Match 15: Rochdale Hornets (Away)fevnut's musings
Watching exciting rugby?
There are those that insist that winning is the only thing that
matters. Because I am both a lover of Fev and of rugby league I want to
watch us winning AND playing good rugby. That certainly wasn’t the case last
Sunday. Yes, we won but it was a boring, error-strewn match. Quite frankly, I
was rather apprehensive as soon as I saw the team sheet. It wasn’t so much the
starting team but the bench that worried me. It was basically four prop
forwards: Luke Cooper, Darrell Griffin, Mikolaj Oledzki and Jack Ormondroyd.
Yes, I know that Jack has played more often in the second row, but nowadays he
plays more like a prop.
What worried me most was the lack of cover in other positions.
With Sam Day on loan at Dewsbury there was no cover at hooker. We were
fortunate that Keal was able to play the full 80 minutes, but what would have
happened if he had been injured. Presumably John Davies would have moved to
hooker but he is not a hooker, he is an excellent second rower. Maybe the
second half would have been better if Keal had been able to have a rest and
come back on refreshed.
And what on earth would we have done if one of the backs had
had to be replaced? Maybe we would have played Darrell Griffin at centre (I’m
joking). For me, the real solution was often on the pitch but only as a water
carrier. I am referring to Kyran Johnson who can cover either at fullback or on
the wing.
And what is going on with Kyle Briggs? Is he injured or out
of favour? I don’t get the way supporters are so often kept in ignorance about
squad fitness. I do wish we would take up the practice used in several other
sports where news about the non-availability of players is published on web
sites. It would really help us fans understand team selections.
I think our attendances this year have been disappointing and
last Sunday’s game won’t encourage people to come back and watch next time.
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The game away to Rochdale is going to be interesting! They
have now lost seven games in a row (their last win was against us back at the
beginning of March). But that can be misleading. Two of those losses were by
just one and two points and by all accounts, they put up an excellent
performance away at Hull Kingston Rovers last time out. I suspect that we will
have to play much better than last Sunday and I hope we can do that with rugby
that is better to watch.
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Finally for this week, I want to pay tribute to Scott Turner. Having
been kept out of the team at the start of the year by Luke Briscoe and Ash Handley,
he has been great since he got his chance. Personally, I am hoping that he now
keeps his place and is not left out when and if Leeds decide that Handley is
available to us again. I’ve got nothing against Ash, he is a very promising
youngster, but I think it is in the longer term interest of Fev to be playing
our own players when possible.
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