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Reply | Trust meeting with BoD
at 13:32 14 Nov 2023
Have I missed something ?
Where has it been said the club are involved with a former failed bidder for Scunthorpe ? |
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Thread | Burnley bcd
at 15:41 1 Jul 2022
FT. Burnley 1 Rochdale 0
Scott Twyne scores for Burnley on his debut. |
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Reply | Match Day "Gimmicks"
at 16:33 29 Nov 2021
And that one sentence sums up why we will never move into a new and more imaginative future !! |
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Reply | Stevenage (h) Match Thread
at 22:30 23 Nov 2021
We need to take the chances our play deserves. If we do not put games to bed when we are as dominant as we have been for periods recently we will always be caught out. Our style of play and lack of pace on the two sides of our back three makes us vulnerable to the long ball/or a midfield mistake particularly if the opposition have a pacey striker. Not scoring when its easier to hit the target than miss completely has been happening far to often recently and is hindering the progress we have been making. I bet Robbie is tearing his hair out with frustration at the moment. |
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Reply | Match Thread: Dale vs Leyton Orient
at 16:03 13 Nov 2021
How are we not losing this game.. we are dreadful.
We are lightweight in midfield losing out on most tackles and despite being a team of midgets we seem to be incapable of keeping the ball on the deck. Graham is absolutely hopeless and O'Connell looks as if he is totally pissed off with the chaos surrounding him.
All this after we score so early makes it all feel even worse... changes needed now Robbie !! |
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Reply | Dale v Notts Match Thread..
at 17:42 7 Nov 2021
A direct free kick in last minutes of game, shooting opportunity, just 10 yards left of centre just on the edge of the area.
Who takes it ??
Kelly, Morley ??
No....its O'Connell the biggest man we have and a physical presence in the area the defenders and keeper need to worry about.
To me its another strategic on field decision which seems to have no logic except in the mind of the players involved.. Is there no one more likely to pose a threat from such a postion other than our centre back captain ?
If not it seems a poor state of affairs that he believes he has to take the responsibility because he believes no one else is capable. |
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Reply | Peter Thomas
at 19:54 29 Sep 2021
Good to hear he is still around .
Hopefully fully fit and
back involved again soon.
He has always been touted as a top prospect and it would be nice to see that come to fruition in the next seaso or two. |
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Thread | Peter Thomas
at 15:49 29 Sep 2021
Youth team won again yesterday but despite inclusion in the pre-season team photo no Peter Thomas again.
Do we know whether he is injured or has moved on (with some sort of compensation to the Club) ?
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Reply | Orisi Dawai
at 11:14 29 Sep 2021
In the early 1960s a remarkable Rugby League revolution took place in Rochdale.
Rochdale Hornets played host to a group of Fijians, men that had never played the sport before, but men that were incredibly talented and brought flair and colour to the British game. Their arrival in England was big news at the time, as overseas players were hardly common, and certainly not of the sort that came from a small Pacific island where Rugby League wasn’t then played.
Their story is an amazing one, not known by many outside Rochdale.
The Chairman of Hornets at the time, Arthur Walker, was spending time in Australia in 1960, and decided to take a look at the touring Fijian rugby union side that was touring the country. Walker was impressed by the flamboyant skills of the Fijians, particularly the centre and captain Orisi Dawai and his rampaging winger Josefa Levula, and asked the pair if they wanted to try their luck at Rugby League back in England.
They jumped at the chance, but unfortunately could not gain permission from the Chief of Fiji to leave their home country. When the Chief died a year later, however, they were granted authorisation to leave for Rochdale, and in late 1961 they embarked on an adventure that would bring them great fame, both in England and back home in Fiji.
Dawai and Levula, who were cousins, landed at Manchester Airport in late 1961 amid great local intrigue, and came with an impressive pedigree. Both men were 28 years old and stood at over six feet tall, Dawai having made his name as a classy centre, while Levula — the Fijian sprint record holder at the time — had toured Australia, New Zealand and Tonga with his country’s union side. Dawai had actually agreed to play Rugby League for St George in Australia, but had been unable to obtain the necessary work permit documents.
“They were legends in Fiji,” remembers Mike Ratu, a school boy at the time, who would later go on to join his compatriots in a Hornets shirt. “To be leaving the country to go and play professional Rugby League in England was a very big thing for the people of Fiji, and they were given a big send-off by everyone when they left in 1961.”
Their arrival in the North of England was unprecedented, and they were immediately asked to appear on the BBC’s “Sportsview” programme with Eddie Waring. “We are looking forward to our stay in Rochdale and hope that we settle down into the side as quickly as possible,” said Dawai soon after arriving. “It is very cold, but not as cold as we expected it to be.”
The pair made their A-team debuts against Liverpool City in a 14-all draw less than a month later, scoring all their side’s points between them with Dawai crossing for a try and Levula netting a try and four goals. 1,525 curious people turned up to watch, five times the normal crowd size. The report that appeared in the Rochdale Observer described the Fijians “unorthodox tactics”, which “delighted spectators, with Dawai on the right often finding Levula on the left with his long passes.”
They made their first team debuts on 11th November 1961 in a 6-all draw with Whitehaven. Levula went on to have three highly successful seasons with Hornets, scoring 37 tries and 207 points in 80 appearances before leaving to join Bradford Northern for a fee of 1,500 pounds in 1964.
He was renowned for trying to run over the top of opposing wingers rather than round them, and his sheer size and power all too often proved too much for his opponents. Dawai, on the other hand found the switch of codes more difficult, and appeared in Hornets colours only ten times. He was to die very suddenly as a young man in 1966 in Birch Hill hospital, Rochdale.
“Orisi was like a father-figure to all the Fijians that came to Rochdale,” Ratu says. “He was an absolute gentleman and a big help to everyone. He was a terrific centre but he never quite achieved as much in League as he did in union. It was a great shame that he died so young.”
In December 1961 Hornets announced that they were negotiating with two Fijian forwards, Laitia Ravouvou, a 6ft 3 inch second rower, and prop or hooker Voate Driu. They arrived in England, along with the wives of Dawai and Levula, on 2nd February 1962 and again over 1,000 people watched their A-team debuts in a defeat against Salford. Ravouvou made his mark in the first team almost immediately but it took a little longer for Driu to settle in, and he didn’t appear during his first season.
In fact Ravouvou will always have a place in Rochdale folklore thanks to the time he managed to kick a goal in bare feet!
“We never played in boots back in Fiji,” Ratu explains, “but the cold weather over here meant that we had to — most of the time.” The next to arrive was winger Sitai Buroleva, during the 1962-63 campaign, but he made little impact, never appearing for the first team.
It was the sixth Fijian, Apsai Toga, who was to make arguably the biggest impression. 22 years old, 6ft 3 inches and over 16 stones, Toga arrived in Rochdale in January 1964 following the recommendation of his step brother Ravouvou, who was by then struggling a little to hold down his place in the side.
Toga was an immediate sensation with the Hornets fans, who loved his rampaging, destructive style of play. He soon formed a devastating second row partnership with Ravouvou, who came back into favour, and with Driu now also in the pack Hornets had a formidable looking set of forwards. Toga was to go on and make almost 100 appearances for the club and became one of the most respected second-rowers in the English game. He eventually left the club in May 1967 to play for St George in Sydney after Hornets refused to meet his huge wage demands. Tragically, Toga died in January 1969 aged just 27 years in Sydney. One of the most popular men ever to play for Hornets, he collapsed shortly after a training session and died of a heart attack. An all-action giant on the field, he was described by those who knew him as the perfect gentleman off it.
By 1965 Toga had been joined by the club’s seventh Fijian, Mike Ratu, a winger who had been playing for Stroud RU in Gloucester while serving in the army. Ratu — whose son Emon was to go onto play professional rugby for Hornets and Swinton over 20 years later — appeared over 100 times for the club during his six-year spell there.
“I was honoured to be playing for Rochdale Hornets, and to be playing alongside some of my old heroes from back home,” remembers Ratu. “It was very special for us to come over here. We came to see the lights, the buses, the snow.
“Rochdale is now very well known in Fiji thanks to those first pioneers who left the country all that time ago. Rugby union is the more dominant sport, but Hornets’ old Athletics Ground is better known than Twickenham, and many people have come to the town for a holidays.
“It would be nice to see some young Fijians carrying on an old tradition in Rochdale.” [Post edited 29 Sep 2021 11:21]
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Reply | Match Thread v Tranmere
at 16:44 12 Sep 2021
Have looked at Cashmans goal again several times and realised what a true strikers goal it was. In the middle of defenders good first time touch followed by a cool classy finish with the outside of the foot.
Second league goal for Danny and on the strength of that I'm hopeful we'll see many more this season as his playing time increases. |
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Reply | Match Thread: Rochdale vs Burton Albion
at 17:13 27 Feb 2021
We will be cast adrift at the bottom by the end of March. The fixtures we face now will see us hammered out of sight by teams who will simply roll over us. Whether the manager goes or stays will make no difference now we have missed the opportunity to acquire points in February and now its downhill all the way. To lose our place in League 1 in such a pathetic spineless way is what hurts most. Shame on all those who have sat back and let this happen. |
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Reply | Match Thread: Rochdale vs Charlton
at 23:05 7 Feb 2021
20 games left.
Our last 20 games have generated 5 wins 7draws and 8 losses.
If we replicate that in the remaining games we have to play we will only have a total of 48 points.
Which means we now need to improve our performance to retain our place in this league on merit. If we do not we will be relying on a large slice of luck as Judd feels we have had in the past.
I wish that I could feel more confident that we are capable of achieving the points needed to stay up on merit. The next few games this month will show without question whether we have what it takes.
Fingers Crossed !! |
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Reply | Match Thread: Rochdale vs Charlton
at 16:47 7 Feb 2021
The most depressing thing after watching another abject home performance is reading BBM's comments. They imply that the problem yesterday was an unexpected dip in form against a strong opponent at a time when we have been playing so well. That fact in itself is patently not the case. His statement is troubling because it suggests that he has no plans to do anything different in upcoming games. His belief that nothing is fundamentally wrong and the fact that he is 'excited' by what he sees is staggering. He does not seem to recognise that other managers have sussed him and that now is the time that good coaches step upto the plate try to freshen things up try to catch teams out by showing some imagination and variety in approach.
Tuesdays game is critical taking us into a period of fixtures which without doubt will make or break us. It's now time for BBM to prove that he is not just a one trick pony and that he is upto the task because I for one am begining to doubt it. [Post edited 7 Feb 2021 17:13]
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Reply | Match Thread: Rochdale vs Charlton
at 17:08 6 Feb 2021
2-0 it may have been but that performance was as bad as gets. A decent team made to look like world beaters because of some absolutely abysmal individual performances. To say it was men against boys would be totally understating it. We were out thought ,out muscled and to be frankly out coached. We had no idea out to cope. To not switch wings with Baah when it was clear that they were going double up on him on the left side summed up the lack of imagination from the manager for me. Done worked hard when he came on and Vale's runs into space were promising but with no one capable of finding him rather fruitless. |
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Reply | Trialists
at 12:35 4 Feb 2021
Shaughnessy clearly playing in front of the back four in these clips.
Also trialist B who scores the goal only looks to be about about 4ft 6inches tall  |
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Reply | Deadline Day Business.
at 14:48 3 Feb 2021
I think as a permanent signing Shaughnessy is likely to figure straightaway. In what role we will have to see but bearing in mind our defensive frailties and our injured defenders it would seem logical to use him to shore up the defence. Holding midfield in front of the back four would be my guess but whatever role his height will be useful for dealing with set piece crosses which has to be a bonus.
. |
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Reply | Deadline Day Business.
at 23:08 2 Feb 2021
I think we are still some way from O'Connells return (in the case of McShane who knows)
However, in the meantime with the acquisition of Shaughnessy we have the option of a centre back pairing of Osho/ and either Roberts or Shaughnessy (with the remaining one of those two playing in front of the back four). Personally I could see this making us a more solid defensive unit with the added benefit of releasing Morley to operate in a more forward role. The back four would be then be made up of Mclaughlin at right back and sadly without the hoped for left back I can see us having no other choice but to continue with Done or Keohane playing on the left. |
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Reply | R Luke
at 16:26 2 Feb 2021
A new challenge for Luke then particularly if the fans were expecting more from Lambert in the transfer window.
We know what Luke is capable of and he was loved to bits by the Dale fans particularly after his Old Trafford exploits.
In the circumstances, it could be tough task winning over disillusioned Ipswich fans who may well see him as the managers choice and a therefor a possible stick to beat Lambert with.
I hope that's not the case and hope he does well in his loan (the exception being if he plays against us in April) |
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Site Scores| Forum Votes: | 45 | | Comment Votes: | 0 | | Prediction League: | 0 | | TOTAL: | 45 |
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