M j M

Looks like around 11,500 to 12,000 have been sold at Headingley so far for the first game. Not sure what sort of turn up to expect from Salford, can imagine it's hard to summon up too much enthusiasm at the moment.

Good grief that's embarrassing journalism. Getting it wrong is one thing (but predictable given the author). Creating a pretend legitimate story about you getting it wrong is something else. What has League Express become

It's obviously not the same but Match of the Day pulls in very strong viewing figures.

Like I said it needed improving. But a regular magazine/highlights show should work really well alongside occasional live games so it's a shame it's not continuing.

That's actually quite a bad thing as it seems the highlights are going digital only. If the SLS had been spruced up and given a vaguely less challenging nationwide slot it would have been a perfect fit for the new deal. Ignoring when and what the number of broadcast hours might actually fall under this...?

This isn't rugby union.

A strange take. BBC games, even on BBC 2, get significantly more viewers than Sky ones, half asleep or not.

What state were Oldham in when he took over?

Agree with the above, there doesn't seem to be any real logic or clear process about how these things are done. Having one last year of HS would have been nice so there can beta formal acknowledgment of him for one last time rather than escorting him out of the back door like this. In that case the right thing to do would have been to announce this much later in the season. So I'm also conflicted but at least Burrow is associated very clearly with the event and the award so his name being there is definitely not out of place.

In a complete coincidence Callum Walker has had another absolutely original idea for an article: https://www.totalrl.com/the-all-time-super-league-table-as-just-two-sides-break-1000-points-barrier/

I have no idea about internal politics at Widnes. However regarding the love/hate bit, some context might be appropriate: the top line is the same format every week depending whether Widnes win, lose or draw.

I actually prefer the dual red/white line but yes being consistent on this sort of stuff should have happened years ago.

Is there any indication of what SL+ will offer fans outside UK/ROI/France, if anything?

If Sky really are paying for the basic production Super League would be quite a cheap production by the standards of these things for a terrestrial channel. Not as cheap as repeats but for original programming, which C4 are obliged to produce.

I've been one of Wakey's biggest supporters on here so I'm not out to get them at all, it just seems a bit of a missed opportunity if the restaurant is indeed right behind the back wall of the stand.

Yeah the seating bit but many corporates linger inside for a while watching, particularly after half time. Which they can't do here.

Not sure that's how most modern corporate facilities work and it's definitely less appealing for the non gameday market to not have the view. But I'm sure Wakey know what their market is.

Out of interest why does the restaurant not have full views of the pitch? That would have seemed a logical decision.

Nothing wrong with copying ideas however is this not an obvious rip-off of the West Brom Boiler Man?

It's a fair question... that era was built around Sinfield, Burrow, McGuire and JJB who all played from 2003 to at least 2015, the latter three to 2017. Then there were people who were almost constants e.g. Carl Ablett (2004-2017), Peacock (2006-2015), Ryan Bailey (2003-2014), Kylie Leuluai (2007-2015) and Ryan Hall (2007-2017). So I'm happy to define it as one team for the purposes of this

Leeds have had two very good Super League teams, 1998-1999 and 2003-2017 (the latter being more than just very good). Everything else has varied between average to abysmal. Wigan and Saints, apart from maybe one really comedy year each, haven't seen such variation.

Clubs will still most likely choose the kick off time that maximises crowds and in-stadium revenue. The impact of a change in TV viewership when averaged over a season is going to be negligible.

More.

40/20 and The Bench is not exactly sending our best is it. Have never heard the other two so will give them a try.

It can work well if they are a good fit for coaching. St Helens and arguably Leeds have shown the perils of giving coaching roles to great former players just because they are club legends.