“ 26 games with some scheduled mid-week games .. and if the “Big Bash goes ahead, please change the name of this event to the Championship Magic Weekend .. “
Good idea Frank. If the season is able to start at Easter and IF the rollout of Covid jabs goes as planned, the Magic Weekend could take place over the August Bank Holiday weekend.
The 'Bash' emphasises the least attractive aspect of the game for sure.
There should be plenty of time for getting fit and hopefully stronger. With reduced games the intensity should be up.
An RL journalist said on Twitter yesterday that the Championship is being put back 3 weeks and we will play 22 matches instead of 26. We’ll play every team once, then 9 teams twice, depending on the league positions from 2019.
What's all that about ? Can't make head nor tail of it.
Sadly, I am beginning to believe that - despite all of the optimism - the 2021 season will not now take place.
And, just on a similar dismal note, I believe that the RFL should do the right thing and postpone the forthcoming World Cup now and re-schedule (maybe) for 2022.
Coming so soon on the back of the continuing pandemic and the failed Toronto Wolfpack experiment, the game cannot afford any more disastrous negative (costs) or headlines.
Sad, but true.
I think some sort of season will happen, but whether it is elongated or not remains to be seen.
Success of the RLWC depends on good crowds: especially 70,000 plus at the final. (I went last time it was here, good day). Hopefully by November that will be possible: watched the cricket from Oz lately and there are crowds of a decent size in.
Not sure there’s a lot of optimism, Darth.It’s bad enough for the lower league clubs but even SL clubs will be getting jittery now at the prospect of playing behind closed doors.They will have to though, in order to fulfill the sky agreement.
Does it get to a stage potentially where we go with the East/West Conference system mooted before Christmas just for this season?
I think that may be an option to get some meaningful Rugby in, in front of crowds: if this drags well past Easter.
Listening to Raab a bit earlier and the current plan is to introduce a gradual easing of lockdown in “spring” / “March” and targeting September for the completion of the first dose of vaccine for all the adult population I’m not holding my breath for games by Easter, putting aside the question of attended games. It’s probably best if we start our planning for 2022, sadly.
But a great many of our ST holders are on the wrong side of seventy and will have been jabbed by then and could attend with spacing.
Let's not forget that 2000 were allowed in unvaccinated when case levels were relatively low, in late autumn/early winter.
I think they will revert to that when case levels are at a similar level, which would cover maybe 3/4s of our hardcore support....then by summer when you would expect the lion's share to be vaccinated, relatively normal crowds: which would be realistically, what 800-1500 more than that 2000 level?
Or a Wembley final - sorry,l'll take a tablet and have a lie down (lol)!
Glad to see one or two people not swallowing the doom-mongering. With positive readings already falling off a cliff in many places there will be soon be no excuse for not returning to normal. Not because lockdown has worked (the same falling off is observable in countries which haven't locked down) but because that is the normal pattern for seasonal upper tract infections. With vaccinations there as well to put beyond the reach of the virus the elderly and frail the government have no justification to go on longer than necessary depriving players of their livelihoods, towns of recreation and ordinary folks their social lives. Time for fans to make their voices heard with local MPs: give us our lives back!
Glad to see one or two people not swallowing the doom-mongering. With positive readings already falling off a cliff in many places there will be soon be no excuse for not returning to normal. Not because lockdown has worked (the same falling off is observable in countries which haven’t locked down) but because that is the normal pattern for seasonal upper tract infections. With vaccinations there as well to put beyond the reach of the virus the elderly and frail the government have no justification to go on longer than necessary depriving players of their livelihoods, towns of recreation and ordinary folks their social lives. Time for fans to make their voices heard with local MPs: give us our lives back!
Or perhaps ordinary folk can listen to the voices of the 2 million+ people worldwide who have died.
To describe it as an ‘upper tract infection’ whilst in one sense is true is also a dangerously misleading generalisation. Bit like saying the Spanish flu pandemic after the First World War was a nasty bug.
Some journalists are advocating that this years Championship and League 1 should be cancelled now and that firm plans are made to start in 2022.
How can any club manage for another year without any income to pay for essential non-playing staff, training costs, rents and ground maintenance?
Ever the optimist, I feel sure the Championship clubs will agree to start this season around Easter, and if games are played initially behind closed doors, that something like a pay per view system will be marketed.
Schoey the brain is the one proposing a Championship closedown, but he doesn't say how the clubs are to survive financially!
Had my jab today and hope to be fit to get a game in April, all being well.
Schoey is another keyboard warrior, full of suggestions. He would impress me more if he was doing something to actively promote and develop the game.