Cup week is over so back to business as usual- hopefully the teams that pulled out of cup games have got all their boys rested and ready to go.
Some great fixtures to get our teeth into this week -
Selby vs Old Crocs - A shaky start to the home side who came back into the league after relegation last year. They will be looking to find their form from a couple of years ago in order to overcome what seems to be a tough Crocs side. Is this a new crocs team we are seeing? Close losses to Brods & Pock, with a respectable performance against Morely. I'm going for a narrow away win.
Doncaster Phoenix vs Malton & Norton - After a narrow loss to $alem, Donny will be looking to bounce back and find their first win of the season. The same can be said for M&N who will be hoping to improve on their tightly contested game as against Whetherby. Another Away win.
Wetherby vs Moortown - The home side seem to be finding their feet again with 3 wins out of 3 and I expect an easy win against Moortown who will most likely struggle without their unruly home fans.
Scarborough vs Morely - Game of the week - The league leaders host arguably one of the leagues favourties. Scarborough with the home advanatge and if they can get their free flowing rugby going it will be an entertaining day. One loss already for Morley this year but not looking too much into this, if they find last years form in both defence and attack they will put up a well contested match. High scoring game with a narrow home win.
Pontefract vs $alem - Tough one to call based on this years form/results. If this was last years fixture I'd have been looking forward to it a lot more. I suppose it all depends on whether the NRL superstars are back yet, any info on this? Predicting based on unavailability so going for a narrow home win.
Old Brods vs Pock - Another good fixture, 2nd vs 3rd. Pock seem to be bringing the heat after their recent promotion and will want to impress after what seemed to be a disappointing 13-0 win at Crocs. Old Brods back their steep homeground, how will this fair for them? Saw on instagram they put a Stoke badge when they beat crocs, anyone know what thats about? - However king of the hill for me will be Brods with Pock taking at least some points back to East Yorkshie
Old Bords v Pock – I'm expecting a close game with home advantage making the difference.
Ponte v Brad Salem – Result depends how strong Salem are. If their cross code players are back Salem win if not Ponte win.
Scarborough v Morley – Scarborough bonus point win.
Wetherby v Moortown – Wetherby to have too much forward power for Moortown. Bonus point Wetherby win.
Donny P v M&N – M&N by plenty.
Selby v O Crocs – Selby to win a low scoring game.
Another interesting weekend of rugby coming up. On paper you could look at it being a clean sweep of home wins, however, I think we may see a couple of surprises.
Selby vs Old Crocs - Two teams who seem to be still finding their feet this season. Crocs are notoriously slow out of the blocks but recent results suggest they are a difficult team to beat. Having watched Selby v Morley a couple of weekends ago, I don't think there will be much in this one and I am going for a narrow away win to get Crocs up and running.
Doncaster Phoenix vs Malton & Norton - It looks like it could be a long hard season for Doncaster if they don't get on the board with a W soon. I don't think that will come this weekend, can see Malton being too strong for them upfront if their more experienced players are travelling. Away win.
Wetherby vs Moortown - Wetherby were certainly the up and coming side last season and it seems that has transferred to the current one too. Suspect they will have too much for Moortown on their home patch - comfortable home win.
Scarborough vs Morely - This game promises to be a tasty affair and won't be an easy game for either side. Set piece success likely to be the deciding factor here. If Morley can get it right then I am backing them to inflict the first defeat of the season on Scarborough and throw the league back open.
Pontefract vs Salem - Ponte seem to have lost a few of the older heads that have been current for a number of years, however, I still think they possess too much for Salem...unless the overseas boys have arrived. Home win.
Old Brods vs Pock - A tale of two unbeaten sides! Have Brods found their mojo this season? This is a game that may tell us more about both teams and it will undoubtedly be a physical affair. The slope may have an impact on the game and with the know how I would favour Brods to come away with a narrow win.
As always, results will depend on player availability, but based on what I've seen and read so far, here are my predictions:
Old Bords v Pock – This should be a tight battle. It often comes down to making the most of the slope and defending your 22 when playing uphill. Close game, but I see Pock edging it.
Ponte v Brad Salem – Player availability could be key here, especially as Ponte appear to be missing one or two forwards. I'm leaning towards an away win.
Scarborough v Morley – Potentially the game of the day. Expect a hard-fought contest where the set piece will be crucial. If Morley can keep the balcony quiet, I think they'll take it. Away win.
Wetherby v Moortown – Based on results so far, it's hard to look past a home win.
Donny P v M&N – I'm going with an M&N away win.
Selby v O Crocs – I have a feeling this one goes to the away side.
Doncaster Phoenix vs Malton and Norton - Malton seem stronger, fighting to keep their rugby status. Phoenix will be targeting this as a winnable game. Malton -7.
Selby vs Old Crossleyans - two teams that seem unpredictable both with mixed results. Crossleyans losses aren't too bad. Selby -7.
Wetherby vs Moortown - Wetherby gearing up to give the league a run, Town rebuilding and waiting to click. Wetherby +7.
Old Brodleians vs Pocklington - both unbeaten but Pocklington have the better results if that's possible to say. Physical mountain battle will suit Pocklington. Pocklington -7.
Pontefract vs Bradford Salem - is this the week the NRL boys are back? Pontefract +7.
Scarborough vs Morley - Silver Royd on Saturday was interesting. Could see what Scarborough were trying to do but a better opposition took that away from them. Morley there first real test. Morley -7.
Donny v Malton = Donny to sneak it over the line in a close match. Both to be in the 20s for points scored
Scarbados v Morley = Scarbs to win by a couple tries, expect a fairly high scoring match but Morley to drop off in the last 20. Scarbs in the high 30s Morley to be mid 20s.
Brods v Pock = Easy home win on the slope. Brods to score plus 20 Pock to notch a try or penalty.
Ponte v Salem = Who ever has brought in the most players for this match. Thinking an easy Salem win if they have the league lads back. Could be salem in tbe 30s Ponty just short of the 20s.
Wetherby v Moortown = Weatherby fairly easily I suspect. Weatherby 30 odd to Morley around 10.
Selby v Old Crocs = Close Selby win in a medium scoring match both missimg bonus points for tries.
Doncaster vs M&N - Malton are not a bad team. Yet to see Doncaster, Malton BP win.
Scarborough vs Morley - Going off last season, I thought Morley were the better team I watched. But Scarborough seems to be functioning well. Tight game but Home win.
Brods vs Pock - Another good game, Brods have started really well and I think will have the upper hand. Brods W
Pontefract vs Salem - Both teams will be eyeing this up to get a win. But having seen both teams play, I feel that Pontefract are the better team. Home W
Wetherby vs Moortown - Wetherby are winning but their discipline is keeping teams in the game. Moortown I think will be too light upfront. Home BP win.
Selby vs Crocs - Could go either way but I think home advantage will get Selby over the line. Expect Crocs to turn it into a bit of a dog fight.
Old Brods v Pock – Game of the week for me- Both made excellent starts to the season. I fancy Pock in a back and forth game despite brods having their homely hill. Pock by 5, both with a TBP.
Ponte v $alem – No visible brown envelopes at Shay lane yet could this be the week they all turn up or have they finally decided to focus on having a functioning rugby club. Ponte by 15+.
Scarborough v Morley – Scabs flying at the start of the season BRB waffling about squad depth but if they're at full strength I struggle to see anyone beating them. Scarborough by 10 both teams TBP
Wetherby v Moortown – With it set to rain from now until the end of the weekend i presume the farmers field at Wetherby will suit their big pack against a Moortown side who are yet to find their feet. I do suspect it may be closer than some have already predicted. Moortown to get a LBP.
Donny v M&N – Long trip to Donny for Malton may favour Donny in this one, suspect it will be a low scoring affair. Donny by 2
Selby v Crocs – Crocs unlucky by the sounds of it against brods a couple of weeks ago, i fancy them to nick the win here against a selby side who seem to be lacking form. Crocs by 6
Brods v Pock - Pock +7
Ponte v Salem - Salem +7
Scarborough v Morley - Morley+7
Wetherby V Moortown - Wetherby +7
Donny V M&N - M&N +7
Selby V Old crocs - crocs +7
Old Brods v Pock – One of two top of the table clashes. Both teams going well. It's hard not to back Brods at home although it could go either way. Going to go just to Brods to win on Everest.
Ponte v $alem – No real reason to believe that Salem will win away at Ponte. Although NK won't want the losing to continue so expect recruitments soon. Home win.
Scarborough v Morley – Ive backed Morley to well for months and if Dr Marvelous is playing he will love the pristine carpet at Silver Royd..tight match.
Wetherby v Moortown – Very soon Moortown are going to click and go on a decent run of win.. however it won't start this week. Home win.
Donny v M&N – Hardest match to call. I know nothing about Donny but they have had a bad start. Malton are relatively limited. I'll go home win for no reason othe than home advantage.
Selby v Crocs – Probably the only away win of the day.
Quote from: backrowbandit on Oct 01, 2025, 10:28 PMOld Brods v Pock – One of two top of the table clashes. Both teams going well. It's hard not to back Brods at home although it could go either way. Going to go just to Brods to win on Everest.
Ponte v $alem – No real reason to believe that Salem will win away at Ponte. Although NK won't want the losing to continue so expect recruitments soon. Home win.
Scarborough v Morley – Ive backed Morley to well for months and if Dr Marvelous is playing he will love the pristine carpet at Silver Royd..tight match.
Wetherby v Moortown – Very soon Moortown are going to click and go on a decent run of win.. however it won't start this week. Home win.
Donny v M&N – Hardest match to call. I know nothing about Donny but they have had a bad start. Malton are relatively limited. I'll go home win for no reason othe than home advantage.
Selby v Crocs – Probably the only away win of the day.
Pauli and Matagi are due back for Salem, not sure if they're eligible in time for this weekend though.
Quote from: PocknRoll on Oct 02, 2025, 07:58 AMQuote from: backrowbandit on Oct 01, 2025, 10:28 PMOld Brods v Pock – One of two top of the table clashes. Both teams going well. It's hard not to back Brods at home although it could go either way. Going to go just to Brods to win on Everest.
Ponte v $alem – No real reason to believe that Salem will win away at Ponte. Although NK won't want the losing to continue so expect recruitments soon. Home win.
Scarborough v Morley – Ive backed Morley to well for months and if Dr Marvelous is playing he will love the pristine carpet at Silver Royd..tight match.
Wetherby v Moortown – Very soon Moortown are going to click and go on a decent run of win.. however it won't start this week. Home win.
Donny v M&N – Hardest match to call. I know nothing about Donny but they have had a bad start. Malton are relatively limited. I'll go home win for no reason othe than home advantage.
Selby v Crocs – Probably the only away win of the day.
Pauli and Matagi are due back for Salem, not sure if they're eligible in time for this weekend though.
That will certainly strengthen them.
Quote from: backrowbandit on Oct 02, 2025, 10:11 AMQuote from: PocknRoll on Oct 02, 2025, 07:58 AMQuote from: backrowbandit on Oct 01, 2025, 10:28 PMOld Brods v Pock – One of two top of the table clashes. Both teams going well. It's hard not to back Brods at home although it could go either way. Going to go just to Brods to win on Everest.
Ponte v $alem – No real reason to believe that Salem will win away at Ponte. Although NK won't want the losing to continue so expect recruitments soon. Home win.
Scarborough v Morley – Ive backed Morley to well for months and if Dr Marvelous is playing he will love the pristine carpet at Silver Royd..tight match.
Wetherby v Moortown – Very soon Moortown are going to click and go on a decent run of win.. however it won't start this week. Home win.
Donny v M&N – Hardest match to call. I know nothing about Donny but they have had a bad start. Malton are relatively limited. I'll go home win for no reason othe than home advantage.
Selby v Crocs – Probably the only away win of the day.
Pauli and Matagi are due back for Salem, not sure if they're eligible in time for this weekend though.
That will certainly strengthen them.
Without a doubt, as I said on another thread, Salem get value for money as they're both very good and make a big difference to the team.
Crowd funder money must have landed.
Quote from: PocknRoll on Oct 02, 2025, 07:58 AMQuote from: backrowbandit on Oct 01, 2025, 10:28 PMOld Brods v Pock – One of two top of the table clashes. Both teams going well. It's hard not to back Brods at home although it could go either way. Going to go just to Brods to win on Everest.
Ponte v $alem – No real reason to believe that Salem will win away at Ponte. Although NK won't want the losing to continue so expect recruitments soon. Home win.
Scarborough v Morley – Ive backed Morley to well for months and if Dr Marvelous is playing he will love the pristine carpet at Silver Royd..tight match.
Wetherby v Moortown – Very soon Moortown are going to click and go on a decent run of win.. however it won't start this week. Home win.
Donny v M&N – Hardest match to call. I know nothing about Donny but they have had a bad start. Malton are relatively limited. I'll go home win for no reason othe than home advantage.
Selby v Crocs – Probably the only away win of the day.
Pauli and Matagi are due back for Salem, not sure if they're eligible in time for this weekend though.
I've been waiting for a few more team sheets to come out before I give my two penneth (mainly to see if $alem have signed Greg Inglis or Darren Lockyer yet). Another good round of fixtures with a couple of top of the table clashes.
Selby v Crocs - a fair few backing Crocs on here which I find a tad surprising. I think we are forgetting just how good Selby were at home in the season in which they went up. I think Crocs will put up a good fight but Selby will have enough at home.
Pheonix v Malton - a mixed start by Malton, with a comfortable win against Selby in the opening weekend and then two games coming away pointless. I'm not looking too far into the cup game against Morley last week as I assume it was a heavily rotated squad, but I think Pheonix will be eyeing this one up to kick start their season. Pheonix to win, but Malton coming away with a couple of points.
Wetherby v Moortown - I think Moortown will improve as the season goes on, but I see this as a comfortable home win for Wetherby. Town don't seem to be clicking yet and Wetherby are strong at home, 5-0 in points terms.
Scarbs v Morley - probably the game of the weekend (although Brods and Pock will have something to say about that), with two teams who I think will be top 3 at the end of the season going head to head. Morley will do OK here, but I think Scarbs at home is a big ask. Scarborough to continue their league form with another win.
Ponte v $alem - not sure if Ponte were missing some last time out as they took a bit of a pasting at home to Brods. Unsure whether $alem will have the NRL superstars to call upon or whether they have other new recruits. This is hard to call - given storm Amy, I'm going for a low scoring draw.
Brods v Pock - a good fixture featuring two good community clubs. Both have started the season well and will be confident going into this one. I think the Big Pock Pack have enough to get the win on the slope and could get the upper hand against the soft Brods side. Pock to scrape a good away win.
Have any fixtures fallen foul of the weather as of yet?
I can't see any matches being off. It will be a bit blowy but other than that I would question any club who tried to postpone today.
Scarborough won something like 50 -23 against Morley
Why was Wetherby v Moortown abandoned?
Quote from: Fredsbar on Oct 04, 2025, 05:37 PMWhy was Wetherby v Moortown abandoned?
Referee fell ill at half time with Wetherby 36-7 up
Thanks.
Quote from: selall on Oct 04, 2025, 05:46 PMQuote from: Fredsbar on Oct 04, 2025, 05:37 PMWhy was Wetherby v Moortown abandoned?
Referee fell ill at half time with Wetherby 36-7 up
Hope he's ok...
Was on track to be a cricket score, unsure if Wetherby were really good or Moortown really bad.. perhaps both.
Quote from: selall on Oct 04, 2025, 05:46 PMQuote from: Fredsbar on Oct 04, 2025, 05:37 PMWhy was Wetherby v Moortown abandoned?
Referee fell ill at half time with Wetherby 36-7 up
Braved the elements today at Scarborough who were good value for their win. Ultimately they played the conditions better and punched holes in the Morley defence during the first half which gave them an insurmountable lead. It will be a tough ask to beat Scarb on their home patch and they've evidently built a capable squad even with injuries.
Just a word on the referee who had his work cut out with the elements. Two crucial faux pas in the first half which lead to two tries for the home side when seemingly everyone in the ground saw the knock ons but him.
It wasn't to be for Morley and well done to Scarbs.
Quote from: BigBadWolf69 on Oct 04, 2025, 06:23 PMWas on track to be a cricket score, unsure if Wetherby were really good or Moortown really bad.. perhaps both.
Quote from: selall on Oct 04, 2025, 05:46 PMQuote from: Fredsbar on Oct 04, 2025, 05:37 PMWhy was Wetherby v Moortown abandoned?
[/quote
Referee fell ill at half time with Wetherby 36-7 up
Wetherby had 40 mph wind behind them first half, Moortown did well to sta in contest but their own errors cost them min defence. The second half would've been interesting especially with the wind continu
Scarborough unstoppable in the first half against an unexpectedly disappointing Morley side who despite having a big pack struggled to make significant impact. Morley with the wind behind were slightly better in the second half but still second best. Morley are a threat when close to the line but pretty one dimensional and predictable. Scarborough continue to look good and defend superbly with many dominant tackles. Long may it continue.
Almost an entirely different selected team from last week's battling performance in the cup. Lots of future stars were blooded in the cup.
I think B29s word "unstoppable" about Scarborough in the first half is a fair one. Although Morley didn't seem up for the battle in the first 40 minutes.
Scarborough made full use of sub rotation and took precautions for players with niggles in the 2nd half. In fairness Morley came out with a bit more fight and limited the scoring to on more Scarborough try.
Im not sure who have Morley next week but I'd be expecting a reaction after that limp performance.
Big crowd for ladies day.
The ref may have missed a knock on but so what, he had a very good game and quietly let the game flow and most importantly was even handed.
Still got some players out injured, hopefully we don't add to that list and when they return it will create some more selection headaches for the coaches.
The wind must have given them that extra push for the 40m maul? I feel that putting the score difference at half time purely down to the wind is whimsical.
I have no doubt the rearranged fixture will be a different game but yesterday the gulf in the first half was quite big.
Quote from: Forty Twenty on Oct 04, 2025, 08:10 PMQuote from: BigBadWolf69 on Oct 04, 2025, 06:23 PMWas on track to be a cricket score, unsure if Wetherby were really good or Moortown really bad.. perhaps both.
Quote from: selall on Oct 04, 2025, 05:46 PMQuote from: Fredsbar on Oct 04, 2025, 05:37 PMWhy was Wetherby v Moortown abandoned?
[/quote
Referee fell ill at half time with Wetherby 36-7 up
Wetherby had 40 mph wind behind them first half, Moortown did well to sta in contest but their own errors cost them min defence. The second half would've been interesting especially with the wind continu
A bit of an odd one, this. On the surface, it looks like a heavy defeat, but dig a little deeper and you'll see that Scarborough scored almost all their points in the first half, aside from a late try and conversion. As someone mentioned earlier, Scarborough were also rather fortunate — three of their scores came after clear knock-ons in the build-up and a blatant crossing obstruction (and as we know, the VEO doesn't lie).
Sometimes the decisions go your way, and sometimes they don't. I'm sure Scarborough supporters would have had plenty to say if the roles were reversed!
At the end of the day, Scarborough adapted to the conditions better than Morley. They dominated the lineout, while Morley had the upper hand in the scrum. Scarborough carried the ball with more intent and direction and were deserved winners.
Here's hoping for calmer weather next week — and the return of some of the injured and unavailable players to training.