up!"

Well the answer to this question is how the AFL and the GAA went. Plus where do you play Aussie rules if you want you and me to watch? I can't imagine pro County cricket grounds volunteering in season. Perhaps a better analogy would be Lacrosse as at least that is played by "natives" here in Europe as opposed to Aussie exiles. To digress I once thought Lacrosse to be analogy for the Toronto Wildcats experiment. As an analogy, I wonder what if the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) had sort an English franchise for their competition. Would it proceed like the Wildcats into failure, or would it been different? I wonder.

Those International Rules games were nothing more than Friday night after the pub closes brawls and pretty much killed off any future Australia against Ireland challenges. https://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/gaa/international-rules-series-postponed-indefinitely-21816239 So the assumption is this would repeat itself in Britain. Ouch!

Christchurch with some one off on the roads games in Wellington. North Island/Te Ika e Māui- NZ Warriors South Island/Te Waipounamu - NZ (Insert appropriate moniker) Add Perth/Adelaide (yes)/extra Qld club. 21 clubs, three sections-Qld invitation/Sydney City/ANZAC trophies-12 games One off round robin of teams in other sections-14 games Plays off and Grand Final.

No! I enjoy the trips to Huddersfield. A much younger Haggis once strode out from the Train station and spied an extremely attractive equally salad dayed fellow travellers. She looked at the Haggis, thought he looks interesting and smiled. As it happens, a connection was made. I knew straight away, she and me were up to visit the University to be interviewed. Feeling uncharacteristically generous, I ordered a taxi and we chatted and chatted. We went into our interviews and to my surprise she waited for me afterwards. We giddily walked back to the station. We exchanged numbers and I promised to ring her, confident in that the Uni had offered us both places and this was only the start. Unfortunately I soon lost that telephone number and it continued speeding onwards after I'd got off the train in Manchester. I never saw her again, as I stayed in work and chose to do Uni (smuggly a much grander one) much later in those cabbage green days. So every time I come to Huddersfield, I am calmly warmed by "what if." I sort of fancy the thought she is there, a matured version in the Giants throng, her son perhaps playing for the claret and gold. If I was "Clare" then I would not panic about the Giants. Even though he is a foolish disciple of Boris, Mr Davy is cute enough to see the Watson Wave is a long term project. IW promotes a methodical game plan (not my poison as you know, but) supplemented by dashes of magic. Unfortunate those magicians are Tui and Connors, who blow cold and hot in equal measures. I just dont understand why Pryce aint there, is he cropped? Meanwhile the equally mercurial Rowley-ball rolls on in its ever unpredictable fashion. Giants looked asleep, Devils appeared active. Like an orchestra, they spent the first 20 odd minutes, grasping to get in tune, but once they did, they let that music erm speak. Not quite classic Rowley-ball, but there was fine moments. For a change, the "middles" bossed a much bigger pack, Singleton looked smart as you'd hope, Brierley continues his transformation, whilst Deon Cross enthused why he deserved an enhanced contract with some mighty stats and lastly after weeks of despondency, it seems the team is getting better. And perhaps unlike "Clare" and myself, the romance carries on. Solly back in the play offs!?! Next up Trinity. Bring it on.

Two bald men fighting over a comb, Sollys and Fartowners arguing over attendances. My hope when I do my reflection on Saturday is- a. There is no maddening referee decisions again. b. And SRD do themselves credit.

Surely the 1st of April?