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From despair TO where: Rugby League 2018

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    #51
    And the Knights win it.

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      #52
      Balkan Super League kicks off, ambitious tournament featuring 15 teams from seven countries.

      Group A: Radnicki Novi Beograd (Serbia), Kadikoy Bulls (Turkey), Banja Luka Warriors (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
      Group B: Partizan (Serbia), Lokomotiv (Bulgaria), Aris Eagles (Greece).
      Group C: Radnicki Nis (Serbia), Attica Rhinos (Greece), Klubi Regbise Tirana (Albania).
      Group D: Dorcol (Serbia), Vitez (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Juzna Regija (Montenegro).
      Group E: Red Star (Serbia), Rhodes Knights (Greece), Bilgi Badgers (Turkey).

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        #53


        Friday night lights for Kells v Toronto

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          #54
          Great stuff Wfd, hope it's a good game.

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            #55
            In case anyone was planning to go to York v Swinton on Sunday, it's been moved to Fev, because Bootham is unplayable.

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              #56
              Originally posted by Kevin S View Post
              Great stuff Wfd, hope it's a good game.
              Too much of a gulf in class for it to be a spectacle but a good occasion for Kells and the community. I was telling my daughter before kick off that I'd seen Kells play Leeds Rhinos (which of course they weren't called then, but that's what she knows them as) on the same ground thirty years ago and when she opened the programme it was the first thing mentioned (that they had played Leeds thirty years ago, not about me being there, cos that would have been disturbing).

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                #57
                Nobody mentioned the programme about the coedbreakers on BBC Wales a few days ago? It was a look back at Welsh players went from union to league and what happened to those that did and didn't go.

                https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod...y-codebreakers

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                  #58
                  It was an impressive programme.

                  Things come into the open after twenty years when it is all considered in the past.

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                    #59
                    Originally posted by Bob8 View Post
                    It was an impressive programme.

                    Things come into the open after twenty years when it is all considered in the past.
                    I thought the bit at the beginning was good when they explained the split and what happened. I don't just mean the meeting at The George Hotel in Huddersfield, but the fact that union appealed to all classes, but following the split league was working class but because of union attempts to kill it off became anti-establishment. Also how league clubs were taking the working class heroes of the South Wales. A tough time for players making the transition and some didn't make it in league but could never go back to their communities. It wasn't so much a class war more an inter-class war.

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                      #60
                      Good to see Josh Charnley back in League. Obviously didn't work out at Sale Sharks, but that was possibly more to do with Sale than him.

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                        #61
                        Women's Super League starts up https://www.theguardian.com/sport/no...P=share_btn_tw

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                          #62
                          Originally posted by Paul S View Post
                          I thought the bit at the beginning was good when they explained the split and what happened. I don't just mean the meeting at The George Hotel in Huddersfield, but the fact that union appealed to all classes, but following the split league was working class but because of union attempts to kill it off became anti-establishment. Also how league clubs were taking the working class heroes of the South Wales. A tough time for players making the transition and some didn't make it in league but could never go back to their communities. It wasn't so much a class war more an inter-class war.
                          I remember Professor Dai Smith (father of future Pfizer lobbyist Owen) once explaining that the paucity of international competition in league and the willingness of English rugby union to, shall we say, look the other way at skirtings of amateurism such as Arthur Gould having a house bought for him by the people of Newport being a decisive factor in south Wales retaining the union game.

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                            #63
                            York City Knights beat West Wales Raiders by what you could call a gross margin, 144-0.

                            Not a great look for the game. I remember Carlisle getting 'tonned', but at least that was a cup (mis)match.

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                              #64
                              My uncle was there. Apparently the Raiders had 6 new signings on display and tried for the full 80 minutes but were hopelessly out of their depth. Their next 2 games are against Bradford and Doncaster (2nd and 3rd in the league) so there's every chance the record could be beaten.

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                                #65
                                I saw a Conference game which finished 132-7 a few years ago. That was literally men against boys as the visitors first team were off on a stag weekend, and so their youth team fulfilled the fixture. The match only lasted an hour, after the referee phoned the league secretary at half time to find out how long he needed to play for the result to stand.

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                                  #66
                                  Originally posted by Walt Flanagans Dog View Post
                                  York City Knights beat West Wales Raiders by what you could call a gross margin, 144-0.

                                  Not a great look for the game. I remember Carlisle getting 'tonned', but at least that was a cup (mis)match.
                                  May not be a great look for the game, but I have to say the Knights' escapades this season are proving a massive fillip for sport in the city. They've already had a couple of crowds bigger than most the football club have managed this year, and their astonishing run of form is generating some genuine feel-good factor. Their new ownership are engaging brilliantly with the community and have finally got some cross-promotion going with the football club (ticket deals etc.). Not a particularly big RL fan myself, but I'll certainly try to get along for a look at some point this summer.

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                                    #67
                                    Loiners Wire - that was something special.

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                                      #68
                                      Handy. This is how the rest of the European WC21 places will be decided.

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                                        #69
                                        Fev against Hull was full blooded to say the least. 6 sin binnings and a red card at the end. Despite the win Lee Radford was not at all happy with his players and their attitude in letting Fev get to them.

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                                          #70
                                          I got rid of Sky Sports this year so I've lost access to NRL and (most of) Super League, but to save this thread dying on its arse completely, a quick round-up of goings on in the international game.

                                          Firstly, the qualification process for the 2021 World Cup began at the weekend with the Czech Republic beating Norway 20-12. Pleasingly these aren't ersatz teams, between them the two countries have 16 open age clubs playing regularly. Ukraine and Malta are the next out of the blocks in the other 'C' group at the end of the month.

                                          This weekend sees the equally unlikely event of England and New Zealand facing off in Denver. Live on the BBC, but don't ask me which channel/button. The NRL did everything it could to stop this going ahead, using the player-welfare card of being concerned about whether players could recover from a long flight in time to play for their clubs the following week. While at the same time planning to stage a season opener in California, which isn't much closer than Denver.

                                          Also we have a rare weekend State of Origin on Sunday, as part of a big weekend of rep games with women's State of Origin on Friday, and a Pacific tests double header on Saturday (Tonga v Samoa, PNG v Fiji).

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                                            #71
                                            I'm not particularly familiar with the New Zealand national anthem. It appears that the person singing it in Denver isn't either.

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                                              #72
                                              I presume the words are meant to sync with the music. But who knows, maybe not.

                                              They seem to have rented a rather bigger stadium than required, just like the Wales-NZ Union game in Washington a few weeks ago.

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                                                #73
                                                Interesting grass cutting technique.

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                                                  #74
                                                  Same issue as in Washington

                                                  The Denver professional (union) team play in Colorado Rapids' ground, which holds 18,000

                                                  The ground that was the "official home" of the US national team until recently is outside the city in Glendale and only seats 5,000

                                                  There doesn't seem to be a US broadcast of this, btw
                                                  Last edited by ursus arctos; 23-06-2018, 20:24.

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                                                    #75
                                                    So far it's a much better spectacle than the Union match was. Lots of line breaks, offloads and direct open field running all at a high intensity. As a way of showcasing the sport, it's doing a good job. Or would if it was being shown in the host country.

                                                    League, with its sets of six, play-the-ball and field marked up in 10m sections, is probably an easier explain than Union to neophyte US sports fans who might be interested. The problem is it might be too similar to Gridiron. Both sports have came up with somewhat similar solutions to the same problems.

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