Re: Batley : Sun Jun 25, 2023 6:41 pm  

Very good result given the squad.

Re: Batley : Mon Jun 26, 2023 9:47 pm  

Cracking result and we're now just 3 points short of last years total with 11 games to play. I can see us winning 5 of these with maybe a 6th if we can surprise someone like we did Toulouse and now Batley, putting us on 24/26 points.
I don't see us being in the mix for the play offs, but it seems that the squad are coming together nicely and if we retain most of them for 2024, then we could be contenders.
Now all we need to do is sort out the mess "off the park" because the 4 declared home crowds thus far haven't cracked 5,000 combined, let alone averaged it.
I genuinely believe that if the RFL are happy for the team to play at "The Rock" in the Cup semi-final, then we should look at "investing" at Rosslyn Park and settling there. That or return to bloody Ealing, because regardless of what "Hughes' wants to believe, Wimbledon is delivering nothing and we'd be better off trying to fill Trailfinders or Putney with 2,500 regulars rather than 800 bouncing around a soccer stadium.

Re: Batley : Tue Jun 27, 2023 8:58 am  

IMG release provisional gradings at the end of this season. The only rationale to be at Wimbledon seems to be to boost our stadium rating but seems very unlikely to be enough to make any difference since we will struggle to score well in other categories. Maybe Hughes was banking on a different scoring criteria but as it is they require a well rounded club.

Re: Batley : Tue Jun 27, 2023 11:13 am  

orangeman wrote:

Cracking result and we're now just 3 points short of last years total with 11 games to play. I can see us winning 5 of these with maybe a 6th if we can surprise someone like we did Toulouse and now Batley, putting us on 24/26 points.
I don't see us being in the mix for the play offs, but it seems that the squad are coming together nicely and if we retain most of them for 2024, then we could be contenders.
Now all we need to do is sort out the mess "off the park" because the 4 declared home crowds thus far haven't cracked 5,000 combined, let alone averaged it.
I genuinely believe that if the RFL are happy for the team to play at "The Rock" in the Cup semi-final, then we should look at "investing" at Rosslyn Park and settling there. That or return to bloody Ealing, because regardless of what "Hughes' wants to believe, Wimbledon is delivering nothing and we'd be better off trying to fill Trailfinders or Putney with 2,500 regulars rather than 800 bouncing around a soccer stadium.

Difficult to argue with any of that. My gut feeling is we’ll stay at Plough Lane for a third year before deciding what to do. It’s possible we will invest in staff to engage with local area/business/sponsors etc but by then it would be late in the day. I wonder if we are also looking at Ebbsfleet. It feels the right size for us (but then so does Ealing). The negatives include (a) it’s not in London, (b) it’s not in oyster zones so costs more for most by public transport, (c) it’s possibly more difficult to get to from the North, (d) all the football matches/re-seeding the pitch malarkey we have at PL would be replicated and (e) if we have made any new fans at Wimbledon or indeed Ealing, we basically leave them behind at start again. So.....it doesn’t really work.

Re: Batley : Tue Jun 27, 2023 11:16 am  

jbuzza wrote:

IMG release provisional gradings at the end of this season. The only rationale to be at Wimbledon seems to be to boost our stadium rating but seems very unlikely to be enough to make any difference since we will struggle to score well in other categories. Maybe Hughes was banking on a different scoring criteria but as it is they require a well rounded club.

I’ve come to the conclusion that trying to work out the ‘logic’ behind much of the stuff we do is not healthy. Best to focus on the fact that we are in a much better place now on the field than last season. In due course we may hear what’s planned...or not.

Re: Batley : Wed Jun 28, 2023 9:12 pm  

BigTime wrote:

....Best to focus on the fact that we are in a much better place now on the field than last season....

Not ideal that 'Haven drew level with you tonight, but York's loss is a step further to you ceasing to look over your collective shoulder.

That said, Leigh, as you may have noticed, are having a great SL season, but Bongser is still aware that we haven't beaten the plimsoll line just yet!

Hope you are well, BT (and others)?

Re: Batley : Sat Jul 01, 2023 9:30 am  

Bent&Bongser wrote:

Not ideal that 'Haven drew level with you tonight, but York's loss is a step further to you ceasing to look over your collective shoulder.

That said, Leigh, as you may have noticed, are having a great SL season, but Bongser is still aware that we haven't beaten the plimsoll line just yet!

Hope you are well, BT (and others)?

All good Bongser. Change of internet provider had inevitable consequences but am now live again. Your boys doing very well. Cant help but feel that this was/is the the tear for someone other than Saints to win stuff but looks like the bigger guns in Wigan and Wolves can’t get their act together so maybe Leigh will slip through the gap and sweep up.