Shameful

[I of the Tigers]

8 weeks yesterday since the Widnes idiots strutted their stuff ... I saw a "holding" statement a couple of weeks ago saying inquiries were ongoing, but just how much longer will it take the authorities to conclude that sorry episode I wonder?

[I of the Tigers]

8 weeks yesterday since the Widnes idiots strutted their stuff ... I saw a "holding" statement a couple of weeks ago saying inquiries were ongoing, but just how much longer will it take the authorities to conclude that sorry episode I wonder?

I could be the first to quote myself ... and another month just drifts by ](*,)

[yorky]

well now that they are "SUPER LEAGUE TEAM OF THE YEAR" who are we to ask why they haven't been punished yet for ruining our semi final celebrations & such disgraceful acts of shear thuggery!

[old cas lass]

Just left a message on twitter with the RFL asking why its dragging on.
I think anyone else who as twitter to do the same.
I think they need a little reminder, we haven't forgotten.

[Grumpy]

Well done Old Cas Lass, I am 100% behind you and will Twitter the RFL too. I would urge everybody else to do the same and keep there's sure on.

[Grumpy]

Should have said keep the pressure on (damn this predictable spell thing)

[Danny Boy]

It was shameful and disgusting, but I still maintain that the Widnes club should not be blamed for a mindless minority of their support. How can they have any impact, other than banning the perpetrators from future games?

After the semi final, genuine Widnes fans were going out of their way to apologise, how bad must it have made them feel, losing their biggest game in years and then see the scum (who certainly are not genuine supporters), make them feel even worse and drag the good name of their club further into the gutter.

We have a very small number of individuals who every so often act in a mindless manner (although to date nothing as bad as was seen at the semi final) but does that mean our club and the 99% of supporters who are well behaved should have to pay for the actions of a moronic few?

I believe that we should get behind the Widnes club and maybe then if, God forbid, anything of this nature happens to us in the future, our club will be treated fairly by the RFL and our fellow clubs, unlike in the past when we have been very harshly treated by the men from Redhall.

[Casmania]

It was shameful and disgusting, but I still maintain that the Widnes club should not be blamed for a mindless minority of their support. How can they have any impact, other than banning the perpetrators from future games?

After the semi final, genuine Widnes fans were going out of their way to apologise, how bad must it have made them feel, losing their biggest game in years and then see the scum (who certainly are not genuine supporters), make them feel even worse and drag the good name of their club further into the gutter.

We have a very small number of individuals who every so often act in a mindless manner (although to date nothing as bad as was seen at the semi final) but does that mean our club and the 99% of supporters who are well behaved should have to pay for the actions of a moronic few?

I believe that we should get behind the Widnes club and maybe then if, God forbid, anything of this nature happens to us in the future, our club will be treated fairly by the RFL and our fellow clubs, unlike in the past when we have been very harshly treated by the men from Redhall.

Spot on Danny Boy

Just to add, Widnes were club of the year and not team of the year, if it was team of the year then Cas would have walked it. Widnes have done good work with their community foundation and youth development with player pathways etc it would be a shame if all that hardwork was overlooked because of the actions of a mindless minority.
I too believe that in the past Castleford Tigers - as Danny Boy has already posted- have been treated harshly. That is hard to take. It is understandable that some are questioning the timescale of the investigation process. However, I would prefer them to take the time required as opposed to knee-jerk reactions resulting in further 'harsh treatment'

Personally I hope the mindless idiots are named and shamed, prosecuted and banned from attending further RL matches for a very long time. As to what action may be taken against Widnes, there is no easy answer to that one. What blame can be apportioned to Widnes? Yes, it was their fans, but it wasn't at their ground or indeed their stewarding of the game.
It will be interesting as to the outcome of the investigation.

[I of the Tigers]

Great posts Danny Boy & Casmania :clap:
It will be very interesting to see what the outcome is ... my real grouse is that surely enough time has now lapsed (13 weeks yesterday), for a conclusion to be reached & findings, etc. made public.

[Frankas]

In some ways I agree but you can't treat one club different to another, we got a massive fine for a few mindless kids chanting, and we got a 40 grand fine to ease someone's feelings, although there wasn't any proof the incident took place.

has for the Widnes fans who took to the field trying to incite a riot, but luckily for the RFL, the Cas fans didn't bite, The majority of the fans who invaded the field had Widnes shirts on, or bare chested waving their shirts about, plus a large black and white flag and assaulted the mascot.

They were Widnes fans! they came from the Widnes stand, so bought there tickets from Widnes, whether they were thugs or not, if the RFL don't show consistency in the way they deal with them. Unlike the Cas incident where no proof was needed to fine us,there is loads of TV evidence for this incident , what wasn't just a pitch invasion what is illegal in our sport, there was also evidence of GBH, toward the young lad in the Tiger suite

[yorky]

In some ways I agree but you can't treat one club different to another, we got a massive fine for a few mindless kids chanting, and we got a 40 grand fine to ease someone's feelings, although there wasn't any proof the incident took place.

has for the Widnes fans who took to the field trying to incite a riot, but luckily for the RFL, the Cas fans didn't bite, The majority of the fans who invaded the field had Widnes shirts on, or bare chested waving their shirts about, plus a large black and white flag and assaulted the mascot.

They were Widnes fans! they came from the Widnes stand, so bought there tickets from Widnes, whether they were thugs or not, if the RFL don't show consistency in the way they deal with them. Unlike the Cas incident where no proof was needed to fine us,there is loads of TV evidence for this incident , what wasn't just a pitch invasion what is illegal in our sport, there was also evidence of GBH, toward the young lad in the Tiger suite

spot on!!!

[the machine]

In some ways I agree but you can't treat one club different to another, we got a massive fine for a few mindless kids chanting, and we got a 40 grand fine to ease someone's feelings, although there wasn't any proof the incident took place.

has for the Widnes fans who took to the field trying to incite a riot, but luckily for the RFL, the Cas fans didn't bite, The majority of the fans who invaded the field had Widnes shirts on, or bare chested waving their shirts about, plus a large black and white flag and assaulted the mascot.

They were Widnes fans! they came from the Widnes stand, so bought there tickets from Widnes, whether they were thugs or not, if the RFL don't show consistency in the way they deal with them. Unlike the Cas incident where no proof was needed to fine us,there is loads of TV evidence for this incident , what wasn't just a pitch invasion what is illegal in our sport, there was also evidence of GBH, toward the young lad in the Tiger suite

spot on!!!

was the fine solely for the thomas incident though? Wasnt it also partly to do with bottles been thrown on pitch against catalan??

[Casmania]

In some ways I agree but you can't treat one club different to another, we got a massive fine for a few mindless kids chanting, and we got a 40 grand fine to ease someone's feelings, although there wasn't any proof the incident took place.

has for the Widnes fans who took to the field trying to incite a riot, but luckily for the RFL, the Cas fans didn't bite, The majority of the fans who invaded the field had Widnes shirts on, or bare chested waving their shirts about, plus a large black and white flag and assaulted the mascot.

They were Widnes fans! they came from the Widnes stand, so bought there tickets from Widnes, whether they were thugs or not, if the RFL don't show consistency in the way they deal with them. Unlike the Cas incident where no proof was needed to fine us,there is loads of TV evidence for this incident , what wasn't just a pitch invasion what is illegal in our sport, there was also evidence of GBH, toward the young lad in the Tiger suite

The club were fined £40,000 with £20,000 suspended, unfortunately we still had a £20,000 suspended fine hanging over our heads due to the idiots who threw bottles on the pitch the previous season, hence having to pay £40,000 in total - this eventually was reduced on appeal.
Sadly Frankas, the RFL did have proof, both audio and witness statements of the 3 incidences of chanting.

[Casmania]

Great posts Danny Boy & Casmania :clap:
It will be very interesting to see what the outcome is ... my real grouse is that surely enough time has now lapsed (13 weeks yesterday), for a conclusion to be reached & findings, etc. made public.

It is frustrating, but the RFL have had to liaise with both Widnes and Castleford, Leigh sporting village, external stewarding company and the police. To put things into context, it took about 13 weeks before Cas were informed of the RFL's investigation.

[HuddsTigers]

Whilst I agree with the previous comments the things that me that have to be taken into consideration is:

*No incident is preventable unless they have intelligence from hooligans saying they're going to do it and then clubs can put measures in place. Only hooligans lacking in braincells would publicise it.

*Secondly, how you deal with incidents in the aftermath is the key issue.

Looking back, it wasn't the chanting that we were punished for but the retrospective actions we took as a result of it. Despite this, the club took measures by installing CCTV, setting up the texting line, playing 'rugby league is a family game' every 10 mins, putting extra stewarding in there and I believe, even banning some of the culprits.

In the first point, you can't ridicule Cas and say it was deserving and then defend Widnes saying it was outside of their control. You're right, it wasn't at Widnes under their control, however, they have had instances in the past at grounds where their fans have been involved in altercations - at Wakefield I believe.

Both Cas and Widnes had no foresight of the incidents happening and in both cases had no way of preventing it. However, Widnes HAVE had foresight of the punishment Cas got and look to do everything possible quickly in attempt quell any fine. In essence, we were a guinea pig case that all clubs can go out and do better than us to try and mitigate any punishment. Sorry but I don't agree with that and that isn't really fair. We were fined and so should Widnes. But equally so should Leigh Sporting Village and the stewards.

What I believe should happen is:
*Widnes fined £10k with £10k suspended in that it was their fans and clearly they had previous instances where some of their fans had been tools which meant they could have given some sort of pre-warning about what may occur. Clubs should share intelligence with each other about their fanbases to ensure troublemakers can be caught. It happens in football in co-operation with local police.

The £10k compensation - £5k should go to Castleford as a gesture of goodwill for distress caused and the spoiling of the occasion. The other £5k should go to something like RL Cares or the Steve Prescott Fund.

*Alcohol ban for one year for all travelling Widnes fans. This is easy to enforce in stadiums where segregation is in place. At our ground it's more difficult but there may be ways that both clubs can work around this.

* Leigh Sports Village to be reprimanded and told that no high profile games (Cup ties, internationals) will be held there for a five year period until they illustrate how they have improved safety and taken measures to prevent such issues occurring in the future. Should Leigh get into SL then this will be reviewed on a case by case basis, as will all Super 8 play-off games.

Unfortunately, we can't do much about the stewarding but that's an issue for LSV to take up and sort out.

[nottinghamtiger]

It was shameful and disgusting, but I still maintain that the Widnes club should not be blamed for a mindless minority of their support. How can they have any impact, other than banning the perpetrators from future games?

But this wasn't the first time even in 2014 that the Widnes club had been warned about the behaviour of their supporters at away grounds. They had 2 previous warnings and a suspended fine from earlier in the season, but had done absolutely nothing to identify the culprits responsible for causing trouble. If they had done this, they may have been able to pass on this information to security staff and the LSV, and these people may have never even entered the ground. The fact that Widnes took no action to identify those responsible for disorder earlier in the year and could therefore have done more to prevent what happened in the semi-final means they shoulder some of the responsibility for what happened.

[orrsome]

It was shameful and disgusting, but I still maintain that the Widnes club should not be blamed for a mindless minority of their support. How can they have any impact, other than banning the perpetrators from future games?

But this wasn't the first time even in 2014 that the Widnes club had been warned about the behaviour of their supporters at away grounds. They had 2 previous warnings and a suspended fine from earlier in the season, but had done absolutely nothing to identify the culprits responsible for causing trouble. If they had done this, they may have been able to pass on this information to security staff and the LSV, and these people may have never even entered the ground. The fact that Widnes took no action to identify those responsible for disorder earlier in the year and could therefore have done more to prevent what happened in the semi-final means they shoulder some of the responsibility for what happened.

I suppose that's what you get from 'Club of the year'