Rach

England Red Roses Full Back Ellie Kildunne also began in League , played for Keighley Albion as a junior for a fair few years

Start with this one Apparently Smith then did the Haka still in Albion Colours with his team mates in front of the South Stand

Already posted the link ion another thread but Fiji v South Afica at a capacity Cougar Park in the 95 World Cup . The TV coverage really doesn't reflect the amazing atmosphere in that ground that afternoon at the height of Cougarmania .. the Cibi war dance , the hymns and the warrior ... just when you thought life at Cougar Park couldnt get even more random ... Fiji had a second rower that just bulldozed everyone in his path , everytime he got the ball the noise in the ground lifted . The SA team persisted in kicking straight to him from the kick off and when they finally worked out that this wasnt the smartest and kicked the other way , the whole ground boo-ed Rumour had it that the Keighley Directors sought him out after the game to talk contract terms but then realised he was near 40 than 30 Also the 1995 Emerging Nations Double header ..Cook Islands v USA and Scotland and Russia - on a s****y night at Post Office Road , another one of those sureal ' did this really happen ' evenings. Cant lay my hand on the book at the moment but there is a short fantastic piece written about the evening in When Push Comes to Shove Vol 2 , it's anonymous but I'm fairly sure from the writing style its from Ian Clayton ..if you get the chance give it a read, sums up the occassion perfectly .

Not just a RL / RU thing , try supporting any type of womens sport on any of the major press 'have your say' channels .. regardless of the sport or level of success ( see Englands Euro win or more recently the Red Roses victory against Fiji this morning as an example ) The 'views' aired on there - if they were about another race or religion would no doubt gain their author some serious jail time / court apperances at the least but as wholly misogynistic opinions they seem to be taken sadly as just 'banter'. TBF the battle betwwen the 13 and the 15 player code in similar circumstances is just a 2 min spat in the school playground in comparison to the sexist bile found there.

1995 WC against South Africa at Cougar Park ...something else

The coverage of both of the finals was superb - hats off to both The Sportsman and Premier . Not just the games but loved the fact that the celebrations afterwards were shown without excessive ad breaks or pundit analysis - and not just focusing on the winners either - seeing Batley with their supporters after the game and what the game meant to them was something else . Hopefully both companies will get more games next season , along with C4 , and maybe just show Sky and the BBC how poor their game coverage has become in comparison. Kyle Amour , Kev Brown both been superb knowlegable summerisers , along with Leon and Hendo and Danika Prim ..owt that gets rid of Wilkins , JJB and Jonathan Davies ...please ...

It's been my experience that plenty of our youngsters that are excelling in rugby league at the ages of 12 / 13, tend to be all round athletes who typically excel ( and participate ) in a number of different sports and at some point they will need to make that decision which they would like to pursue at a higher level , with that decision no doubt influnced by the opportunities afforded to them by professional clubs / higher level development at that paticular moment in time. No one is suggesting of following the football route of signing kids up at 5 or 6 which is just madness but their needs to be a clear and more importantly consistant development pathway to a pro contract that will encourage talented young players make RL their sport of choice , not the current structure that seems to change regularly on a whim ...

Knew Batley were in with a shout when Craig Lingard in the pre match interview asked about team selection , explained even having one of his usual starting line up back from injury and up for selection , he chose not to play him as it would have not been right to drop one of the lads who had played thier hearts out the week before . That's how to believe in the team you have , how to build loyalty and a desire to play for the rest of your mates and your club , all done with a big dollop of humility and hard graft , and boy did it show on the field

Fair play to the lad ,visited Odsal early this year to watch the Hurricanes in a pre season hit out on a wet and sh***y Saturday afternoon , when the majority of staff at the Bulls seemed to at their most un - customer friendly to visiting supporters ,( a handful that had travelled up from Birmingham ) Mick was the one that got off his a*** , gave me directions , information and a vaguely cheery welcome .. Don't always agree with his commentary or his view point but a least he supports his club throughout ..

Smashing game at Portway, maybe not high on skill but massive on endeavour ,that showed that both clubs have something to offer the Pro game, despite the knockers.. Great turn out from the Cornwall fans and a highly entertaining awards ceremony for the Hurricanes in the clubhouse afterwards... All good stuff

At League 1 (and in most cases Championship ) level we arent talking about a scenario of bringing in NRL Players , we are talking about fetching in reserve level or ex-pros on a short term basis to allow a club to put out a full squad .... And neither are we talking long term injuries but the end of season niggles , the HIA fails, the sprains and strains from hard grounds etc etc ...

Posted this on another topic but in view of the York Leigh Result think its relevant as a thread on its own Needs to be some serious discussion on this ,seeing teams down to the bare bones at the seasons end due to injury and struggling to get a full squad out ,as is happening at seems at all levels of the Pro Game and unable to recruit to fill those gaps because of unworkable registration is just plain daft Teams going massivley understrength into games (as in a couple of cases today without the bare 17), should surely be a case of concern for player welfare, putting further at risk of injury those playing ? I'm not 100% au fait with all the registration regs but surely if a club can prove by way of medical evidence that they have players out injured there should be some flexibility within those rules to allow them to bring in short term replacements ( whether it is from other clubs or from players that have left the pro game ). The argument seems to be that it is just assumed that clubs will abuse the system ,that's as maybe, but being a sport that doesn't protect the players that it already has is just as bad .

Needs to be some serious discussion on this ,seeing teams down to the bare bones at the seasons end due to injury and struggling to get a full squad out ,as is happening at seems at all levels of the Pro Game and unable to recruit to fill those gaps because of unworkable registration is just plain daft Teams going massivley understrength into games (as in a couple of cases today without the bare 17), should surely be a case of concern for player welfare, putting further at risk of injury those playing ? I'm not 100% au fait with all the registration regs but surely if a club can prove by way of medical evidence that they have players out injured there should be some flexibility within those rules to allow them to bring in short term replacements ( whether it is from other clubs or from players that have left the pro game ). The argument seems to be that it is just assumed that clubs will abuse the system ,that's as maybe, but being a sport that doesn't protect the players that it already has is just as bad .

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Anyone know if the RFL has given up on having the L1 Highlights on Our League / You Tube - or could someone not be bothered the past couple of weeks ?

Come on the Albion

You've just said it yourself - having some responsibility for your actions . The actions are those of the parent not the child ..... the responsibility lies with the parent not the child , and should be delt with as such ...

Ban the offending parent then but not the child . They are the issue .... Sadly the net result of this might be the child no longer plays but the opportunity to participate should not be taken away from the child on a personal level , (like dropping from the team) - they should never be held responsible for the action of adults , mearly through association by family ties. You really dont get it ..... As a junior Coach you have a duty of care to ALL your kids in your team to treat them fairly and with respect ,(regardless of whether their parents are a right set of *******) .Targeting and belittling a child who has done nothing wrong personally, due to the actions of others, is certainly not working within that remit and has probably safeguarding implications as well .

So you'd take the actions of a parent out on a child who has done nothing wrong......seriously???? A child is not responsible for the actions of his parents/ adults and to make them the scapegoat is unfair and unjust. By all means take action against the parent , that should be a given but not against a child....

Midlands along with Skolars, Raiders Cornwall and to a lesser extent Cru, don't have the luxury of the ' shout down the pit and pick up a prop' scenario and it's ease of player recruitment in York's / Lancs that most of the other L1 clubs enjoy.. Hurricanes this morning held a massive tournament for Midlands Based Junior Clubs taking place across the outer fields at Portway pre game.Building the game locally not just for now but for the future But hey just slate us for borrowing a couple of players from Cas...

Blo**y awful start from the Hurricanes but another result that proves that they aren't a million miles from those leading League 1 . They are going to do one of the top teams in L1 when they are least expecting it... Just saying like

Take the mick out of West Raiders all you want but was stood for the first half behind on the sidelines at Hurricanes with Raiders Coach Ash Bateman twenty foot away... If you can show me a fellow coach who is as passionate and committed to getting his team to perform in the entire league as Bateman is I'll be surprised.. His charges maybe are never going to be good enough at that level but they follow Batemans example and give it everything... All those slagging them off maybe take a shirt and see how you go ...

Who makes the decision that the a player needs to leave the field for a HIA? In the 1st half Tompkins spent some time on the floor after a knee to the head but didn't leave the field where as Stourton's reaction seemed far less but was immediately off.. Not a suggestion of any wrong doing, just genuinely interested.

Leigh have 9 or 10 Australians / Kiwis / Aussies playing tonight at Batley. Don't see the same criticism leveled at them bringing in players.from out of area .......