Championship Talk: Hard Fax

fevnut's blog is absolutely delighted to have received permission to bring you a regular column from Gareth Walker.

Gareth is a top rugby league journalist who has one very exceptional distinction. He chooses to write about matters pertaining to the Championship and League One.

Although this blog is devoted to Featherstone Rovers it is always good to read opinions about matters relevant to us, but not specifically about us. We hope you enjoy reading Gareth's column each week.

Hard Fax

THEY might be sitting bottom of the table at present without a win from three, but Halifax have undoubtedly been one of the stories of the Qualifiers so far.

          Richard Marshall’s side only secured their Championship top four spot on the final day of the regular season, on the back of a run that saw them beat rivals Featherstone, Toulouse and Hull KR in the closing weekends.

          Their achievement also saw the Fax players handed back the 10 percent pay cut they agreed to at the start of the campaign, for securing the extra central funding.

          It’s the second time in three years Marshall’s side have secured a Qualifiers berth, and although they won two games in 2015, the coach feels his team is better placed to compete now.

          And compete they have in all three games - especially in a narrow opening defeat at Hull KR and their most recent gutsy performance at Warrington, where two late Wolves tries secured a somewhat nervous 22-8 win.

          Marshall said: “The time before in the Qualifiers we were happy just to be in there, but what is happening now is that we feel we can compete.

          “We’re not just grateful to be here, we feel that we can do a good job ourselves without relying on anyone else.

          “Apart from the first half against Widnes I think we’ve been really good and competitive, although we are desperate for a win.

          “This competition will be over before we know it and we don’t want to end up on zero.

          “We want one, two or three wins wins would be a fantastic achievement for us.

          “We’ve got Catalans this weekend and there’s a bit of pressure on them - while we’re playing with no pressure and the players are enjoying that.

          “It’s been a good competition and I’ve really enjoyed it.

          “We also want it to be a springboard for the club for next season to allow us to kick on.”

          The Dragons fixture is a huge one for the French club in particular following their comprehensive home defeat to Leigh.

          Current form suggests that they are at least heading for the Million Pound Game - and if they don’t secure maximum points against part-time duo Fax and Featherstone in their next two games the scenario could be even worse.

          Steve McNamara’s side are sure to be desperate at the Shay - but they will do well not to underestimate Marshall and his talented side.

fevnut's blog: Hull KR (home - Qualifiers)

Match 31: Hull KR (Home - Qualifiers)

fevnut's musings

Are the Super 8s working?

This week’s fixtures will take the Super League and Qualifier 8s beyond the halfway stage, the rest are already past hallway. So we thought we would consider whether, in the long term, this format is fit for purpose.

When the concept was first introduced three years ago, we supported it, primarily because it re-opened the possibility of promotion from the Championship to the Super League. Many viewed it with suspicion suggesting that it was a charade which purported to offer promotion but was designed so heavily in favour of Super League clubs that Championship clubs wouldn’t have a chance because of the huge balance of funding which gave even the weakest of Super League clubs squads way superior to those in the Championship. Well the ‘nay-sayers’ have been largely proved to be correct we are sad to say. All the evidence suggests that only if a Championship Club has the funds to run a full-time team can they possibly compete seriously in the Qualifiers. That, of course, is dangerous because it tempts clubs to ‘break the bank’ in order to run a full-time team. Sheffield tried it and it very nearly killed them.

The question is what the potential of a top Championship team would be if they won promotion by seeing off the rest of the competition in their own division, earning them the right to play in Super League with the vastly enhanced central funding that would then become available to them.

So what do we believe the next major re-structuring bring (and we are under no illusion that there is any hope of it happening!)? First of all, a return to league competitions that are on a level playing field with every club playing the others home and away. Do away with the Super 8s and expand both Super League and the Championship to fourteen clubs so as to provide a sensible quantity of league fixtures. This would obviously have major implications for League One but that competition is not fit for purpose anyway (see below to see what we are referring to). Whilst we believe that winning the league should be the main aspiration we have to recognize that the ‘Grand Finals’ have been wonderful occasions and we would still retain a play-off system at the end of the season but we would rename the League Leaders Shields as League Champions trophies.

The two clubs at the top of the Championship should be promoted and the two at the bottom of Super League relegated. The Championship should revert to a fair competition with all teams having part-time players. Clearly there are big problems then for the players of teams that are relegated. That should not be solved by parachute payments to relegated teams allowing them to retain full-time players but instead there should be centrally funded ‘redundancy’ payments to those full-time players who fail to pick up contracts with other Super League teams.

One of the problems with the Super 8s has been lower than predicted attendances. It seems to be a similar problem to the Challenge Cup in that games that are not part of a season ticket are failing to attract crowds. This way there will be less of that as the season tickets would be for the full 13 home league matches.

So what do we do about Magic Weekend and Summer Bash?  We don’t wish to see the principle of home and away league fixtures ‘corrupted’ by one additional ‘pot luck’ match but nevertheless the concept of bringing together teams and supporters from the league has been excellent so perhaps it could be taken forward with some form of ‘Festival of Rugby League’ maybe in a 9s competition spread over a bank holiday weekend.

There have been suggestions of a knock-out competition for non-Super League teams with a final at Wembley in a double header with the Challenge Cup Final. We like that idea and it would help boost Wembley attendances.

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League One is proving to be unfit for purpose and it needs to be the subject of a huge overhaul. Expansion is important but the way it has been done recently is simply not working. We now have talk of a merger between Oxford and Gloucestershire All Golds with the ‘new’ club to be located in Bristol. That’s no merger - it is two expansion clubs failing and yet another attempt to find a location for part-time professional rugby league outside the heartlands. Then there is Hemel Stags who are proving to be a joke. They were a very successful amateur club doing wonderful work to establish rugby league in Hertfordshire. The attempt to run it as a professional club is proving to be disastrous. The team nowadays trains in West Yorkshire and travels way to its so-called home fixtures in Hemel. Little wonder that the highest attendance so far this year has been 155 and there have been six matches with crowds of less than 110. The expansion intention may have been laudable but it is now turning into a sick joke.

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Finally, it could well be that either Barrow or Whitehaven win promotion to the Championship this year. Just imagine being one of their supporters who will have 11 away league fixtures in 2018 which could include Toronto, Toulouse, Catalans and London let alone all the miles they will have to travel to Lancashire and Yorkshire. We hope the local economy is doing well and their fans are being paid handsomely.

Sunday's Referee: Fev v Hull KR

This Week's Referee

There have been many occasions when fevnut has been asked questions like: Who's the referee today? Have we had him before? Where's he from?


So we thought we would answer those questions in our blog.

Below you will find a list of his previous occasions officiating in Fev matches and also his record for this year.

n.b. Not including Gareth Hewer's refereeing of Bank Holiday Monday's match between Rochdale and Oldham as we do not yet have the data.

T’Other Side: Hull KR

T’Other Side: Hull KR

 

Last Three Matches

Head Coach: Tim Sheens

It is hard to imagine any coach in Rugby League who has a more glittering CV than Tim Sheens. After playing his entire career as a forward with Penrith Panthers he became their head coach in 1984. After three years he moved on to Canberra Raiders and led them to becoming NRL Champions three times. He spent four seasons developing North Queensland Cowboys at the beginning of their NRL involvement before taking over at Wests Tigers and again leading them to winning the NRL. He has also coached New South Wales in an Origin series. As Australian National Coach he was in charge for two Four Nations wins and the 2013 World Cup.

In 2016 he was named in the Penrith Panthers Team of Legends.

Captain: Shaun Lunt

Having begun his playing career with Castleford Tigers in 2005, he moved on for a three year spell with Workington Town. Then he joined Huddersfield Giants in Super League and was their regular hooker for several years. He moved to Leeds Rhinos on loan during the 2012 season and was a member of their Grand Final winning team. He joined Hull Kingston Rovers in 2015. Art representative level Shaun has played for Cumbria, England and England Knights.

At the back

Andrew Heffernan has already scored 17 tries this year making him Hull KR’s 2nd top try scorer. He is an Australian and was signed for this season from Penrith Panthers. So far this year he has played regularly at centre but can play in any of the back positions. Thomas Minns is a product of the Leeds Rhinos Academy. In 2013 he played for the first team three times and also for the England Academy team. He spent 2014 on loan at London Broncos and 2015 at Featherstone before becoming a Hull Kingston Rovers player in 2016. Winger Ryan Shaw is the top try scorer with 23 tries. He has also played for England Academy and at club level he has appeared for Barrow, Leigh, London Broncos and Bradford before joining Hull KR last year.

Hull KR became Justin Carney’s latest club when the signed him from Salford in May. H began his career in the NRL with Canberra Raiders in 2008. After three years he moved on for a 2 year spell with Sydney Roosters. Before a falling out at Castleford he scored a remarkable 72 tries in just 67 games. Ben Cockayne is a Normanton lad and is equally at home at fullback or on the wing. He made his debut in 2004 with Hunslet and then had a season with Doncaster before joining Hull KR in 2006. In 2011 he had a falling out with them and in July joined Fev for the rest of the season. The next two years were spent at Wakefield before returning to Hull KR in 2014. Australian, Kieren Moss, joined Bradford Bulls  in June 2016 from Parramatta but then moved to Hull KR when Bradford went into liquidation. He too plays at either wing or fullback.

In the Halves

Jordan Abdull is currently at Hull KR on loan from Hull FC. He is a stand-off and is the only ever present so far this season. He is yet another former England Academy player and has had previous loan spells with Doncaster and Featherstone. Zach Dockar-Clay, who can play at either halfback or hooker, was signed at the end of March from Penrith Panthers and is a former captain of the Junior Kiwis. Jamie Ellis is on a season long loan from Huddersfield Giants and is KR’s main goal kicker with a remarkable record this season of 96 goals from 110 attempts. If Jamie Ellis is not available to kick then the duties fall to Zach Dockar-Clay who has also been very successful with 8 out of 9.

Chris Atkin started with Swinton in 2014 and had been a potential target for several clubs before Hull KR signed him in July, Swinton selling him to help overcome financial problems. Matty Marsh was Hull KR’s young player of the year last season. His opportunities have been restricted but he has played in their last 4 games either starting at stand-off or coming off the bench. To gain experience he went on loan to both Coventry Bears and Newcastle Thunder in 2015.

In the Pack

Aussie, Maurice Blair, joined Hull KR in 2015 from Gold Coast Titans. He has played over 100 NRL matches for Penrith Panthers, Melbourne Storm and the Titans. At representative level he has played for the Australian Aborigines and the Australian Prime Minister’s XIII. At prop forward Rob Mulhern has become a regular (usually coming off the bench). He started at Leeds in 2014 and played for Hunslet in 2015 under dual-reg. In 2016 he joined Hull KR. He is an Ireland international. Hugely experienced prop, Nick Scruton, joined Hull KR this year from Wakefield. Before joining Wakefield he played for Leeds and then Bradford and is an England international. He has, so far, made 295 career appearances so a landmark is coming soon.

Chris Clarkson, a loose forward or second rower, joined Hull KR from Leeds in 2016. He played for the England Knights in 2011 and 2012 and during his time at Leeds had loan spells with Hunslet and Widnes. James Greenwood began his career with Wigan but in the years from 2012 to 2015 only had three bench opportunities with them. He had loan or dual reg spells with South Wales, London Broncos, Workington and Hull KR (in 2015). His spell with Hull KR impressed enough for them to sign him in 2016. He usually plays at second row but has played at prop. Ben Kavanagh is a former England U18 international and has also played for Scotland. He made his first appearance for Widnes in 2008 and remained a Widnes player until he signed for Bradford in 2015. He signed for Hull KR when Bradford went into liquidation. During his time at Widnes he had loan spells with Workington and Wakefield. He usually plays at loose forward or prop.

The Fev Connection

Three members of the Hull Kingston Rovers squad have previously appeared for Fev. Ben Cockayne had a very successful loan spell with us in 2011 scoring 11 tries in 9 matches and played in the Grand Final winning team. Thomas Minns spent 2015 at Fev and scored four tries in a match against Sheffield Eagles. Last year Jordan Abdull played 5 times during a short loan spell from Hull FC.

There are two members of the Hull KR squad who have fathers who played for Fev. Chris Clarkson’s dad, Micky Clarkson, played 63 games for us between 1998 and 2001. Mitchell Clark is the son of much loved former Featherstone hooker, Trevor Clark who is a New Zealander and played 125 games for Fev between 1998 and 1992.

There are also three members of the current Fev squad who have played for Hull KR. Ian Hardman spent a year there, on loan from Saint Helens, in 2007. Keal Carlile was a Hull KR player from 2012-2015 and Frankie Mariano was there at the start of his career in 2009 and 2010.

Past Matches against Hull KR

Past Matches against Hull KR

Today: Previously - September 3rd

Today: Previously  -  September 3rd

Rugby League

The very first professional match that Rovers ever played at Post Office Road took place on September 3rd 1921. The opponents were Hull and Fev lost 21-9 which was no surprise, Hull finishing the season in 3rd place in the 28 team Northern Rugby League table.

The Fev team were:

James Green; Jim Denton, Jack Hirst, Norman Reeves, Sid Denton; Jimmy Williams, Joe Kirkham; Arthur Haigh, Harry Dooler, Billy Clements, Charlie Hepworth, Dick Jones, John Morrell. 

Jim Denton holds the record for appearances for Featherstone at 440. Jack Hirst was Rovers’ first ever international

Amongst 15 other matches that Rovers have played on September 3rd was a home win by 11-8 against Castleford in the NRL in 1947.

Our best result on this date was in 1996 when we beat York 50-15 in the first round of the Yorkshire Cup.

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On September 3rd 1966 Widnes Vikings were at Belle Vue Stadium in Doncaster for a National League One match. Belle Vue was principally the ground of Doncaster Rovers FC but the rugby league team played there for a few year before the building of the Lakeside Stadium. Widnes inflicted a 56-0 win on Doncaster. On the same day Oldham lost 52-12 to Leigh. That year Oldham were relegated after losing every league match.

Last year, in the Qualifiers, Championship team Leigh Centurions defeated Super League Hull KR 25-18 at the KC Lightstream Stadium. This year both the status of the teams and the result were, of course, reversed.

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There have been only been two representative matches on September 3rd. In 1980, Cumbria defeated 19-16 at Barrow and last year Belgium beat the Netherlands 36-12 in Brussels. That was part of the European Championship B competition. The tournament involved Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands and Belgium were the winners.

World Events

In 1189, Coronation of Richard I

In 1651, Cromwell defeats Royalists at Battle of Worcester

In 1878, Paddle steamer Princess Alice sinks on the River Thames, 645 die

In 1935, Malcolm Campbell breaks land speed record at over 300mph

In 1967, Sweden switches to driving on the right

In 1995, eBay founded by Pierre Omidyar

Malcolm Campbell

Birthdays

1757 Charles X, French king

1856 Louis Sullivan, American architect (pioneer of skyscrapers)

1875 Ferdinand Porsche, German automotive engineer

1915 Memphis Slim, American blues singer

1981 Fearne Cotton, English television presenter

1990 Stefan Marsh, Widnes rugby league player

 

Ferdinand Porsche

Widnes Vikings v Fev: Teams and Scorers

Widnes Vikings v Fev: Teams and Scorers

Today: Previously - August 20th

Today: Previously  -  August 20th

Rugby League

Rovers first ever game on August 20th came in 1949 when they beat Bramley 23-17 at the Barley Mow ground.

In 1963 Fev played Widnes at Naughton Park in the first match of that season. Widnes won that game 11-9.

The Fev team (no subs in those days) that day was:

Jack Fennell; Gary Waterworth, Tony Lynch, Keith Cotton, Gary Jordan; Ivor Lingard, Don Fox; Abe Terry, Willis Fawley, Malcolm Dixon, Terry Ramshaw, Terry Clawson, Stan Nicholson

Terry Ramshaw scored Fev’s only try and Don Fox kicked 3 goals.

Rovers have won their last 4 games (all league ties) to have been played on August 20th -

1965 Halifax (away) 13-5

1978 Huddersfield (home) 23-8
1995 Hull FC (away) 26-20
2006 Blackpool Panthers (away) 38-28

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On August 20th 1999, Wigan inflicted a 58-0 hammering on Hull FC.

Last year, in the Super 8s, Warrington beat Castleford 14-11 in the Super League 8s, Leeds beat London Broncos in the Qualifiers and Toulouse beat Rochdale 46-8 in the League One Super 8s.

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There have been just two test matches on August 20th and they were both played in Auckland between New Zealand and Great Britain. In 1932 Great Britain won 20-18 and in 1966 it was Great Britain winning again, this time by 22-14.

World Events

Usain Bolt

In 1191, Crusader King, Richard I, kills 3,000 muslim prisoners in Akko

In 1741, Alaska first sighted by Danish explorer Vitus Bering at head of Russian expedition
In 1882, 1st performance of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 overture
In 1913, Adolphe Pégoud makes 1st parachute jump from an aircraft
In 2009, Usain Bolt wins world championship 200m

Birthdays

Sylvester McCoy

1625 Thomas Corneille, French playwright
1901 Salvatore Quasimodo, Italian poet and critic
1905 Jack Teagarden, American jazz trombonist
1943 Sylvester McCoy, seventh Doctor Who
1948 Robert Plant, Led Zeppelin vocalist
1980 Francis Meli, Saint Helens, Samoa and New Zealand winger