Mon 31st Jul: Ch: Bradford Bulls v Barrow Raiders KO 19:45 (Viaplay)

[tec]

44 minutes ago, Neutralfan7 said:

Poor game, says a lot with all points from penalties 

Haha can't tell your teams Whitehaven.

[meast]

Good win for Barrow, well done

[Neutralfan7]

8 minutes ago, tec said:

Haha can't tell your teams Whitehaven.

The first half was terrible

[morty]

When in a relegation scrap any type of win is a good win

[Fevrover]

7 minutes ago, morty said:

When in a relegation scrap any type of win is a good win

It is when yer top of league lol.

[Expatknight]

2 hours ago, Chrispmartha said:

Odsal looks a right dump

Odsal IS a right dump!  And the playing area doesn’t meet the criteria laid down in the rules.

[The Masked Poster]

I think Bradford are living on borrowed time and are in their death throes. They’ll possibly continue until they end up smaller and smaller and maybe one day as a Bradford Park Avenue shared venture or maybe in the Pennine League. There will not be a revival this time. 

I can see that this gives a lot of RL fans pleasure but I find it sad and the game doesn’t benefit from it. 

[Harry Stottle]

5 minutes ago, Expatknight said:

Odsal IS a right dump!  And the playing area doesn’t meet the criteria laid down in the rules.

It is so narrow there's little wonder anyone scores any tries, I believe one team once adopted the sliding defence but the centre and winger ended up in the kitchen under the stand making the half time brew

[mickmike wilson]

1 hour ago, Piggy's mate said:

Good stuff that, had a bit of everything  what more could you ask for on Monday night 

Proper Telly coverage ?

 

such an important away win by an injury ravaged side, Brilliant from Barrow

[mickmike wilson]

31 minutes ago, The Masked Poster said:

I think Bradford are living on borrowed time and are in their death throes. They’ll possibly continue until they end up smaller and smaller and maybe one day as a Bradford Park Avenue shared venture or maybe in the Pennine League. There will not be a revival this time. 

I can see that this gives a lot of RL fans pleasure but I find it sad and the game doesn’t benefit from it. 

Agree the game needs big names like Bradford & hope they go back to the basics as a club and rebuild slowly & sensibly & move away from that decaying carcass of a stadium that’s surely a money black  

[Josef K]

That pitch is the smallest thing in the universe, it’s smaller than a sand. 

[LongStandingBull]

Barrow tackled like absolute monsters tonight. Well done to them and congrats on the two points. Their attacking play was not the best but you could see that in a few dropped balls in attack before switching to taking the 2 any chance they got. 

Bradford are such a dumb ill disciplined side. Don’t learn from mistakes and have zero leadership. Might still limp into the playoffs, might not. Either way it’s only extending the season by another week before the holidays start and we watch Featherstone promoted. 

[Chrispmartha]

7 hours ago, The Masked Poster said:

I think Bradford are living on borrowed time and are in their death throes. They’ll possibly continue until they end up smaller and smaller and maybe one day as a Bradford Park Avenue shared venture or maybe in the Pennine League. There will not be a revival this time. 

I can see that this gives a lot of RL fans pleasure but I find it sad and the game doesn’t benefit from it. 

I thought it was really sad to see the stadium and pitch in such poor condition, just think back 20 years ago with it full against Leeds, great occasions which is sadly no more.

They really need to somehow get out of that ground.

Well done to Barrow, great win!

[Griff]

10 hours ago, Fevrover said:

Wheldon Road ?

A palace, compared to Odsal.

[The Masked Poster]

1 hour ago, Chrispmartha said:

I thought it was really sad to see the stadium and pitch in such poor condition, just think back 20 years ago with it full against Leeds, great occasions which is sadly no more.

They really need to somehow get out of that ground.

Well done to Barrow, great win!

Yes but those days aren’t coming back. There will be no Derek Beaumont coming along to revive fortunes, indeed there wasn’t a DB during their glory years. And sadly you’re correct, they do need a different stadium- but there is no realistic alternative in the Bradford district, leaving them rather stuffed. 

So without being doom and gloom, I can only see a further slide into gradual oblivion. Not next week, or even next year….or 5 years. But soon ish. 

[The Masked Poster]

8 hours ago, mickmike wilson said:

Agree the game needs big names like Bradford & hope they go back to the basics as a club and rebuild slowly & sensibly & move away from that decaying carcass of a stadium that’s surely a money black  

But they have tried this for the last few years and are only declining. There is no suitable stadium in the Bradford district and the council aren’t going to build one anytime soon, so it’s either Odsal or nowhere. I expect in future people will barely remember that Bradford had a major RL side. Still at least it will give some Halifax fans a giggle. 

[The Masked Poster]

49 minutes ago, Griff said:

A palace, compared to Odsal.

By any measure, it’s most definitely not a palace. It’s also a bit of a dump - albeit with character and one I’ve enjoyed going to many times over the years. If we’re being honest (and it seems like we are about Odsal) WR either needs knocking down completely or rebuilding. 

[Spidey]

Good win for Barrow, shockingly Widnes still have a chance to make the playoffs. I think this indicative in a drop in standards in the championship, outside of Fev & Toulouse. Nobody else really stands out to me

[Harry Stottle]

1 hour ago, Griff said:

A palace, compared to Odsal.

By and large the RL stadia in West Yorkshire barring Leeds and Huddersfield are pretty much wanting in total contrast to West of the Pennines.

[The Blues Ox]

26 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Good win for Barrow, shockingly Widnes still have a chance to make the playoffs. I think this indicative in a drop in standards in the championship, outside of Fev & Toulouse. Nobody else really stands out to me

That's my opinion too. I don't think its a case of other teams catching up I just think there has been a drop in standards. I don't even think Fev have improved that much, if any, from last season. I just think the teams that were predicted to close that gap have not kicked on. In the case of 3 out of 4 of the other teams in last years top 6 they have dropped off a cliff.

[georgeb1]

1 hour ago, Spidey said:

Good win for Barrow, shockingly Widnes still have a chance to make the playoffs. I think this indicative in a drop in standards in the championship, outside of Fev & Toulouse. Nobody else really stands out to me

think Batley may disagree there

[The Phantom Horseman]

1 hour ago, Spidey said:

Good win for Barrow, shockingly Widnes still have a chance to make the playoffs. I think this indicative in a drop in standards in the championship, outside of Fev & Toulouse. Nobody else really stands out to me

 

47 minutes ago, The Blues Ox said:

That's my opinion too. I don't think its a case of other teams catching up I just think there has been a drop in standards. I don't even think Fev have improved that much, if any, from last season. I just think the teams that were predicted to close that gap have not kicked on. In the case of 3 out of 4 of the other teams in last years top 6 they have dropped off a cliff.

I broadly agree with both these points though I'm not sure why it's happening. When you look down the table and compare under-achieving sides to over-achieving ones there seem to be a lot more of the former.

It's strange because on paper one or two teams (notably Bradford and Halifax) have brought in a lot of new players who on paper are much betetr than the ones they replaced but have shown few signs of improvement.

[Monkeymagic22]

56 minutes ago, The Blues Ox said:

That's my opinion too. I don't think its a case of other teams catching up I just think there has been a drop in standards. I don't even think Fev have improved that much, if any, from last season. I just think the teams that were predicted to close that gap have not kicked on. In the case of 3 out of 4 of the other teams in last years top 6 they have dropped off a cliff.

I don’t think that Fev have greatly improved from last season, but there’s more resilience and the defence is far better than last season. Once we have Ford and Chissi in the half’s, with MK at fullback, I’d expect the attacking side to improve as well. I do kind of think that Fev aren’t getting the credit which we are due, I mean it’s 19 wins out of 20 matches.

[RBKnight]

15 minutes ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

 

I broadly agree with both these points though I'm not sure why it's happening. When you look down the table and compare under-achieving sides to over-achieving ones there seem to be a lot more of the former.

It's strange because on paper one or two teams (notably Bradford and Halifax) have brought in a lot of new players who on paper are much betetr than the ones they replaced but have shown few signs of improvement.

Can't help thinking that the paper-thin supply of decent half-backs has a lot to do with it. Most championship teams have to desperately improvise when injury hits, and the difference in performances when teams actually get both nominated halves on the pitch can be like night and day.

[The Phantom Horseman]

2 minutes ago, RBKnight said:

Can't help thinking that the paper-thin supply of decent half-backs has a lot to do with it. Most championship teams have to desperately improvise when injury hits, and the difference in performances when teams actually get both nominated halves on the pitch can be like night and day.

Yes I agree with that and your team is an obvious example. Halifax too don't really seem to have replaced Joe Keyes adequately since he's been out. Gilmore for Widnes was another big miss. Even Fev, for the two defeats we have suffered this season, Johnno Ford missed the first one and went off injured after 10 minutes in the second one.

Toulouse by contrast seem to have been very fortunate as they have only two recognised halves and I think they have missed only one game between them all season. that said Josh Ralph, who is the player that really makes them tick, went off injured in the Keighley game, but it doesn't sound as if it's serious.