fevnut's blog: Toulouse Home

 
 
 
 
 
2017 Match 8: Toulouse Olympique Home (Championship)  

fevnut's musings  

Probability and Conspiracy

I wonder how many Fev fans realised the significance of the Challenge Cup draw made earlier this week.

WE WERE DRAWN AT HOME!

No surprise there because, of course, the odds of getting a home draw are 1 in 2. But had you noticed that it was our first one at home after seven successive away draws. That last home draw was against North Wales Crusaders for the fourth round in 2014. Since then we have been drawn away to Leigh Centurions (2014); Whitehaven, North Wales Crusaders and Catalans Dragons (2015); London Broncos and Batley Bulldogs (2016); and Bradford Bulls (2017).

The odds of getting seven successive away draws are 1 in 128. What an opportunity for the conspiracy theorists! I can see them now, saying that there was some tampering with the Fev ball before it went into the hat with instructions to make sure that it was drawn as an away team. Did they finally relent to allow Rovers to have a home tie or did they make a mistake with the draw?!!

Although the odds are a lot less unlikely there was something about Tuesday’s draw even more likely to get our conspiratorial friends going. This time what happened had odds of 1 in 16 but surely sufficient to get the tongues wagging. All four Super League clubs entering at the 5th round stage got home draws. There you are “Fixed to assist the Super League clubs”!

The fact is that you can always find some stats to back up a prejudice that everyone at Red Hall is against us, but I reckon such ideas are a load of twaddle.

As I learnt when studying statistics at school and at university, the unlikely happens far more often than you expect! I remember doing an experiment when people were asked to make up a series of ones and noughts in a random way. The results were really interesting. Although it was done with a hundred people, not one of them put more than three 1s or three 0s together in succession. Yet, when you scientifically generate a series of numbers like this you often get strings of more than three in a row. I just did it on my computer and one of my lists of 100 numbers included eight 1s in a row!

Finally, Toronto Wolfpack were drawn away. Was this fixed, and if not, what would have happened if they had been drawn at home? Would the RFL have allowed that? When French clubs were first admitted to the Challenge Cup all the games had to be played in the UK.

 

T'Other Side: Toulouse Olympique

 

 

 

 

Sylvain Houles

Head Coach: Sylvain Houles

Sylvain Houles began his tenure as head coach of Toulouse Olympique for the 2011 season. This was the final year of their previous three year participation in the ‘English’ Championship league. Most of his playing career was as a centre or winger although towards the end he moved to half back or loose forward. He started with XIII Catalans (the former name of Catalans Dragons) and then in 2000 entered Super League with the Huddersfield and Sheffield Giants. He then moved to London Broncos. Houles also played for Dewsbury Rams and Wakefield Trinity Wildcats before returning to France with Toulouse. He played 14 times for France.

Sébastien Planas

 

Captain: Sébastien Planas

 

Sébastien Planas is now in his 11^th season playing for Toulouse. He appeared in all three previous seasons (2009-2011) in the Championships. For most of his career he played in the three-quarters but recently he has played primarily in the second row with occasional appearances at hooker. He is a French international.

 

 

New Signings for 2017

 

After such a very successful season in League One last year, Toulouse have chosen to continue with the same squad this year with the addition of some youngsters who play predominantly in the French Elite league for Toulouse Broncos which is their second team. The only signing they have brought in is Stan Robin, a half-back from Catalans Dragons, who played seven matches on loan for Sheffield Eagles last year.

Players to watch out for

Last year Mark Kheirallah was a points scoring phenomenon last year, achieving a total of 470. He scored 32 tries (5 hatricks) and kicked 171 goals. On 10 separate occasions he scored at least 20 points and against Keighley in June he scored 4 tries and 12 goals for a total of 40 points. He is an Australian of Lebanese descent.

Papua New Guinean winger, Kuni Minga, is an even more prolific try scorer than Kheirallah. Last year he crossed for 35 tries in just 27 matches and already this year he has scored 7 tries in 5 matches.

Johnathon Ford was born in Toronto but he wouldn’t be at home with the Wolfpack. It was Toronto in New South Wales! He played in the NRL with Sydney Roosters. He is Toulouse’s main playmaker. He has several caps for the Cook Islands and captained them in a match against Tongs in 2015.

 

 Brothers Andrew (second row) and Kane (hooker) Bentley sound no more French than Kheirallah, Minga and Ford, but, although they were born in New Zealand with a father of Samoan descent and a Maori mother, they have lived in France since they were young children as a result of their father playing for French club La Réole XIII. They are both French Internationals and have had Super League experience with Catalans Dragons.

 

Andrew and Kane Bentley

The Fev Connection

We found one, albeit a rather tenuous connection! Back in 2000, Brad Hepi came to Fev and played 7 games before moving on to Salford. His son, Tyla, is a regular prop for Toulouse. Brad played for 12 different English clubs and Toulouse is already young Tyla’s fourth club having previously appeared for  Gloucestershire All Golds (with Brad as coach), Hull Kingston Rovers and Whitehaven.

Today: Previously  -  March 26th

Rugby League

There is absolutely no doubt about the most significant match played by Rovers on March 26th. It came at Headingley in 1983, but the opposition wasn’t Leeds. It was the neutral venue for a challenge cup semi-final and Fev beat Bradford Northern 11-6 to book their place at Wembley.

Nigel Barker; John Marsden, Steve Quinn, John Gilbert, Ken Kellett; Alan Banks, Terry Hudson; Gary Siddall, Ray Handscombe, Mick Gibbins, David Hobbs, Steve Hankins, Peter Smith. Subs: Neil Pickerill (not used), Keith Bell.

 

Rovers try scorers were Marsden, Gilbert and Hudson. Surprisingly Steve Quinn only kicked one goal. Ellery Hanley, Brian Noble and Jeff Grayshon were in the Bradford team.

 

Fev have not lost on March 26th since 1951 when Hull beat them 10-4 at the Boulevard. Since then they have been unbeaten in 9 matches, although the last of those was a draw in 2006 against York.

 

Toulouse played one match on the relevant date. It was in 2011 at the Don Valley Stadium and Sheffield won 34-16.

 

In 1966, France and England drew 17-17 at Knowsley Road. In 2005 there was a match in Argentina when the Australian Police beat Argentina 40-4.

 

Dr Jonas Salk

World Events

In 1484, William Caxton printed his translation of Aesop's Fables

In 1780, First British Sunday paper published
In 1871, Municipal elections result in Commune government in Paris
In 1889, Johnny Briggs takes 15 wickets for 26 runs for England in test match in South Africa
In 1953, Dr Jonas Salk announces vaccine to prevent polio
In 1979, Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat sign Eqypt/Israel peace treaty

 



Leonard Nimoy

Birthdays

1479 Vasili III, great prince of Moscow

1819 Louise Otto, German writer and feminist
1874 Robert Frost, American poet
1911 Tennessee Williams, American playwright
1931 Leonard Nimoy (Spock in Star Trek)
1979 Lee Radford, Hull FC Head Coach
1985 Keira Knightley, English actor