Any quiz fans out there?
Our Trust is having one on 16 March at the Folly club in Swinton.
£20 for a four person team.
If you fancy it, please PM me, and I'll give you further info.
Thank you in advance.
Spelly.
Hatton & Roberts have not made our first 17. How were they for you last season?
I thought Hatton was very good according to reports? Baker will do well for you & IMO is better than some of the ones we have retained.
Hatton & Roberts have not made our first 17. How were they for you last season?
I thought Hatton was very good according to reports? Baker will do well for you & IMO is better than some of the ones we have retained.
Hatton's work rate is awesome! 101% every game, and I was sorry to see him go, and I'm surprised he's not in the seventeen.
Roberts won't let you down either..
Spelly.
Any quiz fans out there?
Our Trust is having one on 16 March at the Folly club in Swinton.
£20 for a four person team.
If you fancy it, please PM me, and I'll give you further info.
Thank you in advance.
Spelly.
Slight amendment - Teams are up to a maximum of six, at a fiver per player.
Robert Hicks is coming along, and will do a Q & A at half-time.
It should be a good night, even though yours truly is setting the questions!
Spelly.
Lions 44-10 Hurricanes at a nippy Heywood road this aft.
Comfortable win, with the result never in doubt.
Decent Rin out to blow the cobwebs off, with a goodly number of new faces on the park.
Two more friendlies yet, before the "real" season kicks in, with away games against Saints-iish next week, and then the Pinks in a fortnight!.
Spelly.
Albeit only against Rochdale Hatton did ok for his second half spell nothing spectacular but no mistakes & hexwas steady driving in. Max Roberts looked very useful on attack. He played the full second half & seems to have a burst of speed & took his try well beating two men with a step & swerve. He is not the biggest though & was not tested defensively yesterday.
How did the 3 ex vikings go for you yesterday?
Albeit only against Rochdale Hatton did ok for his second half spell nothing spectacular but no mistakes & hexwas steady driving in. Max Roberts looked very useful on attack. He played the full second half & seems to have a burst of speed & took his try well beating two men with a step & swerve. He is not the biggest though & was not tested defensively yesterday.
How did the 3 ex vikings go for you yesterday?
Difficult to say coz (like you mob) we were up against a team from the league below.
Nobody really stood out, and nobody had a stinker.
Saints Reserves should be a stiffer task for us, and it's also away, so we / I should be clearer after the trip there as to who Coleman reckons his best XVII are.
The opening league game against Thunder is huuuuuuuuuge, and if we can put a W in the stats after that hit-up. it'll be a massive boost for us.
None of us, either on or off the park, are under any illusions. We know it's gonna be tough from day one of the campaign to maintain our middle tier status, but...........
COME ON YOU LIONS!!!!!!!!!!!
Spelly.
Saints-ish 24-32 Lions at a cold Ruskin Park this aft.
The game was switched from the TWS earlier today, to Pilks' plastic pitch.
We won both halves 16-12, scored six tries to four, were never behind, but it was competitive throughout, and our clincher was that late, there wasn't even time for the re-start. A far better workout than the Hurricanes' game last week.
A shed-load of substitutions on both sides, and the hosts seem to have a few useful kids on their books.
So it's the Pinks next week (and I doubt very much that Rowley will put his kids out) in our final friendly, before the season "proper" kicks in a fortnight today.
Spelly.
I hope they put kids out against us next week but doubt it in a testimonial game. I fear if they play Walmsley & co we could get worrying injuries. We already have 3, including one in training to Craven. The young lad from your mob went over on his ankle yesterday & Brookes went off early yesterday too.
Pinks v Lions tomorrow, in our last pre-season friendly, and the hosts have named a squad of 37!
Not sure if they'll all get a game, but it might be a bit crowded in the dug-out! 🤣
I wonder how many of those "avid" fans (3,000 ish I seem to recall) that went to Saints in the play-off, will be there tomorrow at the Ding Dong Bell? Cynical moi?
It's a tenner to park, so needless to say, and as I live nearer than most Pinks do anyway, I'll be walking it, and calling for summat distinctly unhealthy to eat on the way.
1.00pm kick-off, and my report will be on here tomorrow evening.
COME ON YOU LIONS!!!!!!!!!!!
Spelly.
Pinks 26-22 Lions this aft, but that only tells half a tale!
Rowley paid us the compliment / didn't take any chances, and his starting line-up was very close to what'll be there when SL kicks it. It was 26-0 at the break, and they'd not got out of second gear, but.........
The re-start saw their lesser mortals string opposing us, and we won the second half 22-0, so.........
What did we learn?
I fully accept that we're only talking about two lots of forty minutes in a friendly, and also that I am hugely biased, but if / when a few injuries are there, the Pinks don't have a lot of strength in depth, and every one of the thirty seven in their squad got on the park.
We lasted very well, and had the game gone on a bit longer we might have nicked it.
Newcastle at home next week now awaits us in the Championship opener.
Spelly.
It might seen daft to say, as there's not yet been a ball kicked in the Championship, but................
Sunday is massive for both Thunder and my mob!
When the fixtures were announced, I'm sure our friends from the North-East were thinking "Swinton away in the opener? Gotta be more than winnable!"
And of course, if we van secure the victory, it'll be the first hurdle negotiated in the daunting challenge we have of maintaining our middle tier status.
Most experts / pundits have us nailed on to be basement boys come end of term, but................
As I've said countless times - If you're a Swinton fan, you're a born optimist!
COME ON YOU LIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Spelly.
Like you Spelly, I start every season full of optimism for the year ahead. Inevitably, as the season progresses, that initial optimism usually fades away and it just becomes another Widnes season!
Like others have said on here, I believe we have a better squad this season that is capable of a top six finish.