fevnut's blog: Halifax Home Feb 4

Match 1: Halifax (Home - Championship)

fevnut's musings

Hallelujah! The off season is over and we return to life (sleeping beauty is awakened).  Rugby league matches where the results matter.

Yet another mess

The last thing we wrote in ‘fevnut’s musings’ in 2017 was the following:

Finally, a plea to the Rugby League. Please sort out the 2019 structure BEFORE the 2018 season starts. It is totally unacceptable to play a season and then only find out what the consequences are at the very end. Clubs need to be able to plan properly. We at Fev have not, and never will, forget the sudden change in the number of clubs to be relegated from the top tier at the very last moment in 1994 that saw Fev together with Salford being relegated despite finishing in positions which had meant top tier survival and entry into Super League. That sort of thing is unprofessional and should never be allowed.

We stand by every word of that but find that yet again the RFL have let down the whole RL community.

Nigel Wood is departing (reportedly with a golden handshake which is roughly 27 times my annual income and some consultancy work which no doubt will be handsomely rewarded!). There has been all sorts of wild speculation about a successor. There is no doubt in our mind that we need someone who will actually do the job - leading the governance of rugby league. No more kowtowing to SL chairmen. No more avoidance of important decisions. Someone who will realise that, for example, a reserve team competition is really important for the health of our sport and TELL the clubs that they MUST run reserve teams. Interestingly, League Express recently ran a fans poll on this question. 89% of responses said that the RFL should make it mandatory for SL clubs and 52% said that it should be mandatory for both Super League and Championship clubs. Bearing in mind that many of the fans are Super League supporters and have a limited view of what is needed in the Championship that suggests to me a very healthy majority believe that the RFL should take prompt action on this matter.

We would also hope that whoever takes over at Red Hall ensures that the voice of all interested parties is listened to and taken account of. For a start, they should set up a panel of players and a panel of fans, each to meet regularly, and advise the RFL decisions to be taken.

Dreams for Fev

Above all, our dreams for Fev concern getting into the Qualifiers again. But simply getting in is just not enough. For two years we have suffered a depressing end to the season getting thumped by some Super League teams (the ones who were failures in the regular season). At least last year we ended with a win against Halifax. So here is the dream - to be really competitive in the 2018 Qualifiers. We don’t need to win promotion but we do need to show that we are fit to compete with them.