Neil Ormston

“They aren’t even asking the right questions”.

If you couldn’t be bothered reading my thread last week, give this a listen. Tony says the same thing here!

Excellent listen as always (and not just because I 100% agree!) 👏👏

Good lord. Of all the things that could be picked over, the choice of London venue must be sooo far down the list.

Headingley (20k) was great, but Wembley (60k) wasn’t. Is there a better proxy for the parochialism of the game than this?!

The icons I can live with. The forced, unannounced restart whilst I was neck deep forecasting with half a dozen spreadsheets open, less so. Exacerbated by the upload sticking on 98% for 5 minutes when I needed to join a meeting 😡

Would they reach Mars?

#insertnameofyourclubhere

…League in the UK is played in a region decimated by over a decade of austerity, in a country struggling to fund essential services, contending with the behemoth of the EPL. Contrast to Aus where the game dominates as the number 1 sport in thriving cosmopolitan cities. There simply is no comparison

A sensible post below.

There was an image this morning that brought home the fact that NH and SH RL are operating in different worlds… It was CommBank stadium, with the backdrop of Sydney’s skyscrapers. For me it epitomised the vastly different macro factors the RFL have to contend with V the NRL…

For me the only flaw in an otherwise solid (if unspectacular) match presentation. Totally unnecessary - you could see in the crowd reactions to player announcements there was only a slight Leeds bias in the level of support, which was great & as it should be an international level.

Yeah, the coat came off straight after this pic until the second half. The hat wasn't needed either, but I kep it on to avoid any risk of being mistaken for a local ;-)

Ending the season as we started. Full of smiles and mis-placed optimism 😂 Not sure we’ll get on the pitch like we did at Haven, but similarly blessed with unseasonable weather, and a shorter drive home at least. C’mon England!

If anyone’s bothered, QR on the phone is fine 😊

...them or not (is "Print at home" just a misnomer?).

I *think* I'm OK to just the QR on my phone, but I'd be a bit more reassured by this vital piece of info being confirmed; there's nothing on the RFL's 'Fan Guide' though 🤷‍♂️

...I might have missed it in the deluge of mails I've had from RLC recently, but it's a bit odd that I've had no 'x days to go' note with instructions as you normally get for events. Whilst I've now managed to download tickets, I can't find details anywhere on whether I need to physically print...

Minor rant time. In the hubbub of post-hols & with the focus on fish tank and sofa deliveries it completely slipped my mind that I didn't actually have tickets for today's Test - I mean, I purchased them within 5 minutes of going on sale, but 'the modern way' meant I didn't actually have them...

Bloody Aussie-isms taking over even then. He was a loose forward for heaven's sake...

They were getting value out of him: Gomersall reffed the GB-NZ series that was on at the time (he did the 2nd and 3rd tests either side of this midweek match)

The best thing about these old clips is the crowd noise that's picked up - in this one, the fella who shouts "Bootiful" 6 times to show his appreciation (he may well have been the club video commentator of course)

Please share if and when you find it!! :-)

Advanced warning: tomorrow I take delivery of what will become my second reef tank (I got rid of the first 6 years ago); you may soon be very bored of various updates relating to this!!

To whet your appetite, here's two shots of my new water prep area & the empty space the tank will live in :-)

Why?!? If you’re going to get so close to playing a proper game, why not just do it?!

Saves me a job inputting the details at least!

Sadly I’d say my team (Warrington) are the worst in the league for it. It’s a horrible look; I agree it should be an automatic penalty. England players asking for 10 minutes for Walsh for the high shot on Young in the first half too 😡

...Despite what I consider to be a significant deterioration in standards in SL, we should recognise that the game over here is still producing some of the best rugby players in the world: I could name several from yesterday, but Knowles deserves singling out for an exceptional performance.

...for refs would be a start), and focusing on how to encourage open attractive play should, IMHO, be a priority for all involved. Instead, we'll probably get endless debate about competition structures, potential NRL ownership, and who should pay air fares to France.
I'll end on a positive tho...

...recall players appealing for infringements against them at EVERY ruck in the past, or looking to game every situation; it's a bi-product of 'professionalism' for sure, and honestly I don't know what the solution is. But stripping some things back to their core (getting rid of off-field 'help'...

...This might be a knee jerk reaction to a disappointing result, but it's a frustration I've increasingly felt for some time, and referenced before. I feel the game has drifted far from what I fell in love with (perhaps I'm just now at that age?); it might be rose-tinted perspective, but I don't...

...by recurring images of Walsh cynically taking Young out in the air, Munster scoring off what was obviously an obstruction, and two players being binned for I don't know what despite not even the threat of a punch. If people think that's a sellable product, I suspect they might be biased...

...quicker than in SL. We seem to now have a game with thousands of subjective calls required during 80 minutes (plus 20 for stoppages), which is actually impossible to officiate. After watching a full Test match I'm left struggling to recall the highlights of the actual play, instead distracted...

...I'm sorry, but I'm not paying my money to watch Liam Moore or Grant Atkins.
And before anyone suggests otherwises, I don't think it's better in the NRL; they just deal with it differently. The niggle is still there at the ruck, and I'd love to see the data on whether they actually are any...

...seemingly created a situation where scrutinising their calls is the key part of the match. The ridiculous stop-start nature of things caused by video refs on tries & the nonsense "captain's challenge" all draws attention in the wrong direction, in the interest of controversy & 'entertainment'...

...and refs, rather than two teams opposing each other. An NRL ref was supposed to speed up the ruck; it didn't, and all I saw were two teams intent on taking any advantage they could. Perhaps the refs don't help themselves (Jack Smith, I'm looking at you), but I don't want to criticise, as we've...