English lower leagues

[Bovrick]

Yes the rl championships website lists crowds.

Can't believe london flogged sheffield! These matches count, right?

Yep.

Disgusting last match so far.

 

[langpark]

7,021 today.

On both days, the attendance has been higher than the total attendances would have been had each individual match been played at their regular ground. So if you look at it like that, I suppose they should consider it a success.

Either way, it wasn't the biggest of risks to take and it's nice to see they are trying new things.

Btw, both Leigh and Bradford are averaging close to 5000 this season. Next best would be Fax and Fev with about a 2000 average.

 

[langpark]

Big upset yesterday as London beat Leigh 29-20. I think that was their first defeat in a long time, right?

How good is the race for the Middle 8s looking now!?!?!? I think it will go down to the wire this one.

 

[miguel de cervantes]

The RFL's new pro-rel system certainly seems to be working. Will be very interesting to see some of the later key games at the end of the season and the million pound match.

 

[deluded pom?]

I disagree. How can it be working when Wakefield exposed a huge flaw in the system?

 

[langpark]

I disagree. How can it be working when Wakefield exposed a huge flaw in the system?

What's the flaw??

A team throwing in the towel early is not really a flaw, in my opinion.

 

[deluded pom?]

They have given up on the regular season thus undermining any games they played whilst still interested. They even managed a couple of wins which must really piss the teams off that Wakefield beat seeing as everyone else is putting thirty + on them. It totally devalues any games they play and those of their opposition too. A club may end up in the middles 8s because they lost to a committed Wakefield. How can that be good? If they suddenly become interested because Brian Smith is in charge then that just makes it even more ridiculous as half the league have had a free ride in the game against them when they weren't bothered.

 

[langpark]

Look, there is no perfect system, whatever system they go with, there will always be an issue.

I think what happened with Wakefield though, will not happen again. The backlash was big, when the coach admitted they'd thrown in the towel, crowds dropped and he lost his job. Surely no club will allow that to happen again. Plus you run the risk of making losing a habit going into the middle 8s.

Again, there is no perfect system, but I really like this one!

 

[Evil Homer]

Difficult to say if it's a success or not until the split has happened.

 

[deluded pom?]

Look, there is no perfect system, whatever system they go with, there will always be an issue.

I think what happened with Wakefield though, will not happen again. The backlash was big, when the coach admitted they'd thrown in the towel, crowds dropped and he lost his job. Surely no club will allow that to happen again. Plus you run the risk of making losing a habit going into the middle 8s.

Again, there is no perfect system, but I really like this one!

But it has happened. You can't undo the fact that for half the season Wakefield gave up. Webster might have kept his job if he'd not blabbed to all and sundry that all they were interested in was the middle 8s. He should have blamed the losses on a huge injury list and done what he wanted to do with only people involved with the club knowing what the intent was.

 

[langpark]

But it has happened. You can't undo the fact that for half the season Wakefield gave up. Webster might have kept his job if he'd not blabbed to all and sundry that all they were interested in was the middle 8s. He should have blamed the losses on a huge injury list and done what he wanted to do with only people involved with the club knowing what the intent was.

Like I say, you will never find a perfect system.

Evil Homer has a point. We need to wait until the very end. I admit, I'm praising it now, but the Middle 8s could turn out to be full of blowout scorelines and the Championship sides unable to compete with the Super League sides, for example. Time will tell.

...but I repeat, so far, I'm loving it!!

 

[langpark]

This is fantastic. Dewsbury, who are in genuine contention for a middle 8 spot, have allowed their player (who was in their 17 last week against Bradford) to leave this weekend for international duty, representing Serbia in their match against Italy!

Well done to Glenn Morrison and the Rams, I hope SL and NRL clubs take note!!

http://www.dewsburyrams.co.uk/article/43725/muranka-continues-on-serbian

 

[UNION TROLL]

London Broncos are rumoured to be moving to another ground at the end of this season.....if the suggested ground is correct then it has a current capacity of 900 seated fans.
To think they were in a challenge Cup QF this time 2 years ago playing out of a state of the art Rugby Stadium that holds 15k and with players like Clubb, Sarginson and Dixon in their ranks underlines the folly of this 888 System that to date has delivered lower crowds in SL, Lower crowds in the Championship outside of Bradford and Leigh and will deliver a game between 2 teams who offer little to the game in the way of expansion playing for the right to be next years SL canon fodder.

If London finish 4th this year, they will get hammered 3 times at Home and maybe might squeak a win v Sheffield with 3 other hammerings on the road. Sheffield won't fare much better and it will be a straight race between Leigh and Bradford as to who gets the chance to replace Wakefield....who themselves could also be homeless at the end of the year.

 

[Evil Homer]

Shock result in the Championship tonight as Featherstone beat Bradford 37-18.

 

[JasonE]

Shock result in the Championship tonight as Featherstone beat Bradford 37-18.

Bradford without Gaskell are shit, not sure Lowes is the man to get them back into SL either.

 

[roughyedspud]

i really like lee gaskell...

a few years ago when st helens had gaskell & lomax at 6 and 7 they looked for all the world like englands future halfback pairing...until nathan brown decided to split them up..sell gaskell and move lomax to fullback..


and now st helens have jon bloody wilkin in the halves...


friggin ridiculous

 

[Harrigan]

Could have been one of those nights too. It was still 27 degrees at 8pm for kick off and the humidity was in the 70s. Some teams just struggle to cope when it's warm and humid like that and you often see "upsets"

 

[Evil Homer]

Bradford without Gaskell are shit, not sure Lowes is the man to get them back into SL either.

Lowes looks to be a terrible coach, Bradford have a squad of over 30 full time players yet he has stuck with virtually the same team all year without even attempting any kind of rotation, there are numerous players that were brought in over the close season and still haven't made their debuts which is a joke. Bar one player Lowes even picked the exact same 17 last night that played on Sunday and, not surprisingly, they looked exhausted and couldn't cope in the heat.

 

[JasonE]

Tom Minns signs for Hull KR from Fev Rovers.

 

[Evil Homer]

Tom Minns signs for Hull KR from Fev Rovers.

Leeds player who was on loan at Featherstone. I don't really rate him TBH. Greg Minikin from York has been linked with Castleford, never seen him play but he gets good reviews.