Great meeting last night all the guests were very chatty. Firstly we had a few F/Reds details to discuss from last meeting.
We have asked Paul Mcnally if he could mention Forever Reds on match day during his announcements to which he agreed, so to remind him on matchday.
Next we have enquired about a permanant memorial to "Leon Walker", will have something definite by next meeting.
Stu Littlers "Ladies Night" 4th July at The Willows £10 ticket, PM me if tickets wanted, (going well only 180 available)
England shirts for sale in shop, £45 adults, £40 juniors, + free lettering. The club have not set the prices for the shirts, its the RFL.
New members, anyone interested in joining please do, as it all helps to bring the younger players along, only £10 to join.
WE ALONG WITH THE CLUB ARE APPEALING FOR ANY PAST PLAYERS TO CONTACT THE CLUB, IF YOU KNOW OF ANY OR ARE FRIENDS OR RELATIVES PLEASE ASK THEM TO CONTACT THE CLUB BY PHONE OR EMAIL
steve.mcnally@reds.co.uk, We are looking at organising a re-union.
Next we had Q/A with players , Ray Cashmere, Richie Myler, John Wilshire,Ian Sibbet.
1st Q asked was as Bradford were defeated at Celtic for their !st win, will they be low on confidence or ready for a big hit out.
J.W. looking at the tape, Bradford should have won so wasnt a confidence thing.
Q. whats the difference to start of season
I.S. keeping hold of the ball & our defence has tightened up, quicker at play the ball, really worked on those elements, were too clean early on in the season & we learned the hard way.
Q. Richie asked what was the biggest difference in S.L than last season in N.L & Ray in N.R.L
R.M. he said not getting his head ripped off as much.
R.C. said just another player in Aus, he is targeted more over here, always 3 or 4 players in the tackle ++ the forwards are bigger over here.
Q. next Q was, will Fridays squad be changed or will coach change a winning team.
J.W. all the squad have trained all week, so dont know at moment
Q. Ray was asked took time to get into the game over here what did he put it down to.
R.C was trying his best, probably did take some time, but admitted he thought he had a bad game against Wigan.
Q. all asked if they thought Robbo's try would have stood if a tv game.
R.M & I.S. said probably not when looked on video, but you win some & lose some, if our C.C game had been televised, Malc would have been brought back for a forward pass, so you take whats given.
Q. ray asked if he would like to play more game time.
R.C. yes he would, said he knows he looks knackered but would like longer game time feels he can push himself when playing.
Q. richie's next Q was that he has been linked to nearly every club in S.L by the media, has he or what.
R.M. said he has got another 12 months on his contract yet & will then see what the club offers.
Q asked if what all the so called pundits of t.v. etc spurred the team on with their remarks about Salford.
All the players said a definite YES!!!, said they couldnt say how mad Malc was at Stevo.
Q. what are the chances in the cup.
R.C. said he realizes since he came over what the C.C. means to everyone & they all said if we play to our potential we can win.
Q. hows the kicking game, everyone appears to be having a go & Malc's 40/20's have been good.
J.W. all the team practices the kicking, even Ray, just have to go back & remember what the union kicking coach made us do & focus. The kick to take the final into extra time is something you dream off as a kid, to win a game with your kick, or for me to take it to extra time was great.
Q. ray was asked what was the biggest difference to the NRL
R.C. said he wasnt being disrespectful, but didnt think the quality of players are as good as in Aus, in not as much depth, small squads at all clubs, but finds the fans very vocal, Aus fans only cheer /shout when a score, not like over here where fans just sing all the games. Ian said he preffered the small friendly grounds over here as to Aus.
Q. richie was asked did he have any ambitions to play in the NRL at some future date.
R.M. all players aspire to play in the NRL, would like to test myself somewhere down the line, but not for a few years.
Asked Ian about his drug accusation, said he was devastated, worse time of his life, never been so down, but the RFL rep Jeff Burrows , was great, fought it all the way along with the RFL. Said he had never been so scared in his life.
It turned out that he was taking his Asthma medication wrongly but it is all sorted now. It has also made the RFL alter there procedures for permitted medication, which is a good thing , so lessons learnt all round.
All were asked if Darrell Goulden is settling in, they all agreed & he knows some of the younger players aswell, so settled in well. Ray's contract is for 3 years & he is enjoying it here, his parents are visiting shortly, so happy with that.
The inevitable question was asked to Ray, how do you fit in the changing room at the Willows, said Ian Millward had warned him about them, but they have moved further down the corrider now which is higher, all said dont know why they havnt done it before now.
The next meeting is on June 15th which is the A.G.M. so would like as many members to attend as possible or contact any member of the board to permit a proxy vote.