Well another season has come to an end and what a season it has been. I think we will all agree that its been one of the most entertaining on record. I would just like to give a summary of my experience throughout the season as an exile.
Under Paul Crarey we looked less than convincing throughout the Northern Rail Cup group stages despite 5 wins out of the 6. Apart from the heavy defeat at Halifax, we got through the group stages without mishap but the expansive rugby we were promised wasn't really clear to see. One of the major talking points was the sale of John Duffy to Widnes as we were struggling financially off the field.
A comfortable victory over Leigh MR in the challenge cup saw us draw french side Lezignan. So far so good as far as results were concerned.
However it was at the start of the National League campaign when we came unstuck on Good Friday at Featherstone. A 26-6 loss in blizzard conditions was hardly an ideal start. An incredible Carl Rudd conversion from the touchline into a gale force wind was the only highlight of the day.
We all thought we would make amends at home to Batley on the bank holiday Monday, but those who were there will agree that it was one of the worst defeats in recent years. The Bulldogs came out on top 19-6, even denying us a bonus point.
Whilst Paul Crarey vowed he wouldn't walk away from the job, he had to step down due to health reasons. The big question was who would take over? The BOD soon answered those questions though with the appointment of recently sacked Town boss Ged Stokes. Many die hard fans who I spoke to were shocked and angry at the appointment, some even said they wouldn't come whilst he was coach. When Ged brought Tane Manihera to the club, some even wondered if he was been paid to ruin us!
He watched from the stands as we narrowly went down 32-28 to Widnes at the Stobart Stadium despite leading until the last couple of minutes. In his first game in charge though, we were knocked out of the NRC against Oldham at Boundary Park on a bitterly cold day.
However the turning point in the season came the week after with a superb 44-18 victory over Celtic Crusaders. This was followed up with a 46-6 victory over Lezignan in the Challenge Cup which ultimately booked a clash with Wigan at the JJB Stadium. Liam Finch failed to establish himself at the club and moved back to Barrow and Richard Fletcher completed his move to Widnes.
Our first match on Sky was away at Salford and despite going down 36-6, the team were starting to play better rugby under Ged, it was clear to see.
Another 3 points were picked up at home to Leigh however a record 106-8 loss to Wigan burst the bubble. We seemed to dwell on that down at Mount Pleasant where we lost 36-20, a match I never got to due to an accident on the M6.
Then the real turnaround started. With us struggling for half backs in such a key game against Salford at home, Ged decided to play Manihera and McNally together. It was McNally's debut and the first time the pair had played together. As they say, the rest is history. We defeated Salford 26-22 in front of the Sky cameras with a Gregg McNally hat trick and 7 out of 7 conversion from Tane Manihera. All who saw it will agree it has to go down as one of the greatest games ever at the Recre.
This fantastic win was followed up with a 32-18 victory at home to Featherstone although we again failed to win down at Halifax two weeks after.
Up until this point, I had been to 10 matches and we had only won 3. Many thought I was a bad omen, however it wasn't going to stop me going to matches
A good 24-16 home victory over Dewsbury was followed up with a superb 32-14 victory away at Sheffield on a Friday night. Whilst this result was superb, the one that followed the week after was incredible. An excellent 26-22 victory away at Celtic Crusaders made us wonder whether we had finally overcome the Pelican Garage Syndrome.
We followed up the victory over Celtic with a home win against Halifax and everyone could tell that the team we playing for each other. However a disappointing loss at Dewsbury, a home win at Sheffield and a loss at Leigh only gave us 4 points from a potential 9.
Those who were at the Leigh match will remember the shocking conversion attempt by John Patrick which never even got off the ground (sorry but I just had to mention that!)
However now at the last match of the regular season, we needed to beat Widnes to ensure we finished at least 5th in the table. It was a nail biting encounter which we just edged 20-16. Gareth Morton should have won it for Widnes at the end but failed to collect a pass with the try line begging.
This set up an away tie against Leigh, a place where we had lost comprehensively 2 weeks earlier. Amazingly we managed to pull off a superb victory with Gregg McNally scoring the wining try at the end. It was the last ever match to be played at Hilton Park so we will go down in the record books as the last team to win there!
Everyone on here will agree that they were happy with the season after that result. Not many had given us much chance against Halifax, we didn't expect to win at all, but we did. An incredible hat trick from Gregg McNally including another length of the field effort and drop goals from Manihera and Marc Jackson gave us a 24-22 victory and put us just 80 minutes away from a Grand Final.
A quick turnaround was required for the match against Salford where unfortunately we fell short and went down 62-18. It didn't matter though. As far as I was concerned, our Grand Final was away at Halifax. Never have I seen a performance where every player was playing for each other as a team.
I would like to thank all the coaching and playing staff at the club for a truly memorable season and fantastic entertainment. Ged Stokes needs a special mention for not just steadying the ship, but nearly steering us to a Grand Final. Something no one would have imagined when he took over. We were staring at relegation at one point in the season, now we have finished 3rd to the two teams who will be playing Super League next season.
The forwards have been superb all season. Adebisi and Calvert have bagged 40 tries between them. Youngsters have been brought through in the shape of David Ford, Danny Barker, Marc Bainbridge, Chris Smith, Marc Shackley and of course our new star Gregg McNally.
I for one am extremely positive about the future and can not wait until the 2009 season!
That's just a quick summary off the top of my head, I'm sure there are lots of points I have missed. What are your favourite memories from the 2008 season?
