Re: Fixtures : Sun Nov 13, 2022 10:56 pm
Smithers99 wrote:
Big Time. Appreciate you spotting the Toulouse home game was on a Saturday. Had already entered it in my calendar for Sunday. I guess many would suggest I'd be better off turning up a day late for that particular match!
On the topic of Toulouse and how good they will be. Is Calum Gahan really good enough to get any meaningful game time there next year? I wasn't overly impressed with him last year and wouldn't see him in the starting thirteen of who London have already signed for next year. A few more decent signings and he wouldn't have made my starting day match squad. Am I being harsh, was he better than I thought?. Is he just going to provide Toulouse (deep) depth for injuries perhaps?
Rugby League (to me) can suffer with the difference in quality between two teams (the current World Cup has shown that with a few exceptions). I was almost scared to go to the Leigh home match because of that. But actually I enjoyed that game more than the dross early season at home to Whitehaven. Because London put on a good performance against a vastly superior team. So I will if not busy, go to the Toulouse home match even if a stuffing is likely.
On the topic of Toulouse and how good they will be. Is Calum Gahan really good enough to get any meaningful game time there next year? I wasn't overly impressed with him last year and wouldn't see him in the starting thirteen of who London have already signed for next year. A few more decent signings and he wouldn't have made my starting day match squad. Am I being harsh, was he better than I thought?. Is he just going to provide Toulouse (deep) depth for injuries perhaps?
Rugby League (to me) can suffer with the difference in quality between two teams (the current World Cup has shown that with a few exceptions). I was almost scared to go to the Leigh home match because of that. But actually I enjoyed that game more than the dross early season at home to Whitehaven. Because London put on a good performance against a vastly superior team. So I will if not busy, go to the Toulouse home match even if a stuffing is likely.
I’m no expert but I think they will be decent next year without being devastating. I don’t think they impressed in the way we did when we were in SL and so haven't been picked to the bone as were but have lost a few and appear weaker although they are likely to win the league. I suspect they will hand out a punishment beating to us but not of the type we received in 2021. My gut feeling was Gahan was competent but as he picked up a knock quite quickly difficult to say whether he’s a world beater. It feels like quite a good move for him and not the end of the world for us although I think his replacement is the ex Skolars chap so that’s a bit of a gamble. I’m going to give the match a swerve but I agree whilst the Leigh game was a bit grim the Whitehaven game and indeed the witless performances against Widnes, first half in particular and Newcastle, whole game, were infinitely worse and did more damage to the club and its goals. I also think the outcomes in the Widnes and Whitehaven games should have been prdictable to those running the clubs who should have an idea of the level, which makes them all the more shameful and indicative of a chaotic approach to the ‘relaunch’. This season we seem to have grasped that retention of key players is important t and losing them for relatively small amounts of money is a false economy but our recruitment policy looks as thin as ever. My gut is Stock fell into our lap rather than any recruitment nouse on our part, although I may be wrong. I think he has a job that is not Northern centric and comes from south of the Trent so doesn’t get a nose bleed every time he joins the M1.
