After another frustrating week we now prepare for a really tough challenge against Toulouse this weekend.

The full-timers from France are the only unbeaten team in the whole of the professional game and looking at them this season they seem to have really ramped their recruitment to Super League standard. Their results and performances certainly show that.

They have been one of the biggest sufferers from Covid this season, not in terms of players or staff but the quarantine restrictions which have meant so far they have not played a single game in France.

In addition, after their trips to England they have had to quarantine back in France, so it has been a hard slog for them. Let’s hope that it is another hard slog for them on the pitch this Sunday.

The club is continuing its efforts to get new fans to the games by again offering reduced admission prices to those buying in advance and to community clubs and groups.

Covid-19 has meant, and continues to mean, that we are still restricted on what we can and can’t do but before lockdown we ran a successful programme on every matchday, and this is just the first step back towards some normality in that respect.

Whilst on the subject of Covid I think it is very worthwhile explaining that, as far as the club is concerned, we are very much still in the midst of all the protocols. For us as a club on the playing side, nothing has changed from when we first went into lockdown which even now means regular testing for all players and staff, restrictions on who can enter the training environment, social distancing, daily wellbeing forms for everybody as well as extensive cleaning regimes. And that’s just for starters!

As a club we are also very much in the midst of some fairly significant financial and playing upheavals. Most of you will probably be aware of recent discussions to restructure the divisions in the professional game, starting from next season in order to try and protect the broadcast position for future years.

There is a lot of talking still to be done but as Super League control the income from the broadcast deal then presently, we have a situation whereby the Rugby Football League, on behalf of themselves and all clubs outside of Super League, are left holding a begging bowl out to those clubs lucky enough to presently be in the elite division.

There is a suggestion that from next year that clubs will be looking at more than a 50 per cent reduction in central distributions and despite all views to the contrary, you do not need to be a rocket scientist to work out the effect that will have on all clubs and their abilities to operate as they presently do. It is very worrying times for sure, for a number of reasons.

Back to Sunday and please continue to show your support for the team. Improvements are there for all to see but we need you!