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Thunder apology: why, may I ask?
A WELL known public service broadcaster was forced to make a public apology this week after dubbing St Helens' Challenge Cup quarter final at Gateshead as "a bye".
Personally, I don't think he should have bothered.
The comment may have got the Thunder's backs up, but it remains a perfectly accurate assessment.
There is nothing - and I do mean nothing, zero, zilch - to suggest that the north east outfit will present anything more than a trifling inconvenience for Mick Potter's Cup holders.
That didn't stop Thunder chief executive Rod Findlay, formerly the in-house lawyer at the Rugby Football League and the man who came up with rules for the licencing process, climbing on his high horse and claiming: "If this was an FA Cup tie, the BBC would probably show it as a chance of a giant-killing."
Yes, but this isn't football, is it, Rod? It's rugby league, one of the most physically unforgiving sports in the world.
Findlay then claimed that the Gateshead International Stadium is a better venue than Knowsley Road.
That convinced me he had lost his mind.
St Helens' ground may be antiquated, but it remains one of the great places to watch rugby league.
The GIS may be newer, but I don't think anyone who has ever shivered in its open expanses would rate it as superior.
***********************
SATURDAY night reminded me of why I love rugby league so much.
Halifax and Castleford served up a genuine classic at Wheldon Road, a game that was so good I can barely remember seeing anything better in the last 20 years.
Fast, high quality football? Check.
Drama? Check.
Great atmosphere? Check
Hell, I'd have paid to watch it if I'd had to.
And as anyone who knows me will testify, that is not an undertaking I would give lightly.
***********************
STILL on events at Wheldon Road, there were a few conspiracy theories flying around over the weekend.
When referee Steve Ganson blew time at 34-34, both sets of coaching staff - and the Tigers' PA man - were getting ready to play 10 minutes each way.
The rest is history: Ganson went for golden point and 50 seconds later Brent Sherwin had won it for Cas.
Anyone looking at the competition's rules on the RFL website on Saturday night would have thought the St Helens official had got it wrong.
But by Sunday afternoon, the online regulations had been amended to fit in with events the previous evening.
So, was it all a big stitch up? No.
The problem, in a sport that moves the metaphorical goalposts more than any other, was that clubs had been sent a circular informing them of the changes ahead of the fifth round.
But Red Hall officials hadn't made the necessary amendments to the actual rulebook.
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Weather for Halifax
Saturday 11 February 2012
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Temperature: -2 C to 0 C
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