All teams suffer dips in form, its how they respond that determines if they are a good team and potential champions this is the test Calland and the team now face.

Well at least we got a mention on the BBC site for a change. It mentions Black is out for at least two weeks (Toulouse) but up to six weeks (Whitehaven/Sheffield).

[urlhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/8124492.stm[/url

Matt is right and its a joke there are different rules for who you are. Toulouse cant be relegated and Gateshead can field a lot more Aussies than the rest despite having gates of 500!! The way the game is run by the RFL is a joke and no wonder many fans have left the sport due to the idiots running it. What happened to every team having the same set of rules?

"Shouting and balling"?

My god, even the BBC have lost the ability to spell correctly now!

He actually said "NRL players", which doesn't exactly mean Aussies, does it? I know I'm being pedantic, but let's not misquote him.

:2brrrglu

That's the quote from the courier. Though suppose they could have mis-quoted too. Calland may have said they've bought in 3 Pengiuns and a lion, who knows?

When you have the luxury of adding four players who have played as much NRL as they have, they're going to improve you.
"We don't have that because we're not Gateshead, we can't just go and sign players like that.'"

Was chatting with ben before the game yesterday and he said it would be at least the Toulouse game before he was back.

Didn't put anything on the board in case it gave the upcoming opponents a boost.

Just have to get on with things with the rest of the squad. I'm sure the lads will raise their game to compensate.

Would be a good time to possibly hunt down some SL loanees to bolster the squad and keep the players on their toes at this crucial stage of the season. Other teams are bringing players in and they have much bigger squads than us.

According to the rules we have until the day of the Featherstone Game (24th July) to get any players in should we wish too. Operational Rules state the following:

C1:2:8 END OF SEASON REGISTRATION DEADLINES
(a) If any signing takes place or is authorised by the Board after close of business on the Friday prior to the last:
(i) Seven rounds of regular matches in Super League; or
(ii) Six rounds of regular matches in Championship; or
(iii) Three rounds of regular matches in Championship 1

then the Club shall not be entitled to play that Player in the remaining rounds or in any

Match in the relevant Grand Final Series.
(b) However nothing in this Operational Rule shall prohibit:
(i) a Player who is on a Club's Academy register; or
(ii) a Player who has been on loan to a Club having his loan extended or
returning to his registered Club;

playing for that Club in all or any such Matches provided that the relevant
paperwork is submitted to the RFL in the format as required from time to time.

I can understand why expansion clubs are allowed extra Aussie/NRL players. They will be some distance from areas that have a large RL player base for them to recruit from and that will cause problems with recruitment of a competitive squad. The heartland clubs will suffer less from this.

I think there should be a cap on the amount they can use though, and that an expansion clubs shouldn't be able to put in a licence bid until they have got themselves on a level playing field with the heartland clubs. Otherwise we get another scenario like Celtic, buying a team full of Aussies and using the Championship as nothing more than a stepping stone, which devalues both this league and gives a false impression of that clubs' actual strength as well as creating a disadvantage to the other clubs in this league. This only seems to cause resentment and makes the sport a laughing stock.


*



I cannot understand why Matt Calland is saying the things he is. All he has to do is trot out a few old clichés and everyone is happy.

Before a game:
[i***** are a good team and will be difficult to beat. We won't take them lightly and we've been training hard all week in preparation.[/i

After a game: (Depending on results and scoreline)

[iGreat performance by the lads/ over the moon/ we need to keep it up for a tough game against ***** next week.[/i

[iGood Performance by the lads/ Game of two halves/ We will still need to work on some areas in training though/ good effort by the opposition and I'm pleased to have edged a thriller[/i

[iPoor performance/ Sick as a Parrot/ Can't wait to get back to training Monday and work on those problems/ We have a tough game against ***** next week and will be looking to get back on track. [/i

It's not difficult Matt. Anything else is just making a rod for your own back.

I can't beleive this thread has gone on so long . If we as fans on this site had not gone on other sites, crowing, all this would have died down two weeks ago . Giveing us more time to equal the "Hock Saga" on the Wigooon board, with the MJ thread.

Thunder had 4 quota players yesterday. Aitken, Younquest, Kahler and Henderson (Hendo was born in Torquay and plays for Scotland but is classed as an Aussie). As far as I am aware that is the number we are allowed to field.
Of the other Aussies on the pitch Nash, McAlpine & McBride have British passports, Branighan has a Maltese passport and Franze has an Italian passport, all these are available to all English teams as none-quota players.

Rugby league in the NE is 10 years old... we are still 100 years behind the Heartlands in player and game development and rely on Aussies to make up a major part of our squad while we try to develop the game. As far as I am aware the number of foreign players we can use decreases every couple of years

Be as it may I would not be suprised if your club is being bullt up to be moved up to Edinburgh.