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True, but he is 53 now.

Whilst we're talking about "inexcusable" floodlights, have you heard the one about the mega cashed-up club supposedly aiming for an A grade from IMG who had to abandon a game a few weeks ago because of repeated floodlight failure (and now can't stage home games because they neglected to get a working water supply in their stand)?

Please don't disrespect any semi professional team. Newcastle deserve credit for their first half performance. Graeme Chairman Workington Town RLFC

Really enjoyed that. Cracking entertainment.

Really enjoyable game, lots of skill on show, and turned out to be a nailbiter at the end. Thought the Catalan defence won them the match with just a few minutes to go when they defended the four sets in a row.

Cracking game between fev and Wakefield. Wakefield will walk the league but it won't be all easy peasy. I'm enjoying a more battle hardened featherstone this year. Played 4 very strong teams back to back (Wakefield x2 Leigh and Batley away) and haven't disgraced ourselves once. We may have lost 'big name stars' but seemed to have gained pride for the shirt.

Was an excellent atmosphere for a Catalans game. A good one for newbies, even in defeat.

How good is this? Great to see:

This has been a fun game.

*cough*

I'm just glad the Wakefield fans managed to get out safely

Was Walmsley in the Full Monty?

It was decided by one team scoring more points than the other. Agreed, good to have two close games and get a local rivalry back.

is it only in Fev where rain plus soil equals mud? Sounds like it was decided by the ref ultimately which is a shame but good to get the rivalry back with a win apiece in the first two fixtures.

I appreciate the novelty of expecting to win every week is something you're not used to.

You've just listed a string of good performances and then 1 bad day at the office. Is it not a bit early to be sounding the death knell?

Not on that. Hopefully an older, more experienced ballboy had a quiet word with them later on over a pint at Big Fellas nightclub.

11,214 at Warrington.

You forgot to add "In Lancashire". That would have made it simply unbelievable.

To misquote Churchill, he's a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside a pitta bread.

It looked like being a blowout early on, but this has turned into a cracker of a game.

To go with the totally inadequate image quality.

In relation to this I was speaking with a young player the other week who is looking to buy a house. The bank would only let them have a 12 year mortgage as that is the expected career. Now to get round this if you do your coaching badges you can then get a normal 25 year mortgage. Just something I’ve never considered before.

To the pitch?

It's great that these matches are being shown on the BBC, but there is no way anyone will find it unless they already know it's being shown. There is nothing on the BBC sport home page, RL page or the live sport page to say this is being broadcast. Nobody will come across it by accident, and those who want to find it will likely struggle.

I've said they shouldn't have done it and i agree with you but sadly times changed by looks of a lot of people's behaviour not just kids. And that's not only in Featherstone, it's everywhere and respect and manners are fast becoming a thing of the past. It just seems other fans take a great delight in anything wrong at Fev.

Education on expected behaviour should start early in life.

On the Dupree one, I don’t know how the same mitigation factors for a high tackle can apply to someone that is leading with the forearm? A tackle is a legitimate thing to do, Dupree’s action wasn’t.

As disappointed as we all are, I think singling players out for this kind of criticism after two games is wrong. Watching that game during the first 20 mins we would all have thought nothing but a Batley win. Dewsbury's defence was very very good imo and we have to credit that massively not just say it's Batley who cant attack Let's remember ...on another day we get two early tries and and in the second half their interception doesn't go to hand and their brilliant 40/20 doesn't come off..it's a totally different game then. Let's stick together and realise all games this year will be tricky.... Onwards....

Lets just hope we can avoid the jaw-breaking and pointless late hits on the opposition. The last thing we need is more of the team sitting in the stands to add to our obligatory injuries. Any news on Bailey and Levi? I’d quite like to see them play again before I take my final journey to the crematorium. There’s nothing wrong with me, but the speed York players recover you never know.

One thing that game did show/confirm that even at his ripe old age when in the mood as he was yesterday Alex Walmersley is still the best front row in the competition. On the cards, what Dupree did with the elbow is the most despicable action on a RL field it is like being hit with a ball pein hammer, there was a time when those teammates of the player receiving the elbow would have made sure the offender left the field and very quickly, I hope he gets many matches there should be no mitigating circumstances as an excuse the raising of the elbow is intent to cause damage, and Liam Byrne could also be looking at keeping a seat in the grandstand warm for a few weeks, if his action is compared to what Liam Watts got 4 games for it was far worse.

It’s refreshing seeing players who actually want to play and put the work in for us! Get bodies back and have a consistent team we will see wakey in grand final

Yes, we struggled to contain the Batley pack, but that was the whole point of the game. Our forwards did contain them, then they subdued them, then they dominated them. That's how Rugby League should work. I know it would be naive to think that we could expect that level of passion and conviction every week, but I can't help feeling a bit more optimistic than I did yesterday. For now, thanks to everyone involved in tonight's performance for a fantastic evening and a great memory to store with my many other special Dewsbury moments.

Get you with your posh ground ( it's only taken 26 years ) .

Saints v Wigan 17 980 Widnes v Swinton 2 751 Doncaster v Sheffield 1 717

Any club which takes its junior development seriously will have success, and Wigan and Saints are perfect example's of that, and look how successful Penrith Panthers are because they take junior development seriously and don't just pay lip service to it.

Eek, sounds like a health and safety review is needed, probably across all grounds.

STFU Barry.

How so? It's less than 50% of the capacity at Robina, of course, and down on last season's average of 17K. 11 214 for Warrington v Catalan. Thought the Saturday afternoon KO and BBC coverage might've reduced that - seems like a pretty decent attendance.

Leigh on the board through Hanley. Ellermentary.

Been a good weekend of Easter rugby. I wasn't convinced that removing the Friday and Monday fixtures was the right thing to do but the second fixture (and impacting the following week) was always a bit flat. Very happy with the intensity on show.

Great credit to Les Cats. Defended for their lives there.

Good to see Walker back

Wonder if the Dragons fans know the "Are you FC in disguise?" song.

Attended and really wanted the team to come out victorious based on effort and desire alone. Thankfully they justifiably did. Also think Fergie made the right call in his post match interview where he openly stated that he did not wish to pick any individual star performers out. Long tough season ahead and next week v Widnes will be a totally different ball game so to speak. We are going to need a squad with solidarity and TBH I feel that we have a good honest group of players. The squad will be well and truly tested. Thought Batley obviously lacked offensive ideas on the night and I think our lads eventually tackled them into submission. They lost heart and desire which are two very key fundamentals in a game of rugby league. So we are on the board. Hoping for a win next week with a performance full of grit and desire. Really enjoyed it last night. However I want to see if we have a chance of becoming more of the real deal going forward. Tougher tests than last night’s Batley are upon the horizon. I want to see which players possess the gonads to survive.

If only Super League players could earn those sort of salaries. It’s ridiculous that we have players running around earning poor wages.

It's not really important but to be factual Leeds' 2003 average SL attendance at Headingley was 12,846. The club finished third and that included 23,000 for the Bradford game. In 2023 the equivalent was 13,805 when they finished eighth.

Covid was the excuse last time, but Australia have been looking for excuses not to come for as long as I can remember watching the games. The ashes, and the England Australia rivalry is still the biggest thing going even if New Zealand are the best or 2nd best team in the world. It can attract new people here, and if we beat them, the Aussies would have to play us again to prove themselves. However, the failures of the last tour have nothing to do with Australia. We need to be taking games to places where we have had good crowds, Newcastle, Emirates, Elland Road, Manchester etc. When was the last time we followed up on a good international crowd, when was the last time you walked out of an entertaining international game and knew when the next series would be held, and could buy a ticket?