An own goal by the Cougars management, then; all those potential next-generation fans linking up with the bulls and Odsal, instead of Cougars and Cougar Park.
I thought we were trying to build a bigger fanbase..?

Out Of order playing the game at Dulls ground.
Why not play their game (18s) after the Workington match?
This as been done before. It's a few years ago now since this happend.
What do you think?

It’s very poor form that the cubs are being treated like this. Not a good start for the new Cougar regime.

Two interesting questions arise:

1) Who at the Cougars has made this decision and why?

2) Is the decision to approach Bradford Bulls in the true interests of the cubs or is it a personal points scoring exercise?

I would have gone to watch the under 18’s at Cougar Park, and had a few beers to boot, but I definitely will not go to watch them at the Bulls.

Not wanting to ruffle any feathers but I get the impression that there has been two way personal animosities between certain people at the cougars and at the cubs. It’s a shame this gets in the way of common sense.

I hope the new board extend a hand of friendship but that will require those at the cubs to do the same.

The bulls thing was a wind up and even I fell for it.

The game has to be played on friday because Barrow have made their arrangements so an alternative venue with floodlights is been looked for, which may mean the game will have to be played out of town, as i think the only amature grounds with floodlights are Stanningley & Dudley Hill. The union club has lights, but not sure how good they are.

Hi all

Just to let you all know the main reason why the game had to be played elsewhere was because the 1st team and reserves are all training on the pitch on Friday night. The pitch and the fact that the changing rooms will not be ready are also a factor.
Silsden reserves are due to play here on Saturday but that will also be cancelled.

The club work really hard at trying to accommodate all clubs and games but the 1st team matches have to take priority.

Thanks, Helen

Well said Sabena. I understand that it is very unfortunate for the cubs, also very annoying, but the first team have always trained on the friday night, so its a spot of bad planning from the start. This should of been realised earlier, by all people concerned. The club are not doing this as a personal attack on the cubs, why would they? People connected to the cubs do have personal agendas against the club, you here about it every week in the bar. This is one of the reason why my sons will not be part of the cub set up and I have heard and been around all the people who moan, and slag of the club and yet say in the same breath that they love the club and thats why they want the cubs to be connected to it. Its a shame for the under 18's and like I said unfortunate too but as Sabena has explained its not a personal attack on the cubs, the first team take priority. Have the cubs tried south craven, part of that has flood lights and Sandylands at Skipton. Threatening to go to Bradford is sounding like throwing toys out of the pram.

Can understand why Helen, but why were they not informed earlier?

Ok fair enough, the 1st team & reserves are training, but a good chunk of the U18's are the reserves as it happens.

Also if that was always the case, why wasnt it brought up weeks ago.

And i dont remember the friday night game causing problems last year.

And it wasnt bad planning, each team in the Gillette National Youth League gets a home game on a friday night and this should have been ours.

Anyway the latest on the game is, its off friday, looking to try and get it on sunday, but its not looking good.

I just hope u18's wont have to forfeit the game as it would all but finish their playoff hopes.

Before I start I would like to make it known that I have no axe to grind and I neither love nor hate the Cougars. I am a senior administrator for the Cubs. Yes, there are a few of our committee who have grudges against certain people at Cougar Park but I am not one of them.

Having said that, it won't be long before I am.

Frankly, I and my committee are annoyed at the way this has been handled by Cougar Park.

The issues around the team training and the changing rooms not being available are hogwash. The Cubs offered to kick off at 8.30, or however long after training was convenient and to change elsewhere (the leisure centre being an obvious possibility). Both these offers were dismissed.

Maybe there are issues with the playing surface but if there are why not just say so and why allow Silsden to play on Wednesday night?

Every team in the National Youth League is asked, where facilities permit, to stage one Friday night floodlit game. This game becomes the prestigious game of the week and receives enhanced national press coverage which can only be good for both clubs. The Cougars have known about this game for over five months. The lads and the staff have been looking forward to it and have organised their weekend around it. Several players and staff from both teams have booked time off work to allow them to play and the coaches etc were all ready to go. The referee and linespersons were booked etc etc etc.

With little respect for all parties involved the game has been cancelled at short notice, without a satisfactory explanation as to why. If there is a genuine reason, e.g. they can't afford the electricity, then we should be informed. If not, we will invent our own conspiracy theories.

This comes a week after the Cubs, representing the Cougars, travelled to South Wales, to lose by the last kick of the game to last years champions, which entailed some parents and players leaving their houses at 5.30am on Sunday morning and arriving home after midnight. They represented the team and the town well, unlike their professional counterparts who went down there and had to come back home minus the players who had been arrested.

Respect is a two way street.

Pretty poor joke to make on a Cougar fans forum. To suggest such a thing simply robs the cubs of sympathetic support. Your final comment shows that someone must have considered it

Some fair points, its a real shame that the relationship between Cubs and Cougars has started off like this. I've always thought that encouraging kids is the most important thing a sports club can do, it may be a cliche but they are the future.

Just out of interest, why did you feel the need to say "unlike their professional counterparts who went down there and had to come back home minus the players who had been arrested". IMHO it adds nothing to your otherwise fair argument and simply makes it appear that you do have an axe to grind after all.

...and piques the interest of us who don't know what you're on about..?!

Pardon my ignorance on this but at the q and a recently it was confirmed by Graham Kemp, community director that there was to be an inclusion and rightly so of clubs like West Craven etc.

The meeting was with Martin, not sure if anyone else was involved. My query is do the various cub coaches etc have a nominated person to deal with the club or is it each team do their own thing.

I hope and think the first option would be more productive generally.

As I say its just a question to which I do not know, can someone please clarify.

Just to answer a few points but I have said all I want to say and don't want to get into a protracted tit for tat argument on here.

1. I was probably wrong to mention the players who got arrested but the point I was trying to make was the considerable time and effort and professionalism shown by the players, parents and staff of the under 18s team was poorly rewarded. I was accentuating their efforts by comparing them to their Professional counterparts.

2. I won't go into detail about what happened when Cougars went to Wales but they returned with more empty seats than they took. As the Club managed to keep it out of the papers (and to be fair if I had an axe to grind I could quite easily have blabbed) it's old news now.

3. Yes we do have one nominated liaison officer but the correct channels of communication are never followed.