Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Mon Oct 01, 2012 7:12 pm  

Shark J how long do you think Redpath will last at Sale then,weeks, months?

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Thu Oct 04, 2012 3:18 am  

Urmston - Rotherham have been in the Premiership for 2 or 3 seasons I think but I know what you mean. A lot had London Welsh to beat their points record this season but they've already surpassed it. Realistically there's only Newcastle out of the Northern teams who have any chance of going up.....for a long, long time.

Leeds recently sold their Premiership shares to Exeter. It'll be a while before we see them back, their fans have already come to realise their situation and that they're a developing team now who are gonna be mid table.

Interestingly the 3 Yorkshire clubs have all started a new tournament this week. I'm not sure if it's based on league positions or matches against each other, but the highest ranked Yorkshire club gets a trophy at the end of the season. On the Leeds board they don't see the point but I suppose it's no different to International matches that act as 2 separate competitions. One in whatever tournament it is and one as it's a traditional fixture with another trophy up for grabs.

cj - I hope months. We're fast becoming a Football team with our in and out policy. He needs time to gel but then we have the players and they shouldn't have lost 5 games. We had a tough start but London Welsh at home is unacceptable and we should have been able to get something away at Bath. Our performances haven't been as bad as results may suggest. Exeter destroyed us but that's the only real hammering. Saracens at home was us trying to be too smart. We tried playing Saracens at their own game of kicking down the full backs throat every time we got the ball and it didn't work. Saracens are one of the worst teams to watch but they're efficient and know what they have to do to win games. We didn't even attempt to run with the ball that game and Saracens did what they do best - pounce on your errors and just try and get as many penalties in front of the posts as they can. Harlequins away was a fairly decent performance but 2 late errors meant they ran out with a bonus point win and at Bath last week we were dominating the game at only 19-10 down. Again, stupid errors late on and a sin binning cost us.

It's not good enough to make excuses though. We have 15 individuals on the pitch at the moment and it doesn't feel like a team and that's the worst thing. Last year we played the most attractive Rugby in the league, even though we conceded the most points. It felt like we won the thing when we finished 6th but the reality was we still lost far more than we won but took advantage of other teams having a poor season. It didn't matter to the fans though as every player seemed to take pride in the shirt and that's what fans want the most.

Steve Diamond has taken a more hands on approach now and that can only be a good thing. Steve is known at the minute for having a big gob and doing nothing but talking about getting fans into the new stadium. He probably got the position he's in because he bleeds Sale and we all respect him for that. If he can get that same energy and commitment in the players then hopefully we'll stay up.

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Thu Oct 04, 2012 2:12 pm  

Urmston Wire wrote:

Oh I agree, played a bit of amateur Union in Cheshire myself. Rotherham is an odd case- the RFU shot their fox for years to come by blocking them when they could have come up. I was making one of my frequent visits to Rotherham the other weekend and now the team seems unknown to the locals.

What ground are Rotherham playing at these days?

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Fri Oct 05, 2012 12:58 pm  

Will be interesting to see what the attendances are for the Premiership this weekend – all the home teams are struggling with attracting the numbers. Only Gloucester have attracted a 5 figure crowd at home this year and their two games so far this year are an average 3k down on the same fixtures last season

Teams at home this weekend with their average this year

Sale 7,465
Exeter 5,855
Gloucester 11,300
London Irish 6,576
London Welsh 5,322
Wasps 5,612

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Fri Oct 05, 2012 5:12 pm  

Can understand Wasps, Irish and Welsh since they are playing miles away from their traditional homes, but what excuse do Exeter and Gloucester have for their crowds drop?

EDIT - I see Sale were comfortably beaten again tonight. Not going so well there is it?

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Sun Oct 07, 2012 2:02 pm  

Teessidewire wrote:

What ground are Rotherham playing at these days?

Clifton Lane, which is tiny- in fact, capacity is apparently 2,500.

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Sun Oct 07, 2012 2:03 pm  

Seems like the penny has dropped: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugb ... 00168.html

Seems like the penny has dropped: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugb ... 00168.html

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Sun Oct 07, 2012 4:35 pm  

Urmston Wire wrote: Seems like the penny has dropped: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugb ... 00168.html There have been 26 games so far this year in the Premiership played at home grounds (i.e. not Twickenham or Wembley) which had the same fixture last year. 22 have attracted lower crowds than the same fixtures last year and 4 higher. Every team bar Leicester and Harlequins are averaging less than last year in like for like fixtures And after two gates above 6k, the new team, London Welsh, have had less than 5k in their last two home games at Oxford which is less than Newcastle averaged last year This would suggest it is more than just the north which is struggling

Urmston Wire wrote: Seems like the penny has dropped: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugb ... 00168.html There have been 26 games so far this year in the Premiership played at home grounds (i.e. not Twickenham or Wembley) which had the same fixture last year. 22 have attracted lower crowds than the same fixtures last year and 4 higher. Every team bar Leicester and Harlequins are averaging less than last year in like for like fixtures And after two gates above 6k, the new team, London Welsh, have had less than 5k in their last two home games at Oxford which is less than Newcastle averaged last year This would suggest it is more than just the north which is struggling

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Sun Oct 07, 2012 5:07 pm  

Dunbar wrote:

There have been 26 games so far this year in the Premiership played at home grounds (i.e. not Twickenham or Wembley) which had the same fixture last year. 22 have attracted lower crowds than the same fixtures last year and 4 higher. Every team bar Leicester and Harlequins are averaging less than last year in like for like fixtures

And after two gates above 6k, the new team, London Welsh, have had less than 5k in their last two home games at Oxford which is less than Newcastle averaged last year

This would suggest it is more than just the north which is struggling

It's pretty incredible isn't it? I bet Welsh will see their crowds tail off- the people of Oxford don't seem interested and anyone else trying to get their by any means bar car will probably get fed up of negotiating the dire public transport connections to the stadium and/or wandering through Blackbird Leys.

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Sun Oct 07, 2012 5:08 pm  

Dunbar wrote:

There have been 26 games so far this year in the Premiership played at home grounds (i.e. not Twickenham or Wembley) which had the same fixture last year. 22 have attracted lower crowds than the same fixtures last year and 4 higher. Every team bar Leicester and Harlequins are averaging less than last year in like for like fixtures

And after two gates above 6k, the new team, London Welsh, have had less than 5k in their last two home games at Oxford which is less than Newcastle averaged last year

This would suggest it is more than just the north which is struggling

It's pretty incredible isn't it? I bet Welsh will see their crowds tail off- the people of Oxford don't seem interested and anyone else trying to get their by any means bar car will probably get fed up of negotiating the dire public transport connections to the stadium and/or wandering through Blackbird Leys.