[quote="Sir Gregory ParsloeP":ozsdux03]we have not won a single CC match since 2000 [/quote:ozsdux03] Crikey, have I lived In an alternate universe for 25 years?

[quote="Sir Gregory ParsloeP":ruubmc23]Have heard that Leeds have made plans to get the tie played at Headingley with the club hoping the Army beat Wests. Will make a farce of the new structure if we don’t play the away tie in the first year it’s in force.[/quote:ruubmc23] Hopefully not. I fancy the away day but less sure about a home game.

[quote="christopher":2h1hc3xi]Crikey, have I lived In an alternate universe for 25 years? [/quote:2h1hc3xi] Corrected

[quote="Sir Gregory ParsloeP":3fhtyotr]Corrected[/quote:3fhtyotr] Fwiw i agree with you, i think we’ll go with a squad to get the job done

On the home/away thing, I think there's a bit of a difference between Leeds playing a semi-pro club compared to our opposition in the first round. Leeds playing at Batley say, or one of the Cumbrian clubs, would help raise the profile locally a bit and hopefully earn some money. On the other hand there's little to no benefit to the game as a whole in playing at Aldershot barracks or at an RU club ground. Also, if you were one of their players, which would you rather do - play at your home ground, or take maybe the only chance you'll ever have to play somewhere like Headingley? I'd also suggest that Leeds may be tempted to put more kids into the team at home than away as well. Regardless we shouldn't be risking more than a handful of first choice players in this round of the Cup. A scrappy win without injuries is far better than a huge score with injuries.

The away team should not be allowed to play at home. Do Salford agree to play at wigan instead of at home to get more money? The idea of the draw is to give one side a random advantage. The away team should not be allowed to play at home even if for the best on intentions. Maybe play at Hunslet? The Army won't have a fan base but if West's want to play in London go for it.

Salford v Wigan is a straw man extraordinaire. We aren't playing Salford. Or Batley. Or even Oulton Raiders. There is zero chance of an upset, this is not a David vs Goliath its full time pros vs amateurs. If our opponents want to play at home fair enough, nobody's going to force anyone to give up home "advantage." But this is not some sort of sacred cow - moving games has been done many times in the past.

Arthur suggests he hasn’t looked that far ahead and has no intentions of handing shirts out for the sake of it. Will be really interesting to see what that squad looks like.

Strong 21 man squad names almost full strength, obviously mean business Could be a record score (recent years)

I think the format of the cup is close to being how it should be giving lower league and community clubs the chance to play against the elite clubs in this country just like the FA cup in football, I do think there needs to be some middle ground met regarding using community clubs grounds as we’ve seen a lot of fixtures reversed I don’t know why the RFL couldn’t have allowed West Warriors to used London Broncos home ground for example as it would have still be a home tie for them plus you have more of a chance of locals going to watch the game instead of bringing the game to Headingley, if they allowed west warriors another stadium to use as close to their location as possible and let them take 70% of funds generated on the match day that’s what would bring magic back to the challenge cup. Anyway I’ll be in attendance tomorrow would be disappointed if we didn’t get into the hundreds especially with the team Arthur has selected. Hopefully it’s a good game and a great experience for West Warriors. I reckon Arthur goes with 1.Connor 2.Lumb. 3.Newman 4.Handley 5.Hall 6.Sinfield 7.Frawley 8.Holroyd 9.Ackers 10. Palasia 11. Gannon 12. McDonnell 13. Nicholson-Watton 14. Edgell 15.Lisone 16. J.Smith 17. Jenkins

Is Bentley injured? I presume there's not a ban carrying over from last season.

[quote="JRhino1":1qyr043m]I think the format of the cup is close to being how it should be giving lower league and community clubs the chance to play against the elite clubs in this country just like the FA cup in football, I do think there needs to be some middle ground met regarding using community clubs grounds as we’ve seen a lot of fixtures reversed I don’t know why the RFL couldn’t have allowed West Warriors to used London Broncos home ground for example as it would have still be a home tie for them plus you have more of a chance of locals going to watch the game instead of bringing the game to Headingley, if they allowed west warriors another stadium to use as close to their location as possible and let them take 70% of funds generated on the match day that’s what would bring magic back to the challenge cup. Anyway I’ll be in attendance tomorrow would be disappointed if we didn’t get into the hundreds especially with the team Arthur has selected. Hopefully it’s a good game and a great experience for West Warriors. I reckon Arthur goes with 1.Connor 2.Lumb. 3.Newman 4.Handley 5.Hall 6.Sinfield 7.Frawley 8.Holroyd 9.Ackers 10. Palasia 11. Gannon 12. McDonnell 13. Nicholson-Watton 14. Edgell 15.Lisone 16. J.Smith 17. Jenkins[/quote:1qyr043m] The RFL didn't stop them hosting at another ground, They opted not to. Probably on grounds of cost.

...and because playing at headingley against Leeds is a once in a lifetime opportunity for their players.

[quote="Clearwing":lhlqm9ws]The RFL didn't stop them hosting at another ground, They opted not to. Probably on grounds of cost.[/quote:lhlqm9ws] My point was that the RFL should have help with that because no amateur club could afford to rent out a professional stadium. Which is probably why they opted for it switched to Headingley to experience a decent crowd playing Leeds at Home, just a shame it’s at the same time as Leeds United FA cup clash because Headingley will be even quieter than it was already gonna be be amazed if we get much more than 5k still an experience for West Warriors though I suppose

I went down today and enjoyed it, we look fit and n good shape. Very comfortable as expected, credit to Wests they gave it a good crack, young Poching made a few good tackles. Bentley and Oledski rested. Newman and Croft withdrawn at halftime, Croft looked fine, Newman seemed to play last few minutes at half speed, hope he is OK. Sinfield did well but limped off after getting caught in the ankle, suspect he will miss next week as a minimum. Good to see Edgell back. I like the look of Palasia, he looks a much better all round player than say Tetevano. The crowd was very low, I was disappointed just how poor it was. I wonder if next season , they need to put the championship and L1 clubs in a bag and draw 12 ties v SL teams , then draw the other games . Hopefully this would mean the home club could play at home and create more interest from SL fans.

https://x.com/leedsrhinos/status/188823 ... N0BP03gOHQ

https://x.com/leedsrhinos/status/188823 ... N0BP03gOHQ

nearly HT and castleford don't even look like a decent championship side. dreadful

Take nowt away from Bradford who've been really good but cas look to have fallen off a cliff edge even from last season

[quote="Clearwing":20ojkrd9]Take nowt away from Bradford who've been really good but cas look to have fallen off a cliff edge even from last season[/quote:20ojkrd9] And they were already dreadful.

Cas were dire,but we came unstuck a few years back there. The mud and a pitch only 55 metres wide makes it easier to defend and is a great leveller. I have seen wider schoolboys pitches and it should not be allowed.

Unless they can get significant investment into Odsal, they should move to Valley Parade.

it's a disgrace isn't it?

[quote="Jack Burton":28chrmx1]Unless they can get significant investment into Odsal, they should move to Valley Parade.[/quote:28chrmx1] Valley Parade owners wanted £750k a season so that was a non-starter. We're stuck with the Odsal millstone unfortunately since finding someone with tens of millions needed has been impossible since the 1930s. Valley Parade pitch is smaller than Odsal BTW. Odsal pitch has a dispensation to be the size it is. Length wise it's no different to many RL grounds.

[url][/url][quote="Bullseye":2n6si5e2]Valley Parade owners wanted £750k a season so that was a non-starter. We're stuck with the Odsal millstone unfortunately since finding someone with tens of millions needed has been impossible since the 1930s. Valley Parade pitch is smaller than Odsal BTW. Odsal pitch has a dispensation to be the size it is. Length wise it's no different to many RL grounds.[/quote:2n6si5e2] Not sure how you get that. Valley parade is reported as 64 metres wide

[quote="STEVENM1000":45afcy7a][url][/url]Not sure how you get that. Valley parade is reported as 64 metres wide[/quote:45afcy7a] It's shorter than it was when we were last there apparently - and that needed a dispensation then.