Rugby League Season Starts Soon
- Thread starter hoppyintheuk
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Soldato
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Well I am very surprised that Graham has been picked to Captain England, I was expecting somebody of a bit more experience, not that I think it really matters, to be honest. Its the scrum halfs that dictate the game, not really the captains. Anyone else think the captain has a big roll in games?
I also noticed Carvell has now been drafted in and that Stanley Gene predicts an upset with his sides first game against Australia.
I miss Stanley, what a legend.
I also noticed Carvell has now been drafted in and that Stanley Gene predicts an upset with his sides first game against Australia.
I miss Stanley, what a legend.
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We've had to deal with a coach similar to current England one, at Bradford and his mad ideas. Oops, its the same person.
Bradfords loss, is Englands gain. I think?
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Soldato
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We've had to deal with a coach similar to current England one, at Bradford and his mad ideas. Oops, its the same person.
Bradfords loss, is Englands gain. I think?
I wondered when you might pipe up again hoppy, never mind, last season is over now, look forwards to next season and the 4 Nations! Have never been a fan of Macca.
Did Bradford ever sell enough season tickets to trigger that pledge by the directors to halve season ticket prices? (or something like that??). I am guessing not.
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Yeah, we got 10681 and we needed 10000. Terracing is £60 for the year, thats less than £5 per game. Seating is £99.
An absolute bargain. Rumour has it, we are heading towards 12-13k season tickets.
Soldato
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Better than nothing I suppose, I will definately be getting up extra early to watch it live!
There is something about recording live games and watching them later not knowing the result that just takes the excitment off it for me, nothing like watching it live.
Soldato
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Yeah, we got 10681 and we needed 10000. Terracing is £60 for the year, thats less than £5 per game. Seating is £99.
An absolute bargain. Rumour has it, we are heading towards 12-13k season tickets.
That's quite good news that, Bradford needed a bit of a boost, quite a good ploy for the licensing renewals too!
Good news for Rugby League too, shows it isn't dying yet!
Soldato
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Dear oh dear oh dear oh dear!
Widdop was awful! Kicking game was none existant, Sam Tomkins isn't exactly the perfect person to look to to get a good kick in is he? Should have put Sinfield in the team. Shouldn't have put Brown in the team. Atkins was particularly poor and Tom Briscoe had some good moments.
So many things were wrong today and there is only one man to blame.
Oh, and I also thought that the Kiwi's can't actually do a "play the ball" properly anymore. I get the feeling that if an English SL referee had been in charge, they would have been pulled up time and time again.
Widdop was awful! Kicking game was none existant, Sam Tomkins isn't exactly the perfect person to look to to get a good kick in is he? Should have put Sinfield in the team. Shouldn't have put Brown in the team. Atkins was particularly poor and Tom Briscoe had some good moments.
So many things were wrong today and there is only one man to blame.
Oh, and I also thought that the Kiwi's can't actually do a "play the ball" properly anymore. I get the feeling that if an English SL referee had been in charge, they would have been pulled up time and time again.
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Nah Tomkins is a great kicker, he just isnt a #7. Next time around i would drop Shenton who is DREADFUL (id hate to be his winger at Saints next year), push Widdop into the #6 position, Robbo to #7, Tomkins to #1 and then look to shore up the centre position with .. well anyone other than Shenton. Im furious Gleeson isnt on the plane tbfh.
1. Tomkins
2. Goulding
3. ?
4. Atkins
5. T Briscoe
6. Widdop
7. Robinson
8. Graham
9. Roby
10. Fielden
11. Ellis
12. Burgess
13. O'Loughlin
14. Crabtree
15. Lunt
16. Westwood
17. Harrison
I love Joel but to be fair we need another mobile back who can act as a prop and fatboy Harrison does that for us. Lunt can be the hooker interchange also.
I dont think the Aussies are going to be that good, their backline is a poor imitation of years gone by. No Inglis, Thurston, Falou, Hodges, Gasnier... If it didnt have Lockyer or Slater i'd think it was a standard NRL team. Willie Tonga is pap also.
Their forwards are their asset, and so are ours. Shillington vs Fielden is one im looking forward to.
1. Tomkins
2. Goulding
3. ?
4. Atkins
5. T Briscoe
6. Widdop
7. Robinson
8. Graham
9. Roby
10. Fielden
11. Ellis
12. Burgess
13. O'Loughlin
14. Crabtree
15. Lunt
16. Westwood
17. Harrison
I love Joel but to be fair we need another mobile back who can act as a prop and fatboy Harrison does that for us. Lunt can be the hooker interchange also.
I dont think the Aussies are going to be that good, their backline is a poor imitation of years gone by. No Inglis, Thurston, Falou, Hodges, Gasnier... If it didnt have Lockyer or Slater i'd think it was a standard NRL team. Willie Tonga is pap also.
Their forwards are their asset, and so are ours. Shillington vs Fielden is one im looking forward to.
I thought Atkins was worse than Shenton. But that's not saying much. There are no other options in the centres unless he puts a 2nd row in there. Gleeson must have done something really bad to upset McNamara.
I'd agree with Robinson at 7. Another possibility is O'Loughlin at 6 and Widdop into the centres - although he did get dragged out of position a couple of times when he was there in the 2nd half. None of the options are brilliant tbh and I have no idea where the next GB/England centres are coming from.
I'd agree with Robinson at 7. Another possibility is O'Loughlin at 6 and Widdop into the centres - although he did get dragged out of position a couple of times when he was there in the 2nd half. None of the options are brilliant tbh and I have no idea where the next GB/England centres are coming from.
Soldato
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And how much is he going to play next season? Very little I suspect with the Wigan recruiting. Can we have him back please??!?!?
I also noticed Sam Tomkins tried his little trick on with the Kiwis of trapping his tacklers arm in the tackle to try and get a penalty. He does it all the time and I think referees are starting to get the measure of him now. At least I hope they have.
Saying that, I'd rather have him on the inside spitting out than the outside spitting in, because of his speed, but lets just say that he is the "Christiano Ronaldo of the rugby world".
I didn't think Shenton was that bad yesterday, he played a great part in that flowing second try. Widdop was definately worse and I would have had Westwood kicking the goals too.
Roby was definately Englands stand-out player though.
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Josh Charnley is a long way off the finished product. There's a rumour on the Wigan boards that he is one of 4 Wigan youngsters on their way to Harlequins for a season's loan (Stefan Marsh, Chris Tuson and Ben Davies being the others mentioned).
I think the tackler could have pulled Tomlins arm off and beaten him about the head with it and he still wouldn't have got a penalty off Mr Archer. Who was the lad who reffed the Aus v PNG game? Talk about caning a team in the penalty count - PNG got absolutely nothing off him.
I think the tackler could have pulled Tomlins arm off and beaten him about the head with it and he still wouldn't have got a penalty off Mr Archer. Who was the lad who reffed the Aus v PNG game? Talk about caning a team in the penalty count - PNG got absolutely nothing off him.
<Sigh>
<Moan on>Whenever we play the Aussies we get the rough end of any 50/50 calls. If it's an English ref they bend over backwards to accommodate the NRL interpretations of the rules (possibly with a view to an NRL career at some stage?), if it's an Aussie ref they play to the NRL interpretations. In no way am I saying that the ref cost England the game today (too many errors, not enough class in the backs did a good enough job of that), but its so frustrating to be on the back end of some of the decisions today.<Moan off>
I thought Robinson and Westwood had decent games. Sam Tomkins got virtually no ball and no space when he did get it. We looked okay when they came down the middle, but once it went 2 wide we looked in complete disarray.
<Moan on>Whenever we play the Aussies we get the rough end of any 50/50 calls. If it's an English ref they bend over backwards to accommodate the NRL interpretations of the rules (possibly with a view to an NRL career at some stage?), if it's an Aussie ref they play to the NRL interpretations. In no way am I saying that the ref cost England the game today (too many errors, not enough class in the backs did a good enough job of that), but its so frustrating to be on the back end of some of the decisions today.<Moan off>
I thought Robinson and Westwood had decent games. Sam Tomkins got virtually no ball and no space when he did get it. We looked okay when they came down the middle, but once it went 2 wide we looked in complete disarray.
Soldato
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This years Four Nations has been nothing less than I expected. I just don't have faith in Steve McNamara, never have liked the man. However, I don't believe any amount of coaching could have helped us.
The Aussies and Kiwis just look fitter, bigger, faster and more up for it than our lads. A victory just never looked likely.
I have to agree with you about the refs, some of the play the balls are so 'loose' compared to the SuperLeague, often the Kiwis never put boot to ball and the refs never picked up on it time and time again.
Was it perhaps a little premature to play Tom Briscoe in this series? Maybe. He is a quality player but he does lack the experience (of which I suppose you can only get by playing in these types of games). Unlucky with his mishap today.
To be honest, I'm almost glad it's over, can concentrate on looking forwards to the start of the SL again.
The Aussies and Kiwis just look fitter, bigger, faster and more up for it than our lads. A victory just never looked likely.
I have to agree with you about the refs, some of the play the balls are so 'loose' compared to the SuperLeague, often the Kiwis never put boot to ball and the refs never picked up on it time and time again.
Was it perhaps a little premature to play Tom Briscoe in this series? Maybe. He is a quality player but he does lack the experience (of which I suppose you can only get by playing in these types of games). Unlucky with his mishap today.
To be honest, I'm almost glad it's over, can concentrate on looking forwards to the start of the SL again.
In all honesty, providing no break through youngsters, next international i want to see:
1. Tomkins
2. Goulding
3. Gleeson (Atkins is never going to make the grade)
4. Shenton
5. T Briscoe (Cant honestly think of anyone else, and i dont think Peter Fox is ever going to cut it, same as Cudjoe)
6. L. Pryce
7. L Robinson (Who else can we choose?)
8. Graham
9. Roby
10. Peacock
11. Ellis
12. Morley
13. Burgess
14. Fielden
15. Crabtree
16. Westwood
17. Lunt
In the forwards we have a lot of good options, with the likes of Joel Tomkins, Sean O'Loughlin, Ryan Bailey etc not making the team, but our backs are so pathetically thread bare its not even funny.
1. Tomkins
2. Goulding
3. Gleeson (Atkins is never going to make the grade)
4. Shenton
5. T Briscoe (Cant honestly think of anyone else, and i dont think Peter Fox is ever going to cut it, same as Cudjoe)
6. L. Pryce
7. L Robinson (Who else can we choose?)
8. Graham
9. Roby
10. Peacock
11. Ellis
12. Morley
13. Burgess
14. Fielden
15. Crabtree
16. Westwood
17. Lunt
In the forwards we have a lot of good options, with the likes of Joel Tomkins, Sean O'Loughlin, Ryan Bailey etc not making the team, but our backs are so pathetically thread bare its not even funny.