Fri 22nd Mar-Sun 24th Mar: The Betfred Challenge Cup Sixth Round Match Thread

[Barley Mow]

22 minutes ago, northamptoncougar said:

Is the Wire game on TV?

No.

Commentary on BBC Sport online - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/rugby-league/68557198

And on 5 Live Sports Extra once IPL has finished

Edited March 23 by Barley Mow

[Barley Mow]

Wire with a very early try: 6-0

[Old Frightful]

1 hour ago, Futtocks said:

52:6, according what I can see.

Nope, definitely 50-6, could have been a lot worse though, it was ten tries and only farv goals.

I was particularly intrigued by the Yorkshire Post headline prior to this afternoon's game :

Huddersfield Giants v Hull FC: Tony Smith insists Challenge Cup is not only hope of success

Thank goodness for that.

[Jill Halfpenny fan]

2 minutes ago, Old Frightful said:

In what way mate?

It continues regardless of what I'm doing. I decided to vote with my feet at the end of last season, only game I've been to this year was the derby, didn't feel right missing that one.

But I should have.

Didn't realise you'd already walked away from it Rob. That must hurt.  How much more can those who still attend take. Year after year you under achieve.  Year after year your recruitment is rubbish.  I watched the game against Leigh and it was an embarrassment. It's like you just want to throw away all the advantages that your support base should bring.

[Worzel]

56 minutes ago, dkw said:

He seems the kind of person who will walk away if needs be, he's a very decent person.

Did you miss him quitting in a huff during a press conference, having already told his players he was leaving, both of which occurred before he bothered to mention it to his boss, or indeed the bloke who’d been spending half his income financially supporting his reign at Hull KR until that point?

Whatever he might have been before, I’m afraid the current version of Toys Out Tony lacks any professional integrity whatsoever. 

[Worzel]

7 minutes ago, Old Frightful said:

Nope, definitely 50-6, could have been a lot worse though, it was ten tries and only farv goals.

I was particularly intrigued by the Yorkshire Post headline prior to this afternoon's game :

Huddersfield Giants v Hull FC: Tony Smith insists Challenge Cup is not only hope of success

Thank goodness for that.

Yes, apparently he’s also bought some lottery tickets 

[Gomersall]

1 hour ago, dkw said:

The players have downed tools, given up. There's a very real chance he does get sacked soon.

I’m not sure Pearson has enough money behind him to pay Smith off.

[Barley Mow]

Warrington 16-0 London

[Old Frightful]

3 minutes ago, Jill Halfpenny fan said:

Didn't realise you'd already walked away from it Rob. That must hurt.  How much more can those who still attend take. Year after year you under achieve.  Year after year your recruitment is rubbish.  I watched the game against Leigh and it was an embarrassment. It's like you just want to throw away all the advantages that your support base should bring.

Been a long time coming mate but, as I've said numerous times before, I really despise the ground where they play their home games. The team produce their very worst performances there and there is very little in the way of atmosphere.

I took a long hard look towards the end of last season before a SL game when they hosted Leeds and made a decision. I simply thought "Why am I bothering when the players clearly aren't?". I thought then that I had more pressing things to occupy my time. If memory serves I spent the afternoon of that game replacing some rotten wooden posts with concrete ones in a friend's daughter's garden and felt rather liberated while I was doing it! 

I never thought it would ever come to this and you know me well enough to know it must have taken a lot of soul searching but I don't regret it. Over the latter part of last season and the start to this current one, I think I've missed half a dozen home games. I bet you'd have to go back from last year to around the 1976/1977 season before you could count me missing half a dozen home games during the whole of that thirty odd years period. And I'll have been to the majority of away games during that time as well.

I think some times you just have to go with how you feel, I may start going more regularly again if I feel the players are putting a shift in but right now, hardly any of them seem to be doing so.

[Barley Mow]

Warrington 24-0 London HT

[Jill Halfpenny fan]

9 minutes ago, Old Frightful said:

Been a long time coming mate but, as I've said numerous times before, I really despise the ground where they play their home games. The team produce their very worst performances there and there is very little in the way of atmosphere.

I took a long hard look towards the end of last season before a SL game when they hosted Leeds and made a decision. I simply thought "Why am I bothering when the players clearly aren't?". I thought then that I had more pressing things to occupy my time. If memory serves I spent the afternoon of that game replacing some rotten wooden posts with concrete ones in a friend's daughter's garden and felt rather liberated while I was doing it! 

I never thought it would ever come to this and you know me well enough to know it must have taken a lot of soul searching but I don't regret it. Over the latter part of last season and the start to this current one, I think I've missed half a dozen home games. I bet you'd have to go back from last year to around the 1976/1977 season before you could count me missing half a dozen home games during the whole of that thirty odd years period. And I'll have been to the majority of away games during that time as well.

I think some times you just have to go with how you feel, I may start going more regularly again if I feel the players are putting a shift in but right now, hardly any of them seem to be doing so.

Sounds like all the enthusiasm has been sucked out of you. Following my lot produces similar feelings.

[Faithful1865]

2 hours ago, Loiner said:

Let's be fair Tommy much of what he said was true. Batchelor drops the ball and it hits his foot lucky try, walmsleys try ball bounced off two players before he caught it both could have gone anywhere. Saints were constantly offside and had a third man flopping in the tackle. That doesn't take away how poor Leeds were on attack, wouldn't have scored again if they played till midnight. Only a big win against Cas can put off the inevitable for me and Smith gets the sack.

Maybe he could travel home with Uncle Tony.

[Archie Gordon]

4 minutes ago, Barley Mow said:

Warrington 24-0 London HT

Never mind. London can now focus on the league.

[JohnM]

Fascinating interview with Ash Handley on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra during the Warrington Vs London commentary half time break.  An insight into how professional and dedicated he is. It available on BBC Sounds as a podcast:5 Live Rugby League - Helping Handley.

Edited March 23 by JohnM

[Barley Mow]

Warrington 42-0 London FT

[Barley Mow]

Toby King in the post-match interviews on 5 live extra calling for SL clubs to enter the cup earlier.

[N2022]

23 minutes ago, Barley Mow said:

Toby King in the post-match interviews on 5 live extra calling for SL clubs to enter the cup earlier.

One round earlier would be good.

[Worzel]

2 hours ago, Old Frightful said:

In what way mate?

It continues regardless of what I'm doing. I decided to vote with my feet at the end of last season, only game I've been to this year was the derby, didn't feel right missing that one.

But I should have.

Sorry to hear that. Honestly, I speak from painful experience that lasted about 17 years not 3 years, there is still some joy to be found in a period of under-performance and later turnaround. But I get it's a grind at times, especially in the beginning. 

[Leeds Wire]

Very impressed with Mike Eccles in his post-match interview. 

Honest, realistic and proud. What a thoroughly decent bloke. 

I sincerely hope London come back soon as a competitive force in SL. I've enjoyed every single trip to watch Wire there over the years at various cuckoo nests. I thought Ealing would work but that's another story.

I wish them nothing but good luck and maybe another massive benefactor.

[daz39]

2nd time in 3 weeks we've hit 50 points and i'm still not sure if we've been that good in either, granted the opposition today were possibly the most disinterested 17 blokes in RL kits i've seen for a while and we did play some decent stuff at times but we also, especially in the 1st half made too many unforced errors, we could have had a hatful more before half time if we'd had a little bit of composure. Connor was guilty 2 or 3 times og handing Hull possession back.

The 2nd half was pretty decent from an entertainment point of view, we threw the ball around and our wingers certainly benefited with 7 tries between them (Swift 4, Halsall 3).

We also missed 5 goals and blew a host of other chances, on another day we could have had 70 or 80.

Also probably the lowest turnout of away support i've ever seen from either of the Hull clubs, probably 300 max which for a Saturday afternoon fixture with reduced admission  price shows how their supporters are feeling.

112 points scored and 38 conceded in last 3 games and our fans still aren't impressed

[Old Frightful]

8 minutes ago, Worzel said:

Sorry to hear that. Honestly, I speak from painful experience that lasted about 17 years not 3 years, there is still some joy to be found in a period of under-performance and later turnaround. But I get it's a grind at times, especially in the beginning. 

Thanks fella, I've taken into account many things but it just seemed the right thing to do towards the end of last season.

And it hasn't been just three years, it goes back to the days when Hull FC regularly started receiving big scores against them and very few players stood up to be counted. I remember a play off game at Huddersfield when we were about fifty or sixty points down and Huddersfield made another break with only a few minutes left. Richard Horne was the only player who chased the break down. It made me wonder about what the rest of the team were made of and if any of them spoke to him about it afterwards.

And what he thought about them.

[Barry Badrinath]

30 minutes ago, N2022 said:

One round earlier would be good.

And all sl sides should automatically be the away team.

 

Let's go to some new grounds and give some clubs a decent payday.

[Worzel]

8 minutes ago, Old Frightful said:

Thanks fella, I've taken into account many things but it just seemed the right thing to do towards the end of last season.

And it hasn't been just three years, it goes back to the days when Hull FC regularly started receiving big scores against them and very few players stood up to be counted. I remember a play off game at Huddersfield when we were about fifty or sixty points down and Huddersfield made another break with only a few minutes left. Richard Horne was the only player who chased the break down. It made me wonder about what the rest of the team were made of and if any of them spoke to him about it afterwards.

And what he thought about them.

Yes you're right, and I didn't mean to be dismissive with the 3 years. That's probably just been the nadir. As an outsider it does seem there's a cultural problem, one that has persisted despite players being turned over (it's not the same people) and despite there being real, hard-working pros like Houghton around the joint. Hard to put a finger on it. Much as I dislike him, I really did think Tony Smith was the right hire to fix specifically that type of problem.

Maybe it just needs more time? The inability to recruit better talent with what seems like obvious budget restrictions doesn't help. But there's a good youth pipeline, if Smith can survive a couple more seasons I think that's the solution. Stand fast, it'll come back.  

[Worzel]

8 minutes ago, Barry Badrinath said:

And all sl sides should automatically be the away team.

Let's go to some new grounds and give some clubs a decent payday.

Yes this is my view. One round earlier, all Super League sides to be the away side in that round.

But even then we still need to solve the marketing problem, SL clubs need to be more innovative and work much harder to do some short-term activation work for the next round when they might be at home.

There's also things we could do like add one cup game to the season ticket in exchange for perhaps a 10% price uplift, with a rebate (or deduction from next year's price) if your club doesn't get a home match. I think the recent move to a subscription model is a good thing not a bad one, I barely notice the £25/month my Hull KR membership costs me (it's only a few coffees or pints in a month), and maybe we should lean into that trend. 

 

[Leeds Wire]

19 minutes ago, Barry Badrinath said:

And all sl sides should automatically be the away team.

 

Let's go to some new grounds and give some clubs a decent payday.

I couldn't agree more. 

I'm sure all SL fans have anticipated the cup draw and hoped for a new place to visit. Instead we get Wigan in the draw every year despite playing them at least twice a season. 

I'm old enough to have watched Wire at York, Batley, Hunslet, Keighley etc in challenge cup (and old 1st div) games. They are all great days out and they are the lifeblood of the sport. We need more of that to keep everyone interested and to keep the sport alive.

I've just remembered another game. Chorley away. It must have been a challenge cup fixture. The landlord of the pub we went to said he had no idea what was coming and had sold out of everything except pop and whisky. True story.

Do any other Wire fans recall being there?

Lindsay Hoyle (Chorley MP) and his Dad Doug (Warrington North MP) walked around the perimeter at half time and got a spontaneous round of applause as they went round.

Edited March 23 by Leeds Wire
another memory