This whole situation : Mon Jul 02, 2018 6:43 am  

I am just at a loss as to the whole situation the Cougars find themselves in. I know I live miles away and barely get to any matches but I still follow the Cougars results each week, read about them in League Express and Keighley News and wear my Keighley Cougars merchandise with pride.

I genuinely felt sick and upset when I read the press release the other day, like a lot of people I was brought up with the Cougars and spent a lot of my childhood following them, spending weekends away in Cumbria and London and visiting every rugby League ground across the north.

I loved the days of Cougarmania and idolised Rammy and Pinkney, I know we have never reached them heights again but I still feel proud to support Keighley.

As a kid growing up as a number 9, I dreamed of taking Tammy's shirt and playing for my home town. I came through the Cougars Cubs and the Scholarship, getting the Top Gun award and signing a contract with the Cougars that Gary Moorby gave me. Apart from getting married and my daughter being born this remains one of the proudest moments of my life, I had achieved my goal. I played in the 18's academy and trained with the first team but a certain Jonny Wainhouse and Buster were ahead of me in the queue as a number nine.

Injury and health conditions put an end to my playing days and I moved to Devon but I have never stopped supporting or telling people all about the Cougars.

The thought that the Cougars may not survive feels unbelievably sad. I know we have had these scares before but this time seems more real with the whole restructuring of the sport that is happening and Super League clubs wanting to cut adrift League One clubs.

I hope beyond hope that the Cougars sort this out but I fear if they do make it to the end of the season it may only be a short term fix.

Re: This whole situation : Wed Jul 04, 2018 5:31 pm  

I understand that players who get to this level are privileged enough to get paid.
The majority of players who have played or still play do it because they love playing rugby.
So to get paid is surely a bonus.
If these players leave because there is financial instability then they are only playing for money or the club they play for means nothing to them.
Craig Lingard has to take some responsibility because they have not produced the goods.
The players have to take a big part of the blame because from what I've seen so far this year we are only a mid table team.
If the players realised this in my eyes they should have rolled up there selves and stuck it out.
Is the player exodus individuals who think they are better than the others and think they are better than all the rest.
A team means a group of people and to me they have only shown they are a team against weaker teams.
If things come together and this is all sorted out this could be a blessing in disguise because in a nut shell this team that has been assembled is simply not good enough to gain promotion.
League tables don't tell lies.