Spike – Would it be fair to penalise a team who were unable to fulfil / host a fixture because of rules / instructions that’d come from central government hundreds of miles away? Spelly.
Yes absolutely. This is why cross border leagues are as volatile and largely unsustainable particularly when you are in part-time, part-timers having to travel 900 miles away for a game is absurd. .Toulouse could gain an advantage and win points with teams not been able to gather team to play them.
Well it’s 70% of fixtures to be completed to qualify for playoffs. That’s 16 fixtures so you can miss a max of 6. There will be an announcement next week on how this plays out for Toulouse This will probably mean some teams do not play each other in the regular season – we will probably not play Toulouse as our match on May 8 is doubtful
should have done the lottery
What a joke London get a 24-0 defeat, yet Leeds don't go to Catalans and the same doesn't apply??
Not heard that yet about London - they were the only team that could go there in the early fixtures as they were full time
cannot compare SL with championship regulations though ( golden point for instance)
Am I being cynical by saying based on the previous weekend's league results, the Broncos would prob have lost by more than two dozen points had the fixture gone ahead?
Spelly.
Am I being cynical by saying based on the previous weekend’s league results, the Broncos would prob have lost by more than two dozen points had the fixture gone ahead? Spelly.
That is not the point of tho Spell. Competitive sport isn’t about what you think would happen, it is about what happens. Essentially, giving a team the points they can’t fulfil their fixtures makes the competition look like parody. Widnes beat Toulouse in 2019 away from home, who’s to say, another team wouldn’t do it?
Fundamentally, this isn’t Toulouse’s fault, nor is it their rivals for promotion. An Ultimatum should have been stipulated at the start of the season, base your home matches in the U.K. until restrictions are lifted or drop out of the competition.
In football if a team can’t travel to a country for a CL match, UEFA state either find an alternative country that will allow matches to be played or forfeit the match.
Am I being cynical by saying based on the previous weekend’s league results, the Broncos would prob have lost by more than two dozen points had the fixture gone ahead? Spelly.
That is not the point of tho Spell. Competitive sport isn’t about what you think would happen, it is about what happens. Essentially, giving a team the points they can’t fulfil their fixtures makes the competition look like parody. Widnes beat Toulouse in 2019 away from home, who’s to say, another team wouldn’t do it? Fundamentally, this isn’t Toulouse’s fault, nor is it their rivals for promotion. An Ultimatum should have been stipulated at the start of the season, base your home matches in the U.K. until restrictions are lifted or drop out of the competition. In football if a team can’t travel to a country for a CL match, UEFA state either find an alternative country that will allow matches to be played or forfeit the match.
I admit that my comment was tongue in cheek-ish, and like you, we too have come away from Toulouse smiling.
You mention 'em being based overseas, and my NRL team, the Warriors did / still do that. It must be really hard being away from your family, and some players actually returned home last season. I know I would hate it, if I was separated from my loved ones.
Could Toulouse afford / finance it, if they were this side of La Manche for a considerable time? As far as I know, they've no sugar daddy, but I stand to be corrected there.
We're due across there mid next month, but I'm not holding my breath about jumping on a plane and going! They're one of our "only play once" opponents, along with Fev.
There's no easy answer, especially as our restrictions are being eased, co-incide with our cousins over there seemingly to be heading in the opposite direction.
Spelly.
I understand it’s not easy, but I don’t understand any competition who would change the overall dynamic just to suit one club. A club can get a 12 point deduction for administration but another club potentially gets 20+ points without having to even play a match.
I actually like Tolouse and I think they should have been promoted but I have never heard of a completion giving a team consistently allocated match points without playing matches.
I think that’s the only points Toulouse will be allocated as all other teams due to go to France are part time, so as long as the requirement for quarantine continues the fixture will be cancelled, as ours is
when Boris makes his traffic light decision on countries - if France is amber, which is looking likely, all Toulouse home fixtures until the review of the grading ( end of june I think) will be cancelled - will have a look and see how many that is - 5
SO if James is correct and they will have to complete 70% of their fixtures, if 2 more get cancelled Toulouse cannot qualify for playoffs
Has the Toulouse situation been resolved now?
I would imagine (although I admit that I deffo don’t know for certain) the answer is “No, not yet.” Macron was on the telly the other day, announcing further lockdowns over there, lasting for at least three weeks. So I would imagine nowt will be decided before then. Spelly.
Hmm what an absolute farce. If we couldn’t send a team over there due to Covid and isolating requirements then we should be given the points. If a home team can’t offer a safe match event or fulfil the fixture to its normal standard, then they shouldn ’t be in the comp, period.
Playing (for the millionth time I admit) Devil's Advocate, would it be (un)fair on a club, if they are / were, acting on / conforming to rules that are from central Government?
Spelly.
But Spelly, we are not talking about 4 or 5 teams here, we are talking about just one team. The competition cannot mitigate the rules to benefit one team, whether it is their fault or not.
Toulouse should have been awarded a SL place or they should have dropped out of the championship or they should have based on themselves in the UK.
Those points they are accumulating without having to play the games, could matter hugely if they finish top and get to play the semi-final at home rather than away.
But Spelly, we are not talking about 4 or 5 teams here, we are talking about just one team. The competition cannot mitigate the rules to benefit one team, whether it is their fault or not. Toulouse should have been awarded a SL place or they should have dropped out of the championship or they should have based on themselves in the UK. Those points they are accumulating without having to play the games, could matter hugely if they finish top and get to play the semi-final at home rather than away.
We're never gonna see eye to eye on this mate, but I 101% accept that you're entitled to your opinions. That's what makes the world go round!
I would argue that "giving" them the points when summat like the Broncos' scenario arose, does 'em no favours, coz the players won't be getting match sharp.
The virus is not Olympique's neither is it Widnes' or Swinton's, but to ask their players to leave their wives and kids for what could be many weeks is (in my opinion) unfair.
I only wish we could discuss this further on Sunday, but c'est la vie mon ami!
Stay safe you and yours.
Spelly.
Interesting read now
They put 66 past 'Haven today, and just like against you, kept the opposition to a big fat zero.
I know they're full time, but no matter who the other lot are, to nil 'em is summat special, and they've done it twice running!
We've got 'em next week, and I'm not holding my breath!
Spelly.
What idiot decided to put Leigh in Super League ahead of them?
Absolute waste of time for everybody involved.