IT seems this trip to the south of France might end up being a bit more ooh agh bah than oo la la.

With the injuries in the ranks and a largely second-string side going over to Perpignan, the odds of a shock Tetley’s Challenge Cup fifth round victory for the Knights against French tour de force Catalans Dragons appear so long that no mathematician has yet invented a number big enough to do it justice.

And, while winning was never really on the cards anyway for anyone but the most dreamy of supporters, it seems the other, more realistic, goal of boosting team spirit and bonding via an all-expenses paid (by the Rugby Football League) weekend away might not quite be as likely as previously thought.

The third goal, of making money from the match is the only one that remains a probability, albeit dependant on how the Dragons fans take to the tie.

Given their disappointing defeat at Wakefield last week and the injuries in their ranks too, plus the fact the domestic French cup final takes place this evening an hour or so away in Carcassonne, then pessimists may also fear local fans will give tomorrow’s game a miss and get their rugby league fix tonight instead.

Ooh, agh, bah indeed.

The ability to bolster team bonding this weekend has been affected by both the logistics of the trip and the personnel going on it.

Firstly, the logistics. The RFL’s travel partners, who organise club trips to Perpignan, arranged flights for this morning from Manchester to Barcelona, with players then having to sit on a bus for a couple more hours to get to Perpignan. All in all, the journey is about eight hours.

To squeeze in a training session, they were to jump off the bus and get straight into it – hopefully not pulling a muscle having been getting stiff, sat down for so long – before finally landing at their hotel to unwind. They’ll only have a few hours together before bed, and might not even get to watch the FA Cup final this early evening should they want to.

Players may have a bit of free time tomorrow morning before the 3pm (local time) kick off but the only chance to really have a bit of fun together is afterwards. And even then, they won’t be able to make it a late one because (i) they’ll probably be knackered and (ii) they have to get up at the crack of dawn to catch the flight back.

Secondly, personnel.

The club, unless they want to splash the cash and pay for more seats, can only take a 19-man squad as the RFL pay only for a party of 25, which has to include coaches Gary Thornton, Mick Ramsden and conditioner Jay Salter, plus a physio, kitman Rich Kirby and general manager Ian Wilson.

Furthermore, in order to complete travel arrangements (book flights in the correct names etc), the Knights had to decide their 19 by 2pm yesterday, and, given there was no way of drafting in late changes, they couldn’t risk taking injury doubts in the mere hope they’d be fit by kick off.

Therefore, with plenty of front-line players left at home injured, the true first-team squad will not actually be on the trip. So no boost to team spirit there.

Boss Thornton mused: “We thought we could have a weekend away which would have been great for team spirit but lots of the team won’t be there.

“We won’t have much time to do much anyway with that journey and the schedule we’re on.”


STILL, enough of the gloominess. It’s not often we get chance to follow our team to the south of France.

I for one am lucky enough to be going over there for the weekend and here’s hoping all the supporters who make the trip, and the 25 in the Knights party, have a good time, whatever the score.

Oh, and we’d do well to bear in mind what former favourite Peter Fox said in The Press yesterday: “Any team has a chance on the day. It’s the Challenge Cup – anything is possible.”


REMEMBER how the Knights players, in trying to make up for an ultra-shoddy defeat at Keighley Cougars earlier in the season, offered to pay for supporters’ travel to the following away game? And remember how that game, at Doncaster, was postponed due to the weather, meaning the players didn’t have to fork out after all.

Well, one wag on a Knights messageboard wryly suggested they should now make up for the disappointing Hunslet loss by again offering to pay for fans’ travel to the next away game.

I’m not sure how many would be able to go to Perpignan but, even if numbers are low, it still might be a bit unfair on the lads.


ANOTHER wag among the Knights faithful pointed out the other day that George Elliott is due a recall to the team this weekend... now that he has been booted off The Apprentice.

This particular fan, you see, spotted an uncanny resemblance between Elliott and a certain Tim Stillwell, the second egotistical wannabe to be “fired” by Sir Alan Sugar on the ludicrous television show on Wednesday night.


SOME eagle-eyed readers may be wondering about the correct spelling of the Knights’ opponents tomorrow.

Is it Catalan (without an ‘s’) Dragons or Catalans (with an ‘s’) Dragons? Well, it’s both.

Commonly in England it is Catalan as this is the English way, but the club call themselves Catalans, and that is why The Press plumped to spell their name with an ‘s’ on the end.


Formula one Carr speeds to the summit

JACK ALDOUS’ run of three consecutive The Press awards has ended with Tom Carr being named our Player of the Month for April, as voted for by readers.

This latest accolade also sees Carr take over from Aldous at the top of The Press Player of the year standings.

The full-back has been a key man for the Knights since his arrival in the off-season from Featherstone and proved to be increasingly influential throughout April – and not just for the face-saving last-minute try against Blackbrook ARLC early in the month, without which there’d be no trip to France this weekend.

As the award winner, Carr picks up three bonus The Press Player of the Year points, taking his tally to 12, two above Aldous.

The players to pick up points in last week’s heavy defeat to Leigh were back-rower Aaron Lyons, who ran hard after being a late call-up to the starting 13 and was duly named our man of the match (3pts), prop Adam Sullivan (2pts) and Jonny Presley (1pt).

The players who picked up points in the previous week’s defeat at arch-rivals Hunslet were Sullivan (3pts), James Ford (2pts) and Liam Kent (1pt).

Sullivan’s recent form sees him also leapfrog Aldous, into second in the leaderboard.

The Press Player of the Year standings: Carr 12pts, Sullivan 11, Aldous 10, Lee 9, Nicholson 8, Ford 6, Scott 5, Brown 5, Presley 5, Briscoe 4, Hadley 3, Lineham 3, Lyons 3, Smith 2, Golden 2, Bowden 2, Elliott 1, Potter 1, Kent 1.