OLDHAM RLFC V BRADFORD BULLS
SUNDAY 6TH MARCH
BOWER FOLD, STALYBRIDGE
KO : 15:00
Referee: R Hicks
Touch Judges: T Crashley M Griffiths
Reserve Referee: J Butterfield
M Com: D Hayes
Time Keeper: F Hawley

Let's hope they pick up from the last 15 mins of Sundays game and not the first 65!

Odd game for a full time SL ref to be in charge of. Is it a demotion, or just a shortage of refs at the moment?

Heard it's a shortage of refs....doesn't help when the ref in question is from Oldham!!

And also the ref is in the top 3 worst refs with Childs and that Leigh fan Cobb

Excellent. Get the moaning about the ref out of the way before the game is played.

I hear he is in the pub right now with the whole Oldham team buying him drinks all night.

We are really up poop creek now that Sidlow's broken hand has been confirmed. Three of our four best props are out injured with no firm return dates!
We might get past Oldham ok but I can't see us getting the points at Batley with the way they've been going.

Sure I read in T and A that Clough was back in 2-3 weeks this was before Swinton game. Kavanagh is a month away.

Way ferres talked about frontline props being injured didnt sound like cloughs return was imminent. They specifically mentioned he had a torn calf. You'd think if he was due back this week they wouldnt have included him on list of injuries.

It was tonsillitis that Clough had a few weeks back, now he's done his calf. Hmmmmm.

Who's blaming the ref...I was making a point that he is from Oldham
How many people would be saying things if ref was from bradford

No need for the sarcasm

Would make sense. Hicks is also doing the Salford game on Thursday.

I have to agree - our first choice forwards have looked a little suspect anyway, particularly against Leigh. We might yet see Lauaki doing more minutes than expected this season.

You would hope Clark will step into a starting spot with Crossley taking the spare bench place. I don't really want to see Lauaki or Fleming near the side unless we're desperate.

Typical though isn't it. We finally get 3 real top quality props (at least for our league) in Clough, Sidlow & Kavanagh, and they're all bloody injured!

I saw Kavanagh at the game - he's still got his ankle in a pot & on crutches so will be 4weeks at least I would think.
The club finally said what Clough had in todays interview - torn calf. So that'll be several weeks yet, depending on when he did it.
Sidlow will also be several weeks out with his broken hand.

Ferres lists the players that could step up (in no particular order??) "Rhys Lovegrove and Mitch Clark will push for starting roles and the likes of Jonny Walker, Steve Crossley, Epalahame Lauaki and Dan Fleming are also jostling for position."

If it is in order of likelihood playing, then Lauaki & Fleming are really in disfavour...

As they should be. If you base on how these players have done when they've been on the field in a Bulls shirt, it's about the right order. Lauaki and Fleming have done absolutely nothing for us except waste a bench spot.

Hard to say what the order will be to be honest.

As for Lauaki, if he's never going to do more than 20 minutes per game, I just don't see the point of persevering. If, on the other hand, he takes the hurt, he surely must be feeling at being dropped, and channels it in the right direction, then maybe, just maybe we might see a more effective bloke coming back into the 17?

From the little we see of Fleming last year I thought he was ok. Not a standout but I recall him breaking a few tackles and off loading which we ended up scoring from. He isn't a Sidlow/Clough but he showed a lot more Lauaki IMO. I'd like to see him given a shot this week.

As for Hicks... Wasn't he a ref for a televised SL game weekend just gone? If my memory serves me correct he had a very poor game and got a lot of stick from Eddie and co... Could be demotion.

I think with the refs, they're all Fulltime and I see no problem with them doing a game on Thursday, then another one on Sunday which looks like what is happening here. There are few SL games on a Sunday anymore.

Agree on Flemming, don't think he's anywhere near as bad as Lauaki. He did well against Cas. Ok it's they're reserves but you can only play whats in front of you. He made more tackle busts than Crossley and Lauaki last year.

Frustrating our 3 best props are all injured but it's arguably the best time for it to happen. Would rather they're out now than the middle 8s.

Sidlows arguably our most important player. Been immense this year. But it won't hurt him at the end of the year having a couple of months off.

From tonsilitis to a torn calf... Nice to be kept in the loop!
Lauaki would be right down the bottom of the pecking order of replacements for me, i'd sooner put Olbison or Haggerty at prop and see Mellor, Walshaw or even Blythe come in the 2nd row

Or he could be reffing the Salford Warrington game on TV on Thursday.

Seriously people, can we just ease off a little on this ref slamming - I haven't seen any ref performance either live or on TV that could even remotely be described as "very poor", and lord help us if Eddie n Stevo ever became the litmus test - I do get sick to death of them constantly interrupting games to go on and on and on about some perceived incorrect call, the vast majority of which always turn out to have been either spot on, or no worse than arguable.

And for the first hour, Silverwood's performance was like gold-plated platinum as compared with the inept performance of most of thefull time professional Bulls players.

At the Bulls on Sunday we were given Silverwood for the Leigh game, and people were calling last year for a SL ref to do the "big games", but why, when all folk then proceed to do is bag him at every opportunity. Silverwood is a very steady and well-respected ref and I saw no reason at all to criticize his performance, and I'd say the same of the appearances of Hicks that I've seen, I think Hicks has improved, and seems to have a bit more confidence and an improved rapport with the players.

Thought Silverwood was fine, to be honest. I guess much of the criticism was probably based on the fact that we didn't play very well.... He wasn't perfect, of course, but to the best of my knowledge, that guy hasn't been born yet.

I LOL at the idea the RFL would ever take notice of the mad Sky duo. I saw the game on TV and I have to admit he may, after numerous replays [some in slo-mo have not got every single decision quite spot on, so, I suppose he's probably cacking himself, just in case that bloke who never made a mistake, has now been born, and fancies his job.

Silverwood was hardly noticeable on Sunday – a good sign. That didn’t stop him getting a load of abuse when he walked off though but some fans just use half time as an opportunity to vent their week’s frustrations.

I can’t bear Eddie and Stevo. The contrast with the NRL coverage is huge. They don’t bang on about decisions half as much there. Nor do they feel the need to have a ref in the commentary team. I think the concentration on the ref has been blown out of all proportion on Sky and detracts from the rest of the game.

Back in the days of Uncle Ray French he might have questioned a decision but would then move on “as he is the final arbiter”.

Speaking of Cummings I think he does a good job. He doesn't go out of his way to back up the officials, but if he would be allowwed to stick to his role of just explaining rules and rulings, that bit is fine. It's where the comedy trio start calling on him to validate their frequent rants at perceived mistakes that it starts to grate.

Given that most fans seemingly don't understand half the rules, as an educational tool and as a means of underlining how, actually, the officials do know a shedload more than your average whingeing fan or commenter, that part of the job could be good for the game. Instead though they seem afraid to leave him alone for long spells, instead getting the urge to involve him in comments every two minutes, even on the most banal stuff.

I think Cummings' dry, measured approach works well too.