What’s going on in Yorkshire

[JM2010]

Just seen the SL table and all 6 Yorkshire sides are in places 7 - 12. The clubs from West of the Pennines (and Catalans) seem to be dominating at the moment. This is from a proud Yorkshireman

[sam4731]

Starts Chanting: Lancashire! Lancashire! Lancashire! (and Merseyside, Cheshire and France)

[Tommygilf]

Rhinos are coached by someone on another planet and have a wafer thin squad in key positions.

Wakey have finally come up against a promoted team who aren't going straight back down. Eyes definitely been taken off the ball with regards to on field whilst off field is for once going better.

Cas haven't got a coach good enough to do what Powell did with them squeezing the best out of very little. Reverting to type and then worse.

Hull FC are classically underwhelming. 

Hull KR are actually doing alright, will be disappointing for them if they don't make the play offs this year though - only out of the top six by 8 points difference.

Huddersfield are an enigma. Should be better, aren't. No idea why and it seems the coach is struggling to solve it too.

[Tommygilf]

To add, its been this way for a while.

Leeds and Bradford were SL premier Yorkshire sides, then Bradford did a Bradford and then nobody has stepped up to the plate. Hull FC and Huddersfield have always flattered to deceive. Cas have looked good on the field occasionally, but its been built on a house of cards to which they need a really good quality coach to get the most out of what they have. Maybe KR are looking more like consistent challengers, but they have also been relegated in the recent past.

All it takes is a bang average/sub par Leeds season and its easy for there to be the all Yorkshire bottom half of the table.

[Gomersall]

12 minutes ago, sam4731 said:

Starts Chanting: Lancashire! Lancashire! Lancashire! (and Merseyside, Cheshire and France)

You forgot Greater Manchester.

[Jughead]

I don’t think there’s many major surprises though, probably barring Huddersfield. 

There’s only six play-off places and before a game was played you could have probably made a case for everyone barring Cas and Wakefield to have a decent chance of getting in the six and with that in mind, Leeds, FC and KR being 7th-9th isn’t a major surprise at the half way point. Huddersfield have no settled squad and keeping everyone happy was always going to be a tough task. 

Wakefield are abysmal. They’re gone. Not a lot to say on them. Cas are pretty lucky that Wakefield are so bad and aren’t in a serious relegation battle though their recruitment now for 2024 is massive for them otherwise they could be in with a real battle with whoever goes up. 

[JM2010]

4 minutes ago, Jughead said:

I don’t think there’s many major surprises though, probably barring Huddersfield. 

There’s only six play-off places and before a game was played you could have probably made a case for everyone barring Cas and Wakefield to have a decent chance of getting in the six and with that in mind, Leeds, FC and KR being 7th-9th isn’t a major surprise at the half way point. Huddersfield have no settled squad and keeping everyone happy was always going to be a tough task. 

Wakefield are abysmal. They’re gone. Not a lot to say on them. Cas are pretty lucky that Wakefield are so bad and aren’t in a serious relegation battle though their recruitment now for 2024 is massive for them otherwise they could be in with a real battle with whoever goes up. 

No, probably not a surprise. Maybe the question is why are the Yorkshire clubs behind those from the other side of the Pennines? 
Is it down to money?

What are Wigan, Warrington and Saints in particular doing better?

[Gomersall]

Just now, JM2010 said:

No, probably not a surprise. Maybe the question is why are the Yorkshire clubs behind those from the other side of the Pennines? 
Is it down to money?

What are Wigan, Warrington and Saints in particular doing better?

Warrington! Is it their year?

[OnStrike]

27 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

Rhinos are coached by someone on another planet and have a wafer thin squad in key positions.

Wakey have finally come up against a promoted team who aren't going straight back down. Eyes definitely been taken off the ball with regards to on field whilst off field is for once going better.

Cas haven't got a coach good enough to do what Powell did with them squeezing the best out of very little. Reverting to type and then worse.

Hull FC are classically underwhelming. 

Hull KR are actually doing alright, will be disappointing for them if they don't make the play offs this year though - only out of the top six by 8 points difference.

Huddersfield are an enigma. Should be better, aren't. No idea why and it seems the coach is struggling to solve it too.

Hard to believe Hull KR are out of the top 6 spots now. You have to assume Saints will keep winning and be up there with Catalans, Wigan and Wire, which means it will be a very entertaining scramble for the other top 6 spots this year

[GeordieSaint]

18 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

What are Wigan, Warrington and Saints in particular doing better?

Everything. 

[Jughead]

21 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

No, probably not a surprise. Maybe the question is why are the Yorkshire clubs behind those from the other side of the Pennines? 
Is it down to money?

What are Wigan, Warrington and Saints in particular doing better?

Well, it’s pretty common knowledge that Wakefield and Cas aren’t the richest of clubs and Wigan, Warrington, Saints and Catalans are probably four of the richest clubs in the competition. 

As for what are they doing better? Saints are having players return from injury, Warrington have been fairly consistent and Wigan have had their moments but don’t seem to be playing that well at the minute. Leeds have struggled with injuries as well as seeing others improve their side in the off-season, KR have had a difficult run of fixtures at times this year and Hull FC are Hull FC and get beat by 40 regularly, so are probably where they should be. 

[JM2010]

3 minutes ago, Jughead said:

Well, it’s pretty common knowledge that Wakefield and Cas aren’t the richest of clubs and Wigan, Warrington, Saints and Catalans are probably four of the richest clubs in the competition. 

As for what are they doing better? Saints are having players return from injury, Warrington have been fairly consistent and Wigan have had their moments but don’t seem to be playing that well at the minute. Leeds have struggled with injuries as well as seeing others improve their side in the off-season, KR have had a difficult run of fixtures at times this year and Hull FC are Hull FC and get beat by 40 regularly, so are probably where they should be. 

I didn’t mean just this season. The Yorkshire clubs seem to have been behind for a few years now. Maybe it is just down to money, although Huddersfield seem to be able to spend as do Hull

[Jughead]

10 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

I didn’t mean just this season. The Yorkshire clubs seem to have been behind for a few years now. Maybe it is just down to money, although Huddersfield seem to be able to spend as do Hull

I think Hull FC have got recruitment wrong for a long time both on the pitch and the touchline, Leeds probably the same but it was always going to be incredibly tough after the last of their golden generation left, KR have slowly started putting building blocks in place, Huddersfield the same and Cas and Wakefield are way behind those. 

I’m most excited from a game point of view for KR and I really like what they do on and off the pitch. Huddersfield should be better this year but they’re doing a lot of good things, too. Smith getting the FC job was a big appointment as he does well wherever he goes and Leeds are getting back on track under their Smith.

Warrington, Wigan and Saints speak for themselves really. The big outlier really is Salford, who have finished 3rd and 6th in the past few seasons, have been to both finals and have been 80 minutes away from another final appearance. They’re consistently punching above their weight. 

[sam4731]

1 hour ago, Gomersall said:

Warrington! Is it their year?

Yes is it every year. Have you not heard the chant?

[Bostik Bailey]

23 hours ago, Tommygilf said:

Wakey have finally come up against a promoted team who aren't going straight back down. Eyes definitely been taken off the ball with regards to on field whilst off field is for once going better.

See also, Widnes, Leigh, Halifax, Salford, it’s just that Wakefield we’re allowed to take the proverbial for decades.

[Fevrover]

20 minutes ago, Bostik Bailey said:

See also, Widnes, Leigh, Halifax, Salford, it’s just that Wakefield we’re allowed to take the proverbial for decades.

And not just Wakefield.

[meast]

It's how you finish a season not start,.as Warrington usually prove.

The White rose will be rising soon

[Anita Bath]

4 hours ago, meast said:

It's how you finish a season not start,.as Warrington usually prove.

The White rose will be rising soon

So said Brighouse Rangers all those years ago

[GUBRATS]

10 hours ago, meast said:

It's how you finish a season not start,.as Warrington usually prove.

The White rose will be rising soon

Given its now summer quite right

Edited June 6, 2023 by GUBRATS

[FearTheVee]

Leeds, Huddersfield and Hull FC are the ones with something to answer for in terms of performances vs resources.

Leeds and Hull have made a string of poor coaching appointments and have reaped the results. Huddersfield have fallen for quantity over quality and signing underperforming hype like Jake Connor. Hull have also seemingly taken their eye off the development ball (the merger with Rovers academy a while back being a prime example of a club that doesn’t see youth development as an investment in competitive advantage).

Wakey and Cas are not big clubs and are scraping by in broadly the way you would expect them to. Shame we look like getting Fev to replace one of them.

Hull KR are doing pretty well and have got recruitment and coach right.

Hopefully Tony Smith can build something at Hull FC but I have zero confidence in Smith at Leeds or anything really at Wakey/Cas. Hudds need a couple of results to go their way and could conceivably find a groove but otherwise Watson will be under real pressure.

Edited June 6, 2023 by FearTheVee

[OMEGA]

On a more serious note, the decline in amateur teams, clubs and participation at all age levels in Yorkshire is alarming. 
 

it’s been declining for a couple of decades and is reaching or has reached critical lows.
 

A good barometer is Castleford a Town where RL has been a religion but whose age group amateur clubs are regularly finding that they don’t have enough players to run a team at one age or another. 
 

That dearth of new players over 15 to 20 years is now showing up at Pro level with less players transitioning from Amateur to Pro. 
 

Another issue is the narrowing of the player pyramid base which means a smaller number of high quality players reaching the apex. That in time means the quality of the competition falls pro rata.
 

Add in the falling levels of finance to keep young players in the Youth Systems, with Academy lads being asked to sign contracts worth as little as  £7k a year  

So from an initially jovial thread we’ve actually uncovered a very serious threat to the game. 

Edited June 6, 2023 by OMEGA

[redjonn]

On 04/06/2023 at 20:20, JM2010 said:

I didn’t mean just this season. The Yorkshire clubs seem to have been behind for a few years now. Maybe it is just down to money, although Huddersfield seem to be able to spend as do Hull

Can't see money being a reason for Leeds given the commercial revenues they achieve.

[Harry Stottle]

On 04/06/2023 at 19:51, JM2010 said:

No, probably not a surprise. Maybe the question is why are the Yorkshire clubs behind those from the other side of the Pennines? 
Is it down to money?

What are Wigan, Warrington and Saints in particular doing better?

Why leave out Salford and Leigh, much less wealthy than the others but doing a sterling job, nonetheless, of all the Yirkshire clubs Leeds should be nowhere near the position they are in and it is not as though performing badly is a flash in the pan these last few seasons, Hull get accused of having a common denominator through the last few lean years in Adam Pearson how about Garry Hetherington at Leeds?

[The Phantom Horseman]

In the true TRL forum tradition of blindly following only what impacts my club, I agree the question in the title of this thread is a pertinent one. Fev, Sheffield and Batley are heading the Championship, Fax and Bradford are also in the top 6,whilst Widnes, London, Swinton, Whitehaven, Barrow and Newcastle are all languishing outside the top 6, truly this Yorkshire dominance is a fascinating phenomenon.

[Harry Stottle]

13 hours ago, meast said:

The White rose will be rising soon

Even that shopping centre, is Mile's behind the Trafford Centre this side of the pennines, I'll give you this though Yorkshire has much more sheep s4it and wimberries.