Oldham..,

[The Art of Hand and Foot]

50 minutes ago, sheddingswasus said:

All created by Michael Turner the clubs historian and the Heritage Trust. The opening song is written and sung by his daughter Sarah and the rousing song at the end by the Boundary Parkas is  available to purchase on CD or download on Apple Music. . 

And let's not forget singing with the boundary parkas is Oldham's very own Tommy Cannon. Rock on Tommy! 

[Eddie]

53 minutes ago, The Art of Hand and Foot said:

And let's not forget singing with the boundary parkas is Oldham's very own Tommy Cannon. Rock on Tommy! 

Were Cannon & Ball rugby league fans? 

[gingerjon]

12 hours ago, Eddie said:

Were Cannon & Ball rugby league fans? 

Cannon was Chairman of Rochdale football in the 1980s.

EDIT

And googling around that tells me that Bobby Ball was on the board at Hornets for a year between 1985-1986.

Edited October 3 by gingerjon

[Eddie]

9 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Cannon was Chairman of Rochdale football in the 1980s.

EDIT

And googling around that tells me that Bobby Ball was on the board at Hornets for a year between 1985-1986.

Niche knowledge that. 

[gingerjon]

4 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Niche knowledge that. 

I had forgotten the rather strong opinions that Rochdale FC folk who remember the time have about Cannon.

Short version: RL dodged a bullet.

[gazza77]

1 hour ago, gingerjon said:

Cannon was Chairman of Rochdale football in the 1980s.

EDIT

And googling around that tells me that Bobby Ball was on the board at Hornets for a year between 1985-1986.

So it really was Cannon and Rugby Ball then. Geek level of knowledge there.

[BIFFO61]

George Hirst to Wigan

 

09/10/2024

Club News | Team News

Oldham have agreed a deal with Super League giants Wigan that will see Roughyeds forward George Hirst join the Warriors on a two-year deal but play on for Oldham on loan in 2025.

The exciting 23-year-old will spend the full pre-season with the World Club Champions but is then expected to be available for Oldham's Betfred Championship campaign.

As part of the discussions Oldham and Wigan have also agreed a mouth-watering friendly which will see the Roughyeds host the Super League champions at Boundary Park in the New Year.

Speaking exclusively to Roughyeds TV, Hirst says his heart is with Oldham but Wigan is an unexpected opportunity that he just cannot turn down.

"Leaving Oldham is not something I had planned on doing and I would have been more than happy to stay," said Hirst.

"This year has been the most I have enjoyed my rugby in years and Oldham is a brilliant place to be at the moment. But with a club like Wigan something like this doesn't roll around too often, it is a once in a blue moon opportunity that if I turned down I would be beating myself up about. This is probably a sign of how well Oldham are doing that Wigan are coming in and wanting to sign me."

Oldham managing director Mike Ford says that while disappointing for the team, the move underlines the incredible strides forward being made by the club as a whole.

"We are excited that after a full Super League pre-season we will be getting the best version yet of George Hirst next year. The deal is that he will train with them in pre-season but will likely be loaned back to us to play for Oldham in the 2025 Betfred Championship season.

We are obviously disappointed to lose one of our brightest talents but at the same time delighted with this recognition of both George's potential and the work that we have done at Oldham in such a short time to develop the stars of the future.

While our goal at Oldham is to develop a club and pathway system that will in future keep hold of our brightest young talent, the reality is that we are not quite there yet and we value George too highly to stand in the way of him fulfilling his dreams.

Of course we want George to stay but it is testament to our progress as a club that the rugby league world is now taking notice of Oldham again. That is a huge credit to what everyone at the club have achieved in such a short space of time.

We are very happy to have the option to keep George on loan as we step up to the Championship next year, safe in the knowledge that we will be well recompensed by Wigan if he is needed by the Warriors next year. We look forward to working closely with Wigan as George continues to progress as a player."

The terms of the deal will see Oldham benefit financially for any appearances Hirst makes for Wigan, and the player is keen to add his own personal thanks to the passionate Roughyeds fans who have played a massive part in his development as a player.

"I love the fans and even have my own chant at Boundary Park now. Rugby doesn't work without the fans and our fans are awesome, they make everything a lot easier for us on the pitch knowing we have that kind of support.

"I've never played in the Championship and even that will be a big step up so having a full pre-season in Super League will do me good, and hopefully I will come back to Oldham ten times the player which is really exciting."

[Dave W]

8 minutes ago, BIFFO61 said:

George Hirst to Wigan

 

 

09/10/2024

Club News | Team News

Oldham have agreed a deal with Super League giants Wigan that will see Roughyeds forward George Hirst join the Warriors on a two-year deal but play on for Oldham on loan in 2025.

The exciting 23-year-old will spend the full pre-season with the World Club Champions but is then expected to be available for Oldham's Betfred Championship campaign.

As part of the discussions Oldham and Wigan have also agreed a mouth-watering friendly which will see the Roughyeds host the Super League champions at Boundary Park in the New Year.

Speaking exclusively to Roughyeds TV, Hirst says his heart is with Oldham but Wigan is an unexpected opportunity that he just cannot turn down.

"Leaving Oldham is not something I had planned on doing and I would have been more than happy to stay," said Hirst.

"This year has been the most I have enjoyed my rugby in years and Oldham is a brilliant place to be at the moment. But with a club like Wigan something like this doesn't roll around too often, it is a once in a blue moon opportunity that if I turned down I would be beating myself up about. This is probably a sign of how well Oldham are doing that Wigan are coming in and wanting to sign me."

Oldham managing director Mike Ford says that while disappointing for the team, the move underlines the incredible strides forward being made by the club as a whole.

"We are excited that after a full Super League pre-season we will be getting the best version yet of George Hirst next year. The deal is that he will train with them in pre-season but will likely be loaned back to us to play for Oldham in the 2025 Betfred Championship season.

We are obviously disappointed to lose one of our brightest talents but at the same time delighted with this recognition of both George's potential and the work that we have done at Oldham in such a short time to develop the stars of the future.

While our goal at Oldham is to develop a club and pathway system that will in future keep hold of our brightest young talent, the reality is that we are not quite there yet and we value George too highly to stand in the way of him fulfilling his dreams.

Of course we want George to stay but it is testament to our progress as a club that the rugby league world is now taking notice of Oldham again. That is a huge credit to what everyone at the club have achieved in such a short space of time.

We are very happy to have the option to keep George on loan as we step up to the Championship next year, safe in the knowledge that we will be well recompensed by Wigan if he is needed by the Warriors next year. We look forward to working closely with Wigan as George continues to progress as a player."

The terms of the deal will see Oldham benefit financially for any appearances Hirst makes for Wigan, and the player is keen to add his own personal thanks to the passionate Roughyeds fans who have played a massive part in his development as a player.

"I love the fans and even have my own chant at Boundary Park now. Rugby doesn't work without the fans and our fans are awesome, they make everything a lot easier for us on the pitch knowing we have that kind of support.

"I've never played in the Championship and even that will be a big step up so having a full pre-season in Super League will do me good, and hopefully I will come back to Oldham ten times the player which is really exciting."

Barrow had a similar "loan" arrangement with St Helens for Tee Ritson and we never saw hide nor hair of him all season. They just kept naming him in the 21 all season but not actually use him. SL teams will do whatever's best for themselves, not the lower rated team. I just hope you get paid something for him.

[JM2010]

22 minutes ago, Dave W said:

Barrow had a similar "loan" arrangement with St Helens for Tee Ritson and we never saw hide nor hair of him all season. They just kept naming him in the 21 all season but not actually use him. SL teams will do whatever's best for themselves, not the lower rated team. I just hope you get paid something for him.

It’s also what’s best for the player. No lower league club should stand in the way of their players getting the chance to sign for a club like Wigan or St Helens. It does say in the article that they get compensated for every game he plays 

[Click]

59 minutes ago, Dave W said:

Barrow had a similar "loan" arrangement with St Helens for Tee Ritson and we never saw hide nor hair of him all season. They just kept naming him in the 21 all season but not actually use him. SL teams will do whatever's best for themselves, not the lower rated team. I just hope you get paid something for him.

When you say SL teams will do whatever is best for themselves, I assume you mean all RL teams will do whatever is best for themselves?

[RoughyedsFan_merged]

1 hour ago, Dave W said:

Barrow had a similar "loan" arrangement with St Helens for Tee Ritson and we never saw hide nor hair of him all season. They just kept naming him in the 21 all season but not actually use him. SL teams will do whatever's best for themselves, not the lower rated team. I just hope you get paid something for him.

Not the first time this ownership have tried to make a situation sound better than it is this offseason. It is essentially a free transfer and not much more, Ford let slip in his comments there that the loan agreement is in no way concrete.

The various fake accounts now defending everything the club do on the Facebook page are extremely concerning as well, this kind of stuff never ends well.

[JM2010]

3 minutes ago, RoughyedsFan_merged said:

Not the first time this ownership have tried to make a situation sound better than it is this offseason. It is essentially a free transfer and not much more, Ford let slip in his comments there that the loan agreement is in no way concrete.

The various fake accounts now defending everything the club do on the Facebook page are extremely concerning as well, this kind of stuff never ends well.

Do you think they shouldn’t have let him sign for Wigan?

[RoughyedsFan_merged]

2 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

Do you think they shouldn’t have let him sign for Wigan?

If they weren’t offering a transfer fee then yes? Why should clubs be giving players away?

[JM2010]

3 minutes ago, RoughyedsFan_merged said:

If they weren’t offering a transfer fee then yes? Why should clubs be giving players away?

So the player can reach their potential and take a great opportunity at an SL club. I’m sure if he was still under contract Oldham will receive something 

[Dave W]

28 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

So the player can reach their potential and take a great opportunity at an SL club. I’m sure if he was still under contract Oldham will receive something 

And once he's Wigan's player he'll probably end up on dual reg somewhere - and not necessarily Oldham.

Press releases are very good at telling people what they want to read.

[Griff]

41 minutes ago, RoughyedsFan_merged said:

If they weren’t offering a transfer fee then yes? Why should clubs be giving players away?

Was he under contract?

Player slavery ended thirty years ago.

[The Art of Hand and Foot]

20 minutes ago, Griff said:

Was he under contract?

Player slavery ended thirty years ago.

Yep, till the end of 2025.

[Griff]

22 minutes ago, The Art of Hand and Foot said:

Yep, till the end of 2025.

There should be a fee involved then.  No obligation to make that public knowledge, though.

[Toby Chopra]

It seems the fee is a a preseason friendly Vs Wigan at Boundary Park. 

Promoted well Oldham could get up to £100k from that. Might stir up a lot of interest from those who remember the 90s team.

Edited October 9 by Toby Chopra

[RoughyedsFan_merged]

23 minutes ago, Griff said:

There should be a fee involved then.  No obligation to make that public knowledge, though.

There is no fee involved. It’s a friendly against a Wigan reserve side and an undisclosed amount per game if he actually steps on to the field for Wigan.

The club are making big statements about the team they’ll have on the pitch this season but the signings thus far appear to be players collecting a pension. Letting a young player go for basically nothing is the last thing we need.

[sheddingswasus]

1 minute ago, RoughyedsFan_merged said:

There is no fee involved. It’s a friendly against a Wigan reserve side and an undisclosed amount per game if he actually steps on to the field for Wigan.

The club are making big statements about the team they’ll have on the pitch this season but the signings thus far appear to be players collecting a pension. Letting a young player go for basically nothing is the last thing we need.

You don’t know it is the reserve team . Stop being negative. All players have release clauses if a SL club comes along. 

[Griff]

1 minute ago, RoughyedsFan_merged said:

There is no fee involved. It’s a friendly against a Wigan reserve side and an undisclosed amount per game if he actually steps on to the field for Wigan.

That's your fee.  If he hadn't signed for Wigan, Oldham wouldn't have got it.

How much money that turns out to be depends on how well the club promotes the game.

[The Art of Hand and Foot]

41 minutes ago, Griff said:

That's your fee.  If he hadn't signed for Wigan, Oldham wouldn't have got it.

How much money that turns out to be depends on how well the club promotes the game.

Simple, and I mean simple, calculation works out at about £15,000 for every 1000 paying fans. Less overheads but not including hospitality and merchandise sales etc. Don't forget essential gametime for players and so on. Given the quality of our players, pensioners or not, I can't see wigan putting out an under 21's side. They'll want essential game time as well even for their top players.

Edited October 9 by The Art of Hand and Foot

[JM2010]

47 minutes ago, RoughyedsFan_merged said:

There is no fee involved. It’s a friendly against a Wigan reserve side and an undisclosed amount per game if he actually steps on to the field for Wigan.

The club are making big statements about the team they’ll have on the pitch this season but the signings thus far appear to be players collecting a pension. Letting a young player go for basically nothing is the last thing we need.

Should they have said he’s not allowed to sign? If so then it’s unfair on the young player involved

[LeeF]

A 2am sacking?