*** Official Rugby League SLXXIII Thread ***

When was the last league match Widnes won, Salford back in March? Only win after that can have been the Cup match against League 1 Coventry. It's been a bad 'un.

Catalans (beaten soundly by Widnes in their opening match this year) took their awful start to the season and worked hard at turning it around. Widnes appear to be just sliding into the abyss.
 
Sadly, this seems to be the case. I hope not - it's a real league town. Salford looked to have stepped up a gear with their new scrum half. Widnes' next 3 games are crucial - lose away at Toulose and they're in big trouble.
 
Anyone watching the Challenge Cup final? Catalans monstered Warrington at the start to grab an early lead, Warrington got back into it a bit, but a further first half try for les Dracs and an early second half one has given them a three score lead. 20 - 6 as I type this.
 
And it's all over. 20 - 14. That's some repayment for getting screwed by the combination of **** refereeing and St Helens cheating in the 2007 final. And a hell of a turnaround in a season that started so badly.
 
They won it in the first 20 minutes. 100% completion in a final is a winning formula. I'd have gone with McIlorum for the Lance Todd. What was good was that when he went off, Garcia raised his game so that they didn't realy expreience the dip they sometimes get. Must be a real party going on over there now. Next weekend would definitely be a good time to play them :)
 
And we’re out. :( Luckily, I’m at sea with work, and was unable to watch Widnes’ performance against Toronto, but from what i’ve seen on Facebook from friends who did, it was dire indeed. The player’s seem resigned to defeat from the set to, and just didn’t appear interested anymore.

I can only hope that is the catalyst for badly needed change at Widnes, that someone with the passion and the resources to do so can swoop in and rescue the club from the present management, but I doubt that’s going to happen.

The real shame in all of this though is that our U-19 academy teams have been fantastic these past few years, true contenders and a real source of hope for the future. I fear now though, with relegation, that we’ll find ourselves reduced to a feeder club for the super league, never to return.
 
That's a worry and I really hope it doesn't happen. I think it needs a change (at CEO level, not coaching) at the top to be honest. The U19s have been good, the amateur teams are strong - there is no reason why they shouldn't bounce straight back.

It will be really interesting if Toronto don't come up. Will the money still be there if they have another season out of SL? I think they've been found out a bit as a bunch of journeymen who have been bullying teams. If they do come up they will need some better players
 
A shame that Toulouse couldn't make it into SL for next year. A combination of running out of steam, and some skullduggery (the decisive non-try that Toronto scored against them for one, Salford not turning up to the Broncos match for another). The Super League could use another French side, give les Dracs a break from having to travel to England all the time. Anyway, the Million Pound Game is almost certainly going to be Toronto vs Broncos and I'd almost be willing to lay money on Broncos winning that one.

In other news, Zak Hardaker's covered himself in glory again...
 
Nice one RFL...

If they can't afford to host the final at Wembley, then host it some place else. Plenty of big enough grounds that would genuinely like to have it. I hope les Dracs stick to their guns over this, it's pretty bloody poor form to charge the current holders of the cup half a million quid to defend their title.
 
Would be good if a big club (Wigan/Warrington/Sts) said if they're not being allowed in, we're not playing either. It's an absolute joke that the holders can't defend their trophy. It was one of the biggest positive things to happen to the game for years. I despair at the incompetence of the RFL at times.

I hope the final is between Salford and Barrow with 20k watching.
 

^ Pretty much sums up my thoughts.

Desperate times at the RFL, I think its so mixed up with Robert Elstone and the RFL on two competitive pedestals.

That being said, I am very much looking forward to the new season, with dare I say it, a little bit of optimism for Rovers! I think we've recruited really well in the off season with Garbutt, Keinhorst, Linnett, Drinkwater and Lannon. That being said, I've been optimistic for the last few seasons but we've massively fallen short! I'm not sure why this year feels different, but it does!

Bring on the new season!

If you don't listen to the fellas above, they have a great podcast (its changed names quite a lot as it used to be on Yorkshire Radio (Proper Sport) but now they do it under the banner of Forty20 magazine. Well worth a listen, 2 hours of solid RL talk each week.

Final thing, Cas fans must be absolutely gutted hearing the news about Gale. Such a shame for him if its the whole season gone.
 
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Looks like Gale's definitely gone for the season. I've had a similar injury and it was a very long recovery. Good that Cas have been given salary cap dispensation to sign somebody to replace him. He's a top player and will take some replacing though.

2 weeks on Thursday to the new season. Can't wait.
 
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If he's runing around OT next October/Wembley whenever it is I suppose the gamble will have paid off. More likely he'll be on the front page of the Mirror/Sun for some more typical bellendrical behaviour

Tomkins to Catalan could be the key that finally unlocks a consistently good season for them
 
On the subject of Catalans, Remi Casty has been appointed captain for the '19 season.

Excited to see how Tomkins does with us. I do wish we'd been able to keep hold of Josh Drinkwater. He was a big part of our turning around last season.
 
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