Hang on, the Cas Vs Cats game has been moved from a Sunday afternoon to the Saturday night Sky fixture .... Have the boards been jammed by complaints that since it is the French fans travelling to us, they're OK to be messed around for Sky ?

Does it work both ways or is it because they're French it doesn't matter ?

I haven't noticed any complaints from any Catalans fans? If it was an issue and their plans were scuppered then it would be equally as bad, yes. I wonder how many were making the trip from the South of France for a sunny Sunday afternoon in Castleford?

Freaking disgraceful.
Normally fixture changes don't bother me THAT much, but its a bit different travelling to another country for a break because lets be honest, nobody would go to france otherwise

Is that meant to be a serious comment?

Deadly serious.
Out of all the places you could go and pay £6 a pint, France would be the last.
I doubt anyone on here would go to Perpingnan if it wasnt for the game (well a couple probably have) so therefore it's a wasted holiday

I think it's tragic that this seems to be the biggest complaint that crops up over travelling to Perpignan.

Are people that culturally backward that their idea of a holiday is spending all weekend in the bar?

I dare say that of the 14 areas that have a Super League franchise, Perpignan is the only place I would go to without watching a game.

Preferably an ex-pats bar with Sky Sports and proper English grub...

It depends if their culture is a drinking one

Sadly - Yes!

Ive just been to Venice and whilst out their I saw how big Rugby Union was in Treviso and the surrounding areas. What a great location for a Super League team that would be!!!

But as its expensive beer some wouldnt want it!!

Hmm backward no, but of all the places I could spend hard earned money to go and visit in Europe, the only reason i'd go to perpignan or france for that matter is for the rugby. The £6 was simply a reference to what people have mentioned, personally I don't tend to drink as much on holiday as I do at home.
Just to clarify my point.

bet you didnt know Perpignan has an amazing art gallery did you?

Whilst I agree that Sky do mess with peoples plans, a B&B for £30 a night in London and a £25 train ticket doesn't really compute when compared with the hundreds of pounds spent arranging a trip to France. We swallowed the HKR match being bounced, as we have with nearly every other fixture, but I would live to see the attitude if one of the so called big 4 had this happen to them.

Apart from their opening fixture against Wigan has there ever been a regular season super league game shown by Sky at the Dragons?

Yup easter monday against wigan this year.

I think i'm right in saying that they have only started showing their home games again this season because of the new tv contract.

Also least years play off game

It will only affect the 9 travelling Quins fans

ooohhhhh......clever. did you think that up all by yourself

You have just answered your own question there. How many fans would your club take to France in February as against in June or July.

Well, if SKY moving this game to a Sunday is the start of something new, I suggest that fans from every club should be concerned. The highlighted games below are the only no saturday games and ALL were played on Bank Holiday weekends. If SKY are now in control of the French TV rights, then good luck booking future trips to Catalans


This is the first time the French will have played on a Sunday evening and goes to show what SKY think of rugby league fans




+------------+----------+----------+----------------------------+
| Date | Day | Kick Off | Opponent |
+------------+----------+----------+----------------------------+
| 11/02/2006 | Saturday | 7:05 PM | Wigan Warriors |
| 04/03/2006 | Saturday | 6:00 PM | Bradford Bulls |
| 11/03/2006 | Saturday | 6:00 PM | Leeds Rhinos |
| 25/03/2006 | Saturday | 6:00 PM | Salford City Reds |
| 08/04/2006 | Saturday | 6:00 PM | Castleford Tigers |
| 17/04/2006 | Monday | 6:00 PM | St. Helens |
| 22/04/2006 | Saturday | 6:00 PM | Hull FC |
| 06/05/2006 | Saturday | 6:00 PM | Warrington Wolves |
| 27/05/2006 | Saturday | 6:00 PM | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats |
| 24/06/2006 | Saturday | 6:00 PM | Harlequins RL |
| 01/07/2006 | Saturday | 5:45 PM | Hull FC |
| 22/07/2006 | Saturday | 6:00 PM | Salford City Reds |
| 19/08/2006 | Saturday | 6:00 PM | St. Helens |
| 09/09/2006 | Saturday | 6:00 PM | Huddersfield Giants |
| 17/02/2007 | Saturday | 7:00 PM | Wigan Warriors |
| 24/02/2007 | Saturday | 7:30 PM | Leeds Rhinos |
| 17/03/2007 | Saturday | 7:30 PM | Huddersfield Giants |
| 09/04/2007 | Monday | 6:00 PM | Harlequins RL |
| 21/04/2007 | Saturday | 6:30 PM | Warrington Wolves |
| 05/05/2007 | Saturday | 3:00 PM | Harlequins RL |
| 19/05/2007 | Saturday | 7:30 PM | Salford City Reds |
| 02/06/2007 | Saturday | 8:00 PM | Bradford Bulls |
| 30/06/2007 | Saturday | 8:00 PM | Warrington Wolves |
| 14/07/2007 | Saturday | 8:00 PM | Hull Kingston Rovers |
| 21/07/2007 | Saturday | 8:00 PM | Hull FC |
| 11/08/2007 | Saturday | 8:00 PM | St. Helens |
| 01/09/2007 | Saturday | 8:00 PM | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats |
| 15/09/2007 | Saturday | 7:30 PM | Harlequins RL |
| 16/02/2008 | Saturday | 7:30 PM | Hull Kingston Rovers |
| 08/03/2008 | Saturday | 7:30 PM | Bradford Bulls |
| 15/03/2008 | Saturday | 7:30 PM | St. Helens |
| 24/03/2008 | Monday | 6:00 PM | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats |
| 29/03/2008 | Saturday | 7:30 PM | Hull FC |
| 26/04/2008 | Saturday | 7:30 PM | Castleford Tigers |
| 04/05/2008 | Sunday | 2:30 PM | Harlequins RL |
| 24/05/2008 | Saturday | 7:30 PM | Huddersfield Giants |
| 14/06/2008 | Saturday | 8:00 PM | Wigan Warriors |
| 21/06/2008 | Saturday | 8:00 PM | Warrington Wolves |
| 12/07/2008 | Saturday | 8:00 PM | Harlequins RL |
| 19/07/2008 | Saturday | 8:00 PM | Leeds Rhinos |
| 09/08/2008 | Saturday | 8:00 PM | Wigan Warriors |
| 23/08/2008 | Saturday | 8:00 PM | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats |
| 14/02/2009 | Saturday | 7:30 PM | Huddersfield Giants |
| 07/03/2009 | Saturday | 6:00 PM | Castleford Tigers |
| 21/03/2009 | Saturday | 6:00 PM | Bradford Bulls |
| 13/04/2009 | Monday | 5:20 PM | Wigan Warriors |
| 18/04/2009 | Saturday | 8:00 PM | Salford City Reds | |
l03/05/2009 | Sunday | 5:00 PM | Leeds Rhinos |
| 16/05/2009 | Saturday | 6:15 PM | St. Helens |
| 06/06/2009 | Saturday | 8:00 PM | Leeds Rhinos |
| 20/06/2009 | Saturday | 8:00 PM | Warrington Wolves |
| 04/07/2009 | Saturday | 8:00 PM | Hull Kingston Rovers |
| 18/07/2009 | Saturday | 8:00 PM | Harlequins RL |
| 01/08/2009 | Saturday | 8:00 PM | Celtic Crusaders |
| 15/08/2009 | Saturday | 8:00 PM | Hull FC |
| 05/09/2009 | Saturday | 8:00 PM | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats |
+------------+----------+----------+----------------------------+

I'm assuming that list above is home games? If so, the Leeds one highlighted in bold needs to be taken off, as that was the Magic Weekend game at Murrayfield, rather than a game in the South of France.

That was a Magic Game as well.

All Catalans league home games have been Saturday Nights except the Easter ones. Like I said in another thread the last tv contract was signed before Catalans existed so they didn't have to go there. The new contract this year includes them so I think they have to go there twice.

When they showed Wigan on Easter Monday we knew that the match was on sky and that it couldn't move but Sky controlled the kick off time rather than French tv and announced it about a month and half in advance. Luckily for us that day 5:20pm wasn't too much of a shift.

I still don't get why Sky don't show the Warrington game in Barcelona instead of this. They are showing Quins v Leeds that night so they wouldn't have to move the date of it.

Patronising response received by a Quins fan

after giving the first 14 weeks of the season, we then work on a four week notice period until the final few weeks.

This is an accurate reflection of what happens in most sports, is far more than in some, and a great deal more than in the NRL.

Its a no win situation. Without this we cannot follow form, and quite rightly we get complaints from fans ( including Quins ) that we don’t see enough of them in the early season when they are playing well. Castleford being a classic case this season.

We are coming to Quins for the Leeds game on the 20th by the way. Please get in touch with me and come over to meet Eddie and Stevo.

Neville Smith

Executive Producer

Form? we are 6 points clear of them and will be 8 ahead by next Monday. How is a team in 11th v a team in 5th indicative of form?

Doesn't make sense at all.

Firstly if you go onto NRL.com you'll notice the NRL fixtures are all arranged up to the weekend of 31/1/2 August. Sky's fixtures are only announced publically far as I can see until the end of this month (bar that Quins game in France).

Second response I'd make is why pick a game in France to show on a weekend where they don't have a Saturday slot for that weekend??

For example

This Saturday Catalans Dragons v Leeds Rhinos (Cas v Wire 5:45)
Sat 20 June Catalans v Warrington (Quins v Leeds 6:00)
Sat 4 July Catalans v Hull KR (Match TBC 5:00)

Theirs three excellent games to pick from in my opinion with what they are showing instead in brackets.

Third is how can fans be expected to wait so long before booking flights? They sell out easy in the summer.

Anyway for me I don't totally blame Sky. I blame the RFL for signing a deal which doesn't stipulate Catalans broadcasts have to be Saturday. It's them that needs to sort I think.

While there is one way serious RL fans can 'kick-back' at SkySports 'arragonce' and that is by canceling their SkySports pack from after the Grand Final till the start of the following season.

It will save about £75-£80 and if even say 5000 subs cancel and let SkySport know why they might think twice in future. No operation ever wants to lose £400K for the sort of silly 'screw-up' like 'date change'.

Remember tou have to give one months 'advance notice' of your wish to drop the Skysport 'pack' but it needs only 7/10 days to get it back and you can select the right day. However, check you bill and keep copies of your 'instruction' to ensure they do not 'cheat'!!