Sunday's Coming - Oldha... er... Oxford.

Every pantomine needs a villain ('oh no it doesn't' we hear you cry) - and giving 'Big-Spending North Wales Crusaders'™ a run for their money in KPCh1 this season are new boys Oxford. Well, we say new boys…

Described to us only last month by a senior official at another KPCh1 club as "16 mercenaries on a minibus from the North every fortnight", Tony Benson has - it seems - quite literally bussed in a ready-made, off the peg Rugby League side that, to us,  has nothing to do with developing the game outside the heartlands and everything to do with fulfilling an action point on an RFL spreadsheet.

Bussing them in: The actual Iffley Road bus earlier today.

At the unveiling of the Oxford club last year, RFL Chief Operating Officer Ralph Rimmer said the the League's plan for introducing new teams into Championship One from new geographical areas is to "unearth and develop new players, provide more opportunities and increase the sport’s playing pool".

Keen to see how this plan is rolling out in Oxford we took a look at their squad.

Amongst a smattering of Irish lads and a token selection of former SW conference players, TLCRF80mins reckons that Benson's Oxford side contains no fewer than TEN former Oldham players (Lucas Onyango, Shaun Robinson, Dave Ellison, Tommy Connick, John Clough, Chris Clarke, Valu Bentley, Martin Roden, Danny Halliwell and Alex Thompson) plus former Hornet Johnny Leather and former Widnes academy half-back Danny Price. In fact, if you look on their 'Squad Profiles' page on their website, half of the squad are actually pictured wearing Oldham shirts (true!).

Ostensibly rooted in the University's sports department, the club is headed-up by Former St Helens CEO Tony Colquitt and they seem to have settled fairly well with an average home attendance of just over 300 so far.

Unsurprisingly, Tony Benson's side has been pretty competitive - though a points difference of +2 suggests that they nick games. Having pulled off a shock win at Oldham and taken NW Crusaders very close, last weekend Oxford sneaked past  Gateshead Thunder by 27 to 22, leaving them second in the table with the same number of wins as Hornets - but artificially elevated by virtue of three bonus points.

While the Oxford 'concept' is one that we should embrace in the name of expansion, it still feels to us like a bit of a souless exercise - an RFL box-ticking exercise involving a squad specifically recruited to fulfil a task, rather than a club with a heartbeat, a passion for our game and a desire to 'grow in the community':  a flat-packed club that could've been assembled anywhere.

So much for perceptions. Even amongst the most ardent Rugby League expansionistas here at TLCRF80mins Towers we have our doubts about this (though some may argue that the imported Northern team model was what got Fulham off the ground 30 years ago). The only way to really find out whether there is a soul behind the facade is to go and have a look. So we will.

See you down at Iffley Road on Sunday - here's the quickest route to get there:

South onto the M6.
Take the M6 Toll -  exit onto M42 southbound.
Exit M42 at J3A onto M40 southbound.
Take the M40 south until J9. Exit at J9 and take A41/A34 Oxford and head towards Cowley and Henley.
At the roundabout, take the 1st exit onto Southern By-Pass Rd/A423.
At the roundabout, take the 1st exit onto Abingdon Rd/A4144.
Turn right onto Weirs Lane /B4495 and continue to follow B4495.
Turn left onto Iffley Rd/A4158 and then turn left onto Jackdaw Lane.

Google Maps has it at 184 miles - 2 hours 50 minutes. Drive Safely - and keep an eye out for that minibus!

Big Crowd Enjoys a Stag-geringly Good Day

Hornets 40 - Hemel Stags 22

At 3.45, there was an eerie feeling that we'd seen this game somewhere before. A week earlier at a sun-soaked Cheltenham Hornets had raced into a commanding lead only to give the opposition a foothold in the game. And so it was again.

Cheered on by a huge crowd (impressively bigger than four of the games in the division above) Hornets went off with an impressive bang. As Danny Yates hit Danny Davies arriving at unstoppable speed after just eight minutes, things didn't look good for the Stags. 

Try-scorer Jordan Case 

Then, when Yates released a teasing, bouncing kick that was superbly snaffled by Wayne English just three minutes later (both converted by Gaz Langley), it felt like a matter of 'how many' . And when Jordan Case blasted through Hemel's centre channel on a mesmersing 70 metre run that ended with him spectacularly dummying the full-back to score a try that brought the crowd to its feet, the game appeared to be speeding away from the visitors. Langley added the two - 18-nil with just 15 minutes on the clock.

But a series of daft mistakes, soft penalties and some indifferent defending gave Hemel their chance. And they took it well. In just 10 minutes, a Coleman try sandwiched between two efforts from Swindells saw the Stags breathing down Hornets' neck at 18-16. The squeak of sphincters was palpable and it was a stern-faced Ian Talbot that headed for the dressing rooms at the break.

Whatever was said, it worked. Hornets began the second half at a significantly higher tempo on attack and defence. It took only three minutes for the Two-Dannys (Yates and Davies) to combine to send the latter in for a well taken try.

With Hornets now building pressure deep in Hemel territory, the visitors' big men were clearly wilting in the heat and, with the more-mobile Hornets pack making serious inroads, it was only a matter of time before the Stags' defence cracked. And it was prop Warren Thompson who wrestled his way over on 55 minutes, Gaz Langley adding the two.

On their next possession in the Hemel Half, Hornets worked the ball wide via Steve Roper as Martin Waring was slotted in by the flag. Gaz Langley's conversion attempt drifted teasingly wide to end his three-game 100% run of kicks.

Hornets were now giving the visitors a taste of their own well-established medicine: the big forwards Cookson, Thompson and Forster pounding the Stags backwards. And it was Warren Thompson again taking advantage to bag his second on 71 minutes. Gaz Langley adding the two; 40-16 and job seemingly done.

As Hornets made late replacements, Hemel had one last throw of the dice and found the ball to send Young in with a minute remaining. Swindells added the two and - having played the role of spectators for 39 minutes of the second half, the Stags were suddenly within reaching distance of a bonus point they didn't really deserve. But Hornets held firm and denied them. Indeed, with Forster and Cookson both 'held-up' over the line twice, and Wayne English adjudged similarly, this could have been a far more convincing victory.

Ian Talbot commented afterwards that his side were neither 'fluent of fluid', but when the cogs engaged Hornets were a class apart. Even Stags coach Troy Perkins conceded afterwards that "it could've been 70 or 80 points".

In the end, this was a great day for Hornets as a club. The Co-Operatives day and ticket offer succeeded beyond expectations - creating a great atmosphere and introducing lots of new people to Rugby League.

So a win-win - and that's not something you see very often.