When are fixtures due out
When are fixtures due out
Once a blue always a blue
They need to decide on a format first in terms of how many games we are playing etc. The season is due to kick off on 25th March so I reckon by mid-end Feb at the latest everything will be confirmed.
NEVER WRITE OFF THE SAINTS
I wonder if they will break from tradition re Good Friday.
I cant recall if we are due to at home or away to Wigan this year. Either way it should be the biggest crowd of the year and therefore the biggest earner.
It wouldn't make sense to play it behind closed doors unless Sky insist on it..
Same for all the other teams who play derby matches that day.
I highly doubt they will keep the Good Friday game v Wigan this year. There's already talk of pushing the derbies back to when fans can attend. Might be wrong but I would be surprised if we played them so early in the season in front of no fans.
Last edited by The Yellow Giraffe; 2nd February 2021 at 08:52.
NEVER WRITE OFF THE SAINTS
I cant see full stadiums until next year . Social distancing is going to be with us for a long time yet . The plan to have half the population vaccinated by June means we are no where near close enough to relax restrictions . Only when heard immunity 90% vaccinated will we see any big changes and thats looking like autumn / early winter .
Rest of the fixtures on the 26th, magic now first weekend in September
6pm kick off is weird. I know obviously no fans but still strange for a friday.
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RFL Championship / Super League (17) - 193132, 195253, 195859, 196566, 196970, 197071, 197475, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2014, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
Challenge Cup (13) - 195556, 196061, 196566, 197172, 197576, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2021
World Club Challenge (3) - 2001, 2007, 2023
League Leader's Shield (9) - 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2022
RFL Championship / Super League (17) - 193132, 195253, 195859, 196566, 196970, 197071, 197475, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2014, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
Challenge Cup (13) - 195556, 196061, 196566, 197172, 197576, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2021
World Club Challenge (3) - 2001, 2007, 2023
League Leader's Shield (9) - 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2022
Pre-season friendly v Leigh to be confirmed shortly too. Will be Makinson's testimonial game.
NEVER WRITE OFF THE SAINTS
Magic Weekend is now about 5 weeks before the Grand Final, which is overkill really.
St Helens Rugby League Football Club
Think it should have been scrapped for this season. I don't think its a great idea it being held so close to the playoffs either.
The proposed rearranged date in September is when kids will be back at school or about to go back which may well impact attendance (that is if a full attendance was permitted at St James Park.)
The Challenge Cup final is due to be played at Wembley on Saturday 17th July this year.
The concept of the MW was always that it was a good weekend for fans, and deep down the games weren't that important because it was early-ish in the season. It was also the first big set-piece event of the season but by far the least important. Now it's being played (I assume) as one of the final 3 or 4 rounds of the season, with play-off implications likely to hang over several games. This means it will likely be the most important MW ever played in terms of the importance of games, but that's really never been the point of it. With it being so close to the play-offs and the GF it also means some will pick and choose which they fancy, with likely detrimental consequences to play off crowds.
I admire their spirit of optimism, and I appreciate I haven't a reputation for being similar minded. However, I'm not really sure that this decision has been made with any reality in mind.
There's been a lot of unhelpful negative press recently about this summer, but I really do think now that the scientists are preying on Boris' weak spot, which is that he had the experience of being in intensive care with Covid. Despite the vaccination programme, many members of SAGE have changed the initial mantra of 'saving the NHS' to one that is seemingly about bludgeoning into the ground a virus that can never be completely bludgeoned. They want to keep us under restrictions for years, and we now have a Government that is petrified of being accused of allowing unnecessary deaths. The Tories have often been accused of putting the economy before lives, but the real danger now is that they are going to go too far the other way.
One scientist told us that large crowds will be a "thing of the past", and whilst I'm sure this is a gross over-exaggeration, I'm cast iron sure that this is going to be the case for the remainder of 2021 and deep into 2022.
Magic Weekend in September is a pipe dream that will never happen. With the likelihood that many will still be unvaccinated and the danger that vaccines may not work as well against new variants, the migration of 60,000 people over a couple of days and hordes of people hunting for bars across the streets of Newcastle is a complete non-starter, even as far away as then.
With regards to the Grand Final, I can envisage 20,000 tops, something like what those unfortunate enough to have witnessed it would have seen with the Superbowl.
I've already resigned myself to the fact that no more than that number can be back at the Etihad before the 2022-23 season and I'm pretty certain now that 5,000 is the maximum we will see at the TW Stadium from the summer onwards.
THIS YEAR LENDING SUPPORT TO:- St. Helens RLFC, Manchester City, Celtic, Alemannia Aachen, Steps 1 to 6 Non-League Football
I dont see anywhere in that schedule where the World Club Challenge could be squeezed in with the World Cup immediately following the season. Just have to make sure we go back to back to back and have a crack in 2022.
Forwards win games. The backs decide by how much.
I agree on the political point, it seems like the goalposts are moving and the 'save the NHS' narrative was a very convenient way to try to persuade the government and the population to suck it up and do as they were told. We're never going to be rid of this living where we live. We aren't New Zealand or even Australia, we can't close our borders for years and just get on with it, we have to learn to live with it like we live with the flu every year and hope that those most vulnerable are jabbed, re-jabbed and re-jabbed again every year if need be.
On the crowds point, well maybe. It's obviously wishful thinking that MW happens as usual in September, but I can't criticise optimism even if it's naive. If the vaccine roll out works and if almost everyone has had it by mid summer I suspect things will change a bit, especially if the weather is good and people want to a return to normality. What that means in terms of actual numbers, who knows? No way do things operate at capacity for a while, but I'm more optimistic on figures than you. If all over 70s have had the jab in the next month and if the numbers of over 70s ending up in hospital or dying from Covid plummets in the subsequent weeks and months because they've all had the vaccine then I think optimism will increase rapidly, and with it pressure to start re-opening society. This pressure (in such hopeful circumstances) will be there by Easter, and if backed up with strong evidence of the success of the vaccine on the most vulnerable will snowball quickly. It's all about the success of the vaccine really. If we see little change in deaths and cases then we're back to square one, but if it is shown to be working then we're off and running, and hopefully by the end of summer we can be a lot more optimistic and have vaccines lined up for next winter ready to go if needed, etc.