IT must have been a very frustrating time for Liam Harrison and all associated with the club following the on-off fiasco surrounding the testimonial match against Super League Warrington Wolves.

Warrington obviously had their concerns about the quality of the pitch following Barrow’s friendly against Oldham on the previous Sunday and sent a representative together with an RFL appointed referee as early as Tuesday prior to the Friday game. Why Tuesday?

The game was called off, but after further discussions with relevant parties, it was agreed to have a further inspection on the Thursday when the pitch was declared fit and the game was now on.

A poor weather forecast for Thursday evening raised concerns once again and so another inspection was planned for the day of the match at 3pm, but because of the unavailability of the local RFL appointed referee at that time, it took place at 9.30 am when the pitch was deemed “unplayable”.

A great pity because a club spokesman said that if the inspection had been at 3pm, the game would have been on. I have no idea what went on behind the scenes but all I would say is that apart from postponement due to snowfall, I can’t remember a game being postponed at Craven Park for 50 years. I know times have changed and with the birth of Super League came summer rugby, so all the elite clubs now expect to play on a ‘bowling green’.

At the end of the day it is a game of rugby league and I thought a bit of mud was integral to the game. How times have changed!

Let’s hope that something can be sorted out for Liam and it is my understanding that there may be another opportunity in October.

Maintenance and upkeep of the pitch during the winter months is an issue that needs resolving; can we not find another suitable grass surface to train on?

Warrington opened this season’s Super League programme with victory at champions Leeds on Thursday so I would suggest that the postponement wasn’t as great a disappointment for them.

The Championship campaign also starts this weekend and with this being the second season of the relegation/promotion play-offs structure, there is plenty to look forward to. And it will be interesting to see if our ‘partners’ Leigh can dominate once more following the sudden shock departure of head coach Paul Rowley.

Paul resigned for ‘personal reasons’ and his coaching partner Neil Jukes, a former Leigh forward, has been handed the coaching reins.

Let’s hope that Barrow’s partnership with Leigh is not affected and that Chris Hankinson and Cameron Pitman will continue on a season-long loan. This might be the ideal time to ask whether we can have Rangi Chase and Gareth Hock on loan also!

Back in the real world, tomorrow we entertain our old friends Keighley Cougars at Craven Park in our final friendly work-out. Keighley head coach Paul March has assembled a very strong squad and will be looking for promotion to the Championship this time following their gut-wrenching one point defeat by Swinton in the League One play-offs last season.

Barrow and Keighley are always close encounters and I’m sure tomorrow will be no exception. March is still experimenting in order to formulate his best 17 for the opening league game and he stated that he will be mixing up the team significantly once more tomorrow.

Yes, Keighley are a good solid side built on no-nonsense forward power and unfortunately it’s going to rain all day today. We will have to match them down the middle in the mud and then when we have possession we can hopefully play a more expansive game on the green grass still available on the wings. See you tomorrow.