WHAT a great weekend we had down in South Wales. I went to the Challenge Cup final in Cardiff and we took Simon Friend down with us to show him what it was like - and he was amazed.
The game was okay, but Wigan never really got a look-in after a couple of very controversial refereeing decisions went against them. St Helens, on the other hand, are firing this season and it would take a brave man to back against them doing the double.
As for the occasion, it was fantastic. Simon, an Aussie, had never been to a big final over here before and he was amazed at the atmosphere, the colour, the noise and how friendly all the supporters were. He thought it was an incredible experience.
We saw quite a few York City Knights fans all wearing the colours and we had an hour or so in the pub with some of them after the game - though I'm not too sure they got too much sense out of us by that stage.
I said in my column last week that Wembley always had something magical about it, but it's fair to say that people have taken to the Millennium Stadium in a big way.
The Cardiff gig is already almost becoming a tradition and it will be interesting to see what happens when Wembley becomes available. People have enjoyed it in Cardiff so much that it could become a truly established rugby league date on the calendar.
As for the Knights, unfortunately we're about to lose another player for non-rugby related reasons (as revealed in the Evening Press yesterday).
Mark Stewart wants to keep going but part-time rugby is not suitable for his own personal circumstances and regrettably he's had to make the decision for financial reasons that it can't be his priority.
We'll be sorry to see him go. He's been a really popular member of the squad, he's worked hard and while things haven't always gone his way regarding selection, he's got his head down, kept working and when he got his chance he's put in some great performances.
We would like to thank him and wish him all the best back home in Australia and hopefully we can meet up some time, preferably down under, and have a beer or two with him. Hopefully he'll get a good send-off on Sunday.
I would compare it to when we lost Danny Seal, where personal circumstances dictated that he too could not keep on playing. We've also lost Rich Hayes and so we've copped three big losses to the squad.
The good news is that we've added to the back line with the acquisition of Austin Buchanan from Leeds Rhinos and he looks an exciting player.
Austin should be in line for his first game at the weekend, at home to Gateshead, and from what we've seen in training he's a player who will quickly establish himself as a crowd favourite.
The other good news is that we're almost back to the luxury of having a full-strength squad to choose from, barring Chris Smith. This is something we haven't particularly had for much of the season and, while the side is on a good run of form as a squad and as individuals, we're hoping this competition for places makes us better.
We've said that average individual performances might not keep players in the team - we're looking for better than average. The players know there are people breathing down their necks for spots and we're hoping the players rise to the challenge and hang onto their shirts.
A fine example is Darren Callaghan. He plays in the back row, which is a hotly contested area, and his form has gone through the roof, albeit that we've moved him to centre in the last couple of games.
What's more, the guys that haven't figured for the last few weeks have shown a great attitude in training in an effort to put pressure on the players who have the shirts.
It's a headache for me to have. I know it hurts the players when they're not playing and it's hard for me to tell them they're not playing, but for the club it's a good position to be in. It's a nice problem to have.
Updated: 09:14 Wednesday, May 19, 2004
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