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 followingC1
(a) If any signing takes place or is authorised by the Board after close of business on the Friday prior to the lastSix 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.


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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.

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.

No problem with comments forom Matt Calland , our sport would be a lot better without all the Bull**** we hear and a more honest approach

So for that Well done Matt keep it up

what is interesting is that we at Leigh dont have any quota players as both have been refused entry

It is very frustrating when certain clubs seem to be able to get who they want when they want , yet others seem not to be able to get any

And considering that we may well end up getting relegated instead of a team with 4 quota places it will not go down happy with us

There is no way of 'evening out ' things with expansion clubs , it is impossible and it damages clubs we already have

Rant over

I'm sure he does, and I'm also sure you find it all very refreshing, but that is not the point.

The point is, despite amusing you, it also fires up the opposition. I'm sure Cullen had some of his post match statements about the previous two Widnes games pinned to the dressing room wall last weekend. As Matt was at it again after our last game, I'm sure Cullen will use that too.

It's clearly not just Widnes he's getting fired up either. All the best RL coaches show respect in both victory and defeat to the opposition. Despite your love of controversy, I would think it better that Matt stops getting over excited in future.

If he carries on, then so be it. It just makes it that bit harder for his players, who will have to suffer the consequences. But that won't bother you will it?

I bet Tyneside has more amateur Rugby League players then Blackpool area but do Blackpool get any help from the RFL? I do not mind a little bit of help for Gateshead but why 4 Quota Places? They have 5 Players via other means that are Non Europeans and have clearly bent the rules to the max.

It really does not effect teams like Fax, Widnes etc but it is very unfair on teams like Batley who face an uphill battle anyway and do a great job. Leigh could go down partly due to a team that can bring in 4 Players on the Quota while leigh, Batley and other teams only 1. How is that fair?

The game is going away from its being slowly destroyed by the RFL being unfair. The RFL have a responsibilty to help ALL teams not just teams who they want to do well. The Sport is losing its soul because the RFL are being unfair and not developing the game properly-just certain teams. I hope Leigh and Batley send Gateshead down. I wish the Gateshead Fans and team well and its nothing really against them but rather the way the RFL run the asylum.