Thinking back, sidm't they all go off mid way through the second half, and came back out? I think it was Lee Crooks I spoke to about it some years later and he said, it was a tough game, but both teams had a pint afterwards.

There aren't a few thousand Widnes fans anywhere these days, let alone at Wembley, for a cup final, not involving their side.
Warrington need to get their own house in order and fast.

Sounds about right does that. I'm thinking that match was about '94 or 95'. Crooks, Nickau, Blackmore, Mike Ford, Steadman and Kemp era for Cas.

Agreed with your general point, but I went on to say I don't think it was the right thing to do. The fans weren't fighting on the pitch so there was no danger to players. Just tap the ball and kick it dead which they (eventually) did.

That would be an abandoned game too (now at least) as you need a minimum of 9 a side. Plus some of those players will have done nothing at all, so he would look ridiculous for sin binning them when it went to disciplinary.

How wrong you are.
Recent games......
Widnes Vs Halifax 4283
Widnes Vs Fev 5782
Widnes Vs Bradford 5335
Widnes Vs York 2229
Widnes Ve Leigh 5866

That's not too shabby for the Championship in my book. I'd dare to say it's not too far of Wakey's average this season.

Steadman, there was a man who could play.

At the risk of turning this into a nostalgia thread, who did Tex Evans play for. or "Tex (the) Piss" as we used to shout.

Thinks it was Salford.

Swinton then Salford.

When it spills out onto the terraces though and fans are in danger (as they were on Saturday) looking ridiculous is his least worry.

Yes - definately Salford. Great player.

Why on earth should he have done that?

Most of the players hadn't done anything to warrant a sin binning, and if the increasingly whiny Chris Hill had stopped chebbing, they could have tapped the penalty, kicked it dead, and been off the field 5 minutes sooner.

Really pathetic watching people deflect from the behaviour of players and fans, on to James Child; I'm not sure what he's supposed to do when supposedly senior and experienced players can't control their emotions in a game that's already done and dusted?

So much for McNamara's protests about other coaches criticising their spoiling tactics. Catalans seem to have been aggressively pushing the rules beyond the spirit of the law for a while now, and it is about time they have been hit with a big raft of suspensions like this. It's such a shame as they have a skillful group of players that should be lighting up SL, as we saw with the flash in the pan Challenge Cup win last season.

That strikes me every time I watch them - they've got a squad to envy, a first class set-up, and a healthy home following; if they made a conscious decision to pack in all the grubby housery and just play fast, free-flowing rugby to their best potential, they could be consistently in the mix - but there seems to be a chip on the shoulder mentality embedded at the club, that no coach has been able to transcend.

I don't get it at all.

Agreed but I really don't see how sin binning 26 players fixes that. Just boot the ball out and go home is the quickest, easiest solution. The players just took an age to do it.

*Nikau
Great player. His book is very interesting too.

Yep. Don't forget that it was their cheating that was the final straw and made the referees change the way the ruck is monitored (and the way Cas responded to it). Thankfully, it improved the game.

A number of things come from that game:
1. Chatting to the ref needs to be stamped out. Questioning a decision is ten metres. If a captain questions it, do it respectfully or ten metres.
2. Alcohol needs to be looked at. Clubs make money from it, so they'll be reluctant, but it needs addressing.
3. Points deductions for crowd trouble.

=#FF0000Post edited, refrain from name calling. Since when was the referee responsible for the actions of grown men in the stands or players on the pitch. There is nothing else James Child could have done. The only people responsible for the crowd trouble were the hooligans involved. You need to just accept that once again it’s Warrington fans causing trouble and this time they have humiliated and damaged our sport.

Agree completely, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a captain behave like he does week in week out. The way he talks to the officials is embarrassing and the way he behaved throughout the game and then towards the end was pathetic. As you say a dirty bully with a massive superiority complex. At least 3 games he should have got, if Steve Price has anything about him he’d strip him of the captaincy at the end of the season. Have to say both coaches comments were extremely disappointing, choosing to complain about the referee instead of acknowledging the disgraceful behaviour of fans and players.

So you're ignoring the last 15 years of paul wellens and jon wilkin screaming at refs then? Ok?

Whilst I agree that it most definitely NOT the refs fault that the Wire fans couldnt behave.
The ref definitely does have an effect on how the players behave.
If the ref is not protecting the players by penalising foul play and sin binning / sending off players for "mis behaving", they will take retribution themselves.
Quite often you will see games where the ref is not in control of the players and the game boils over and there was stuff going on in the Catalan /Wire game that Child dealt with badly (or not at all).
Shoulder charges, knees in tackles, head shots, late hits - it was all going on and he lost control.

As I said, this does not forgive ANY of the crowd trouble and in a game where so many players have been cited by the disciplinary, the officiating also needs looking at.

The whole thing was a disgrace

Difference is, Wilkin and Wellens were far more respectful and didn’t resort to swearing every other sentence.

You must have really good hearing to know that.

Once again it’s Warrington fans? I believe there have been other instances of crowd trouble this year, maybe not on the scale as Saturday or as widely reported. I suppose all Saints fans are perfect little angels.

Explain how James Child caused fully grown adults to hit each other, both on and off the pitch.

Have you ever tried to knock a nail into a knot in a piece of wood

I've never seen "supporters" climbing up railings to get to opppsition suppprters, not in RL.

Seems some Warrington fans have gone into Shaggy mode, "it wasn't me"

Whatever kicked it off Hill should be stripped of the captaincy, for his language alone.