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wayne_r

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Posts posted by wayne_r

  1. Posted · Report reply

    On youtube there is the full game of Hull vs Swinton on the 21st January 1988 - the Swintom team with the likes of Tommy Frodsham, Paul Topping, Derek Bate, Gary Ainsworth, Scott Ransom, et al stunned the Hull crowd with a tremendous win.

    I do think we were lucky to see so many young talented players at Swinton in the 80's - I agree with Lion heart's comments wholeheartedly.

  3. Posted · Report reply

    Batley were the better side today as Mark said Batley played the conditions better we switched off in the last 15mins of the first half - had we gone in 14 points down we may have had a chance but not at 20. We should have taken penalty kicks at goal in the first half rather than the tap could have come away with 6 points instead of nothing. Nice to see Ben White having a good game for you although it was against us !

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  4. Posted · Report reply

    I couldn't go to the match yesterday - but looked like many did :)

    What a great start to the season, hope there weren't any serious injuries looked like Oscar had injured his right arm / elbow / shoulder ?

    Well done to the team and coaching staff.

  5. Posted · Report reply

    Well I think its a big plus that the majority of the squad have been retained and I hope that some of the younger players signed in the close season prove as a success as Ashton was.

    The first match away at Whitehaven will be a stern test and if the team wins there then it would be a very promising start. I think as always our half backs are key and last season Fairclough and Hansen were really good together. I am sure the pack will again compete with any team in the division.

    I would like to see Lloyd in the 2nd row rather than centre and possibly Thomas at full back ?

    I too don't know what will happen with DR

    Roll on February that's what I say

  9. Posted · Report reply

    On ‎11‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 12:12, The Phantom Horseman said:

    Looking ahead, I think the Championship might be a bit weaker next year, though it's still early days in the recruitment for most teams. Some very early thoughts...

    Obviously Toronto are gone, which has a major impact. London are well coached and very likely to be very competitive, but they have lost or are rumoured to be losing a few of their better players, and whilst I'd still see them as very likely top 4 candidates, and maybe challenging for top 2, they will be nothing like Toronto.

    Toulouse are pretty certain to be good again and up there challenging for top 2 though they seem to be inconsistent for no obvious reason.

    York look to be signing very well and they must have a good chance of at least backing up what they have achieved this season. They did manage to win an awful lot of close games this year and whilst that points to their resilience, I think they will need to be a better team overall to finish top 3 or 4 again. Their pack definitely looks stronger though.

    Leigh are hard to assess as they haven't really announced much about their squad for next year yet, there are rumours Beaumont might be set to splash the cash again but to me they seem to do better when he keeps away from his spending sprees. They certainly looked a better team when they played 3 or 4 fringe players from St Helens than with all the hired guns that came into their team towards the end of the season.

    Halifax flopped massively this season when everything looked in place for a big year from them. They have had a mini-clearout for the first time in years but I'm not convinced the signings they have announced so far are going to take them back to being one of the leading Championship sides.

    Bradford remain a basket case of an organisation with all sorts of stories flying around. I thought their squad was more about quantity than quality this year, we'll have to see what this proposed takeover brings but with the special measures continuing it sounds like keeping hold of some of their better players might be a challenge right now let alone recruiting new ones.

    Sheffield had their best year for a while but need to take another step forward if they are to be top 5 candidates.

    Swinton had a great year but sadly it's all gone pear-shaped for them following the Manchester name-change controversy. It remains to be seen how they emerge from the current crisis but it's hard to see them being as competitive as they were this year as things stand right now.

    Batley and Dewsbury have both seemed a notch or two below where they were a few seasons ago lately. Batley have moved on from Diskin and Greenwood hasn't been at Dewsbury that long so both could improve, but when you look at their squads, at this stage anyway, you'd have to say they will be doing well not to be in the lower half of the table again.

    Widnes started last season on fire, thumping Fax and Toulouse (in France), and even after the administration and points deduction had been announced they still hammered us at their place, and only Toronto beat them int heir first 7 league matches . But although they only lost two or three players following their financial crisis, their performances went downhill after that, and when you look at the team that lost 62-0 at Bradford something must have gone badly wrong because they had players like Craven, Gelling, Hansen, Owens, Johnstone etc. They've since lost their coach and although they should have enough quality to avoid a relegation battle it's hard to see them being one of the better teams in 2020.

    Whitehaven and Oldham have been promoted, not seen enough of them to make any predictions but you'd think both teams will be pleased if they can consolidate their position in the Championship.

    So as for us...we look set to lose a fair few important players but retain the nucleus of a very good squad as things stand and it sounds like we will again have some Leeds DR players available. Obviously a potential coaching change leaves question marks but we look well positioned for another big year.

     

    Seems like a pretty fair assessment to me - can't wait for the new season and I do hope Swinton survive what will now be a difficult season, good luck to all the teams really

  11. Posted · Report reply

    I would like to see a couple of experienced centres in the squad as I prefer Lloyd in the pack. I didn't realise Oscar Thomas was on a two year deal - hopefully he can break into the team this year (maybe at full back). I also think Hansen and Fairclough had a good halfback partnership last season, so I hope that continues next season.

    Really pleased we have managed to retain so many players - has got be good for next season.

  19. Posted · Report reply

    4 hours ago, morty said:

    Riley has been poor he doesn't run his size but good luck to him up the coast as less travelling may help him concentrate on his fitness

    Surprised to hear how bad Riley has been for you - its a good few years ago now when he played for us (Swinton) on DR from Warrington but he was always a real handful for the opposition...…….

  22. Posted · Report reply

    14 hours ago, Rampant Lion 59 said:

    Why should they have even bothered consulting at all?

    Its a LTD company which they as shareholders own and at the end of the day they had the right to take it in the direction they felt best.

    They could have merged it or totally changed the name and relocated it but they actually tried to do the right thing and move it all forward respectfully and we would have still had all that went before intact and Swinton on the badge.

    We have some stupid short sighted people who have sadly brought the club down. I'm disgusted and will walk away from this club now for good.

    I agree it is a LTD company but you cannot compare a shop based business to a sports club where the allegiance of the fans is or should be an important factor in the success of the business.

    I agree its shameful for supporters to be issuing threats and as I said the police should be investigating these threats and we do not know how many people have been issuing threats - they cannot possibly be all the supporters unhappy with the name change. In the past when supporters have been unhappy they have stayed away as a many did when Swinton sold Station Road - and I don't know how many returned to watching the club, if any.

    So to me the sensible thing would have been to route out the people issuing threats and then continue the dialogue with the Trust and supporters to find a compromise.

    So the board having put so much time effort and money into the club have walked away which doesn't make commercial sense ? If the business was seen as not viable then the board would have wound the business up before now rather than plan for success in the future.

    As I said its a lose - lose scenario.

  23. Posted · Report reply

    I think its a terrible situation - no fan however unhappy should be sending threats of any nature - surely the threats can and should be investigated by the police.

    What is obvious is the consultation wasn't wide enough and I guess as with all consultations they rarely change the outcome. Personally a half way house rebrand could have been tried - but as it is everyone loses out the board and the supporters, a sad day indeed.

  24. Posted · Report reply

    I think every Swinton supporter understands the strategy of rebranding with the expected benefit of increased revenue and raised profile for the club. I also think the main reason for supporters (of an age to remember Station Road) are really unhappy is that the rebranding to Manchester Lions will ultimately mean that there will be no return to Swinton, even though Swinton is M27...……...

     

    • Like 1

  25. Posted · Report reply

    37 minutes ago, RL does what Sky says said:

    Go on let's be controversial ....

    Let the Super League have their 14 clubs and let the rest return to playing in winter ... if nothing else we will have Rugby League 12 months of the year and supporters of any club who are in their own close-season can go and watch matches elsewhere, thus increasing attendances all round.

    gets my vote - but that counts for nothing - I think its the Championship as a whole that needs to take control of its future and do the rebranding at that level - sponsorship, media exposure and yes even a move away from summer rugby. As all Championship club supporters know - all the publicity is focussed on Super League - so how do Championship Clubs generate interest if people outside rugby league only know about Super League ? So its then just the local communities so straight away options are limited in terms of supporter base and sponsorship...…..the same situation exists in the lower divisions of the EFL and club then get acquired by dubious business men as has happened at Bury …………..so as a Swinton supporter (who lives in Manchester) I will still support the team regardless of the name change and wait and see what transpires...…….

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