Sat 24th-Sun 25th Feb: Betfred Challenge Cup 4th Round Match Thread

[rich f]

55 minutes ago, Expatknight said:

Absolute shocker of a game at York today, I think Mr Rush will need to buy a new whistle as he has surely worn out the one he used today!

The way the rules are being interpreted this season ruins the game, we DON’T come to watch the referee, if this continues I can see people staying away in droves.

In all honesty I can’t see Sheffield doing much this season, even against 11 men they were poor and lacked ideas. York were very flat, but getting penalised every five minutes and players getting sent off / to the bin didn’t help. Hendo needs to look at the discipline and technique especially around the play the ball, and tell the players to keep quiet in front of the ref even if it is frustrating.

 

13 against 13 I thought it was a good game but then Mr Rush stepped in and completely destroyed it. It was beyond ridiculous today. York eventually lost their discipline but to be honest I'm surprised they didn't walk off. If that is the standard of refereeing we're going to get this season then rugby league is in a very bad place.  

[dkw]

That "come on Oldham" chant had me giggling, first one was fine but the reply can't just sounded like someone going "cuuuoooouuuummmmmm"

[shrewsbury roughyed]

10 minutes ago, dkw said:

That "come on Oldham" chant had me giggling, first one was fine but the reply can't just sounded like someone going "cuuuoooouuuummmmmm"

It is ‘cuuuooouuuummmmmm!’ Whass the matter with ya? You might have discerned the ‘Give us a T…’ serenade earlier, poetry!

[The Blues Ox]

Fantastic try that.

[dkw]

7 minutes ago, shrewsbury roughyed said:

It is ‘cuuuooouuuummmmmm!’ Whass the matter with ya? You might have discerned the ‘Give us a T…’ serenade earlier, poetry!

Had me proper giggling, barely even an attempt to say Oldham 

[Yorky]

Swinton really do look a level above here.

I watched Oldham in the last round and thought they looked really impressive, expected them to push Swinton close

[wilsontown]

Google is telling me that Knights won 32-28 for some reason.

[Wollo Wollo Wayoo]

2 hours ago, JonM said:

Featherstone R vs Wakefield should be a good one.

Crowd today v Hunslet was 2775.  Should be a few more at Fev for this game.

[Jill Halfpenny fan]

Swinton defended their way to victory.

[shrewsbury roughyed]

1 minute ago, Jill Halfpenny fan said:

Swinton defended their way to victory.

Swinton just did their jobs and did them well. Oldham under-performed across the board. The backs were poor; the forwards one-dimensional. A well-coached team at the end of the day pretty easily beating a side with little cohesion or ability to switch a game plan. Strong win for Swinton- very well deserved. The question for Oldham is what and how we learn from this.

[Simon Hall]

1 hour ago, wilsontown said:

Google is telling me that Knights won 32-28 for some reason.

That’s the penalty count

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

2 hours ago, shrewsbury roughyed said:

Oldham’s worst start to a game (ie 30 plus minutes) for a long time. In danger of believing our own publicity? Basic skills very poor. Catching and passing dreadful. Panic in attack. Senior players Poe performance. Sean Long’s first real test as Roughyeds’ coach. Needed that score just before HT. Swinton just patient (mostly) and doing the job. I still think Oldham will win though.

I thought the ref looked about 10 at the start- he’s been outstanding so far though. 

The ref was the best “player “ on the pitch.  The game was a bit turgid, lots of basic errors, neither team really got going for any length of time.

[sentoffagain2]

     Two sides that impressed me were Widnes and Swinton both sides defended well and gave the ball some air.Widnes short kicking game very good.So difficult to defend against when executed well.

[meast]

3 hours ago, Expatknight said:

Absolute shocker of a game at York today, I think Mr Rush will need to buy a new whistle as he has surely worn out the one he used today!

The way the rules are being interpreted this season ruins the game, we DON’T come to watch the referee, if this continues I can see people staying away in droves.

In all honesty I can’t see Sheffield doing much this season, even against 11 men they were poor and lacked ideas. York were very flat, but getting penalised every five minutes and players getting sent off / to the bin didn’t help. Hendo needs to look at the discipline and technique especially around the play the ball, and tell the players to keep quiet in front of the ref even if it is frustrating.

 

Were any of the players to blame or was it just solely down to the referee?

[meast]

2 hours ago, Pigeon Lofter said:

Only just tuned into the Swinton-Oldham game on The Sportsman, but there was a couple of knock-ons called by the referee in the last five minutes even though the ball, although mishandled, always went backwards toward the players own goal line and was not advanced towards the opponent's try line.

Is there a nuance that a dropped or mishandled pass is given as a knock-on when there is no forward motion of the ball?

RU seems to have sorted this out, a dropped ball which goes backwards is not called as a knock-on, whereas in RL a dropped pass seems to be a knock-on regardless.

Same with a forward pass, it's the direction of the hands not the ball that is adjudicated on.

Lots of fans don't understand this and this is why they get angry and annoyed.

[meast]

2 hours ago, rich f said:

13 against 13 I thought it was a good game but then Mr Rush stepped in and completely destroyed it. It was beyond ridiculous today. York eventually lost their discipline but to be honest I'm surprised they didn't walk off. If that is the standard of refereeing we're going to get this season then rugby league is in a very bad place.  

So York lost their discipline but the ref destroyed the game?

Sounds like York losing their discipline gave the ref little choice.

[Pigeon Lofter]

53 minutes ago, meast said:

Same with a forward pass, it's the direction of the hands not the ball that is adjudicated on.

Lots of fans don't understand this and this is why they get angry and annoyed.

Thanks for that.

On the RFL website though, "knock on means to knock the ball towards the opponent's dead ball line with hand or arm." If it's not towards the opposition goal line, then it's not a knock-on by the RFL's own definition.

 

 

 

[Griff]

1 hour ago, meast said:

Same with a forward pass, it's the direction of the hands not the ball that is adjudicated on.

Nonsense.

[Josef K]

4 hours ago, shrewsbury roughyed said:

Oldham’s worst start to a game (ie 30 plus minutes) for a long time. In danger of believing our own publicity? Basic skills very poor. Catching and passing dreadful. Panic in attack. Senior players Poe performance. Sean Long’s first real test as Roughyeds’ coach. Needed that score just before HT. Swinton just patient (mostly) and doing the job. I still think Oldham will win though.

I thought the ref looked about 10 at the start- he’s been outstanding so far though. 

Jordan Turner had a nightmare on Elm Street. 

[Josef K]

6 hours ago, Barley Mow said:

5th Round Draw:

Halifax v York Acorn

Widnes v Batley

Featherstone v Wakefield

Swinton/Oldham v Sheffield

Is it the SL clubs who were in favour of entering the CC in the 6th Rd. It would be great if they came in two rounds earlier but i don’t think that will happen. 

[Barley Mow]

6 minutes ago, Josef K said:

Is it the SL clubs who were in favour of entering the CC in the 6th Rd. It would be great if they came in two rounds earlier but i don’t think that will happen. 

I don't know who it is that favours the current arrangement, but I'd definitely prefer it if they entered at the round of 32 rather than the last 16.

[Josef K]

3 minutes ago, Barley Mow said:

I don't know who it is that favours the current arrangement, but I'd definitely prefer it if they entered at the round of 32 rather than the last 16.

Yes definitely, i think most fans of SL clubs would like too see their club join in the draws earlier. 

[Hopie]

2 hours ago, Josef K said:

Is it the SL clubs who were in favour of entering the CC in the 6th Rd. It would be great if they came in two rounds earlier but i don’t think that will happen. 

This weekend would have been a good time to bring in the Super League teams, give the champions a bye to play the WCC and that leaves 11 SL and it could have been arranged to have 21 others at this stage, the next round would still be the last 16 as it is now.  

This also means there wouldn't need to be a postponed SL game for the WCC.

Edited February 26 by Hopie

[The Blues Ox]

10 hours ago, sentoffagain2 said:

     Two sides that impressed me were Widnes and Swinton both sides defended well and gave the ball some air.Widnes short kicking game very good.So difficult to defend against when executed well.

Yeah agreed, I thought Swinton looked very good against a team in Oldham that has probably been over hyped quite a bit and Widnes defended really well despite been outsized by a big Bradford team and other than when Bradford could find Gill in some space, Widnes looked the team with fair more flair. That pitch is never a good indicator though as it very much dictates how the game is played and in a funny way Widnes getting 2 players binned allowed them to spell a couple of players without been put under any extra duress in defense.

Disappointed in Bradford in that I thought it was a very extreme way to avoid been knocked out of the cup by Fax in the next round again.

[Colin James]

I think it could be a good experience for Oldham. Reading their message board and from what Long said afterwards, it sounds like they rather arrogantly thought they just had to turn up last night. I expected a much tougher game for the Lions. Anyone who thinks this Oldham team would be top end of the Championship have had a rude awakening. There's a lot of teams in the Championship who aren't as flashy or who don't look as impressive on paper but are well drilled and do the simple things right and you have to earn the right to play against them. Batley have been the embodiment of that for years. Keighley similar to Oldham spent a load of money on names, walked L1 and then couldn't do it against better opposition. 

From a Swinton point of view, it's another solid performance, if we keep it up some people might even be forced to predict we won't finish bottom which is where most pundits put us every season without fail. Patton is a quality and experienced half and has started well. I know Bradford fans said he was a bit hot and cold for them so we will wait and see how he goes but so far looks a very good piece of recruitment.