The good, the bad & the ugly: Fairytales of (new) York and how to win a game

We go through the highs and lows in the rugby league world over the last seven days.

The good

York could be in Super League next season. The League 1 champions of less than 12 months ago are now second in the Championship and coach James Ford continues to carve out somewhat of a reputation.

Reports in the papers suggest he’s rejected advances from Hull KR, and the way things are at the moment, he might have a better chance of being a long-term Super League coach by staying with the Knights.

The Knights squad has cast-offs and youngsters and on paper wasn’t given much chance of getting anywhere near the top five this season, but their season shows no sign of tailing off.

For them to be where they are in the table, backed by some great work off the pitch, is a real positive rugby league story.

https://twitter.com/SuperLeagueShow/status/1147974675017949186

Probably should have done with two goods instead of a good and a bad this week, as we couldn’t let this pass without a mention for Caitlin Beevers’ tremendous length of the field try that sent Leeds through to a second successive Women’s Challenge Cup final.

The bad

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but deciding not to televise the biggest game in rugby league probably wasn’t the best idea.

A resurgent Wigan take on runaway league leaders St Helens this weekend looking to put a marker down for an unlikely play-off romp.

Sky and Super League chiefs will surely be hoping for a one-sided game.

Who could have predicted that Leeds would win two in a row, meaning their game at home to Hull KR is a lot less pivotal than it was a fortnight ago?

https://twitter.com/craiggradio/status/1148274326447239169

The ugly

As if the ongoing speculation about whether the Championship will be expanding in teams for the second successive year wasn’t enough, we’ve now got a fire burning over the location of the Grand Final.

It’s surprising to hear that it wasn’t planned to be at a neutral venue, as after all it always has been, but apparently clubs are trying to get it moved from the home venue of the highest ranked team, likely to be Toronto.

Cue yet more amateurish attention for the second tier.

Meanwhile, the ongoing expansion talk threatens to overshadow what could well be just as an exciting a relegation battle as we’re seeing in Super League.