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Neil Ormston @neilormston.bsky.social · 4h

Advanced warning: tomorrow I take delivery of what will become my second reef tank (I got rid of the first 6 years ago); you may soon be very bored of various updates relating to this!!

To whet your appetite, here's two shots of my new water prep area & the empty space the tank will live in :-)

Neil Ormston @neilormston.bsky.social · 2d

Why?!? If you’re going to get so close to playing a proper game, why not just do it?!

Saves me a job inputting the details at least!

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Neil Ormston @neilormston.bsky.social · 2d

Sadly I’d say my team (Warrington) are the worst in the league for it. It’s a horrible look; I agree it should be an automatic penalty. England players asking for 10 minutes for Walsh for the high shot on Young in the first half too 😡

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Neil Ormston @neilormston.bsky.social · 3d

...Despite what I consider to be a significant deterioration in standards in SL, we should recognise that the game over here is still producing some of the best rugby players in the world: I could name several from yesterday, but Knowles deserves singling out for an exceptional performance.

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Neil Ormston @neilormston.bsky.social · 3d

...for refs would be a start), and focusing on how to encourage open attractive play should, IMHO, be a priority for all involved. Instead, we'll probably get endless debate about competition structures, potential NRL ownership, and who should pay air fares to France.
I'll end on a positive tho...

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Neil Ormston @neilormston.bsky.social · 3d

...recall players appealing for infringements against them at EVERY ruck in the past, or looking to game every situation; it's a bi-product of 'professionalism' for sure, and honestly I don't know what the solution is. But stripping some things back to their core (getting rid of off-field 'help'...

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Neil Ormston @neilormston.bsky.social · 3d

...This might be a knee jerk reaction to a disappointing result, but it's a frustration I've increasingly felt for some time, and referenced before. I feel the game has drifted far from what I fell in love with (perhaps I'm just now at that age?); it might be rose-tinted perspective, but I don't...

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Neil Ormston @neilormston.bsky.social · 3d

...by recurring images of Walsh cynically taking Young out in the air, Munster scoring off what was obviously an obstruction, and two players being binned for I don't know what despite not even the threat of a punch. If people think that's a sellable product, I suspect they might be biased...

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Neil Ormston @neilormston.bsky.social · 3d

...quicker than in SL. We seem to now have a game with thousands of subjective calls required during 80 minutes (plus 20 for stoppages), which is actually impossible to officiate. After watching a full Test match I'm left struggling to recall the highlights of the actual play, instead distracted...

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Neil Ormston @neilormston.bsky.social · 3d

...I'm sorry, but I'm not paying my money to watch Liam Moore or Grant Atkins.
And before anyone suggests otherwises, I don't think it's better in the NRL; they just deal with it differently. The niggle is still there at the ruck, and I'd love to see the data on whether they actually are any...

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Neil Ormston @neilormston.bsky.social · 3d

...seemingly created a situation where scrutinising their calls is the key part of the match. The ridiculous stop-start nature of things caused by video refs on tries & the nonsense "captain's challenge" all draws attention in the wrong direction, in the interest of controversy & 'entertainment'...

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Neil Ormston @neilormston.bsky.social · 3d

...and refs, rather than two teams opposing each other. An NRL ref was supposed to speed up the ruck; it didn't, and all I saw were two teams intent on taking any advantage they could. Perhaps the refs don't help themselves (Jack Smith, I'm looking at you), but I don't want to criticise, as we've...

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Neil Ormston @neilormston.bsky.social · 3d

My belated two penn'orth...
I'm left with an ever increasing feeling that I don't like the way the sport is going. We bang on about how we have "the product"...but I'm not sure we do. I despair at the micro-analysing of decisions, and it seems the game has become a constant battle between players...

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Neil Ormston @neilormston.bsky.social · 3d

I thought it was PVL

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Neil Ormston @neilormston.bsky.social · 4d

24 hour SoMe blackout incoming. Can’t watch live today, so I’ll be in iPlayer catch up tomorrow when I’m back in UK. C’mon England 👍

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Neil Ormston @neilormston.bsky.social · 5d

Hopefully a proper match that counts towards player career records and not just a friendly 🤞

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Neil Ormston @neilormston.bsky.social · 5d

My first time watching Aus (and I think my first time in the Bevan stand). Not hankering for a return, as they’ve had their time, like county cups, contested scrums & Widnes being in the top flight; but I’m glad I got to see my team play the Kangaroos (twice in fact)

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Neil Ormston @neilormston.bsky.social · 6d

Aus didn’t actually bother naming 4 subs for the game, and just went with 3. And not because they didn’t have enough players available, as we’ve increasingly seen on the UK ‘pro’ game recently, but just cos they felt they didn’t need to.

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Neil Ormston @neilormston.bsky.social · 7d

US sports, especially the college system, is a very strange business indeed, for anyone used to how most of the rest of the world operates.

£7m a year that Kelly will now receive is the equivalent to a third of the broadcast income for all of SL, and more than the total income of some clubs 🤯

Neil Ormston @neilormston.bsky.social · 8d

I remain deeply conflicted. Clearly the current governance model is disastrous and the lack of strategy deeply concerning. But I’m convinced an NRL takeover would be disastrous and see us permanently locked in to feeder league status. How did we end up here? More importantly, how do we escape?!

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Neil Ormston @neilormston.bsky.social · 8d

V’Landys rather gives himself away here: “you'd have the club in Australia having a brother or sister club in England, and they share the resources, they share the players and so on”. The NRL strategy is obvious. SL is now caught between the devil and the deep blue sea…

Den 💜 of 💚 Scholes 🇵🇬 @denofscholes.bsky.social · 8d

What do you think of this? www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-...

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Neil Ormston @neilormston.bsky.social · 9d

And I live in hope as well as loving, of course 😉

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Neil Ormston @neilormston.bsky.social · 9d

Oh for match reports of this ilk today. I love in hope they may make a comeback! I’d click this bait 👍

Louis Kasatkin @louiskasatkin.bsky.social · 9d

Renegade #RugbyLeague #LeedsOtherPaper correspondent #TheManInTheStand travelled many a mile even as far as the coast of the North Sea,virtually half way to Denmark for this Olympian Classic.

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Neil Ormston @neilormston.bsky.social · 11d

Credit where it's due: SL+ worked very well & meant I got to see a game that otherwise I wouldn't have been able to. £8 was a tad steep IMO but I stumped up my cash so can't claim it was over-priced!
I'll watch a day late for free on iPlayer next week tho when back home, before being at Leeds IRL 👍

Neil Ormston @neilormston.bsky.social · 11d

If the game has as many highs and lows as the sign-up process, we're in for a treat! :-)

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Neil Ormston @neilormston.bsky.social · 11d

Think England are just gonna run out of time here...

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