Monday's referee: Rochdale v Fev

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 his record for this year.

Last Sunday we had a referee who had only refereed Fev once before. On Good Friday we have one who has never done a Fev match before. And now on Easter Monday we have the referee who has refereed Fev matches more (far more) than any other current referee. Amazing to think that he has been officiating our matches since 2004!

As this is being published beforehand it does not include Good Friday when Gareth Hewer is refereeing the Super League match between Salford Red Devils and Catalans Dragons.

fevnut's blog: Easter weekend (Toronto & Rochdale)

Matches 9&10: Toronto (Home) and Rochdale (Away) both Championship

fevnut's musings

The Glorious Easter Weekend

It used to be (prior to 1996) that Easter Weekend saw what was actually or almost the culmination of the league season. Now that we play the summer seasons it has taken on a different meaning but one that fills us with anticipation nonetheless. For the two games over the weekend gives us a real sense of how the season is panning out. Before then the tables are comparatively meaningless but once Easter is over we get a much clearer picture of how things are turning out.

In the Championship London, Toulouse, Toronto and our beloved Fev would appear to be pulling clear BUT there can be little doubt that should Leigh get their act together they could still become a 5th challenger for the top 4. Last weekend’s 36-0 win against Dewsbury suggests that they may have started to make progress.

The weekend brings us some mightily significant ties. Fev at home to Toronto and London at home to Toulouse on Friday to be followed by Leigh at home to London and Toulouse at home to Toronto on Monday. We wish we could see all those games as well, of course, as our away match at Rochdale on Monday. It seems to us that those matches provide more significance than the so called ‘derby’ games in Super League on Friday.

The Moaners

Easter is also the traditional time of year for coaches (particularly Super League ones) to start their moaning about fixture overload. It’s pathetic really. Surely, well paid full-time players should be able to manage two games in four days. It’s nothing like what used to happen around Easter time when there was often a huge backlog of matches that had been postponed during the worst of the winters that had to be played in order to complete the league competitions before the Championship play-offs or Premiership Trophy were due to begin. We had a look back at the programme undergone by Fev players around Easter in some seasons. 1946/47 was a particularly bad winter. Rovers played Hunslet on February 1st and then, in the next six weeks only played two games. The consequence was an astonishing run of 4 matches in 5 days in early April. Don’t forget those players were part-time and had full-time jobs as well. These were those matches:

Fri Apr 04	Bramley	Home	17-3	W
Sat Apr 05	Hull	Away	8-18	L
Mon Apr 07	Leigh	Away	7-4	W
Tue Apr 08	Hull Kingston Rovers	Home	14-0	W

As we said, it happened quite often. Another example, and there were many to choose from came after another bad winter in 1962/63. Just take a look at this. The schedule for the last 16 games of that season!

Sat Apr 06	Hull	Away	9-12	L
Mon Apr 08	Widnes	Away	11-11	D
Fri Apr 12	Leeds	Away	5-6	L
Sat Apr 13	Huddersfield	Away	12-6	W
Mon Apr 15	Leeds	Home	10-5	W
Sat Apr 20	Saint Helens	Away	5-18	L
Wed Apr 24	Workington Town	Home	15-15	D
Sat Apr 27	Halifax	Home	12-33	L
Mon Apr 29	Hull Kingston Rovers	Home	8-0	W
Sat May 04	Swinton	Home	10-11	L
Wed May 08	Widnes	Home	7-23	L
Wed May 15	Oldham	Home	30-8	W
Sat May 18	Hull	Home	24-14	W
Wed May 22	Workington Town	Away	5-30	L
Sat May 25	Huddersfield	Home	0-5	L
Wed May 29	Halifax	Away	17-7	W

Thank you to FreeSports TV

It was great that we were able to watch record and then watch their televised match from the Championship last weekend. They are currently showing all Toronto’s games. But this was particularly opportune because it was against Rochdale and thus we were able to see both our Easter opponents in action. What did we learn? First of all, that Toronto can have an off-day, but we should be wary because an off-day like that is often followed by getting it together next time. Secondly, we MUST NOT take Rochdale lightly. Their defence was really good and they put together some excellent attacking moves. They were really unlucky to end up losing to a late penalty that made the score 18-17 to Toronto.

Friday's Referee: Fev v Toronto

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 his record for this year.

Last Sunday we had a referee who had only refereed Fev once before. On Friday we have one who has never done a Fev match before. As the vast majority of his experience is in League One it seems a surprise appointment for such a high profile Championship encounter. He has only had a total of 6 matches: 1 Championship, 3 League One and 2 Challenge Cup.

Championship Talk: Stronger Together

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.

Stronger together

IF anyone thought that the clubs outside Super League were going to shrink quietly into the background when it was suggested that their funding should be cut, they were seriously mistaken.

          In case you’re unaware, this story originated in January, when a letter sent by the Wigan chairman Ian Lenagan to fellow top flight clubs back in October became public.

          It suggested a new structure with two top divisions of 10 - nothing too sinister in that and perhaps even a good way forward for the sport, if it can create a strong, fully professional second tier.

          But Lenagan also suggested “de-regulating” the third tier - effectively cutting the central funding to every club outside that top 20 and intimating they could operate as amateur clubs.

          Understandably, it hasn’t been greeted well by Championship and League One clubs, who have virtually united as one to oppose the idea in meetings between them.

          They have also formed a six-strong independent board consisting of chairmen from clubs in the two divisions, which is set to meet with their Super League counterparts later this month.

          Among those to express grave concerns about the proposal has been Whitehaven player coach Carl Forster, who has experienced the professional game in all three tiers.

          He said: “I just think it’s ludicrous - I don’t get where the logic comes for it.

          “Clubs like Whitehaven live off the RFL distribution money - it’s how we shape our budgets.

          “We try and bring in what we can ourselves as well, but if you take that funding away from a club like Whitehaven they could go bust, I don’t believe many would be able to carry on.

          “The amateur game in Cumbria is really strong, but for me you need that semi-professional level in the area for players to aspire to.

          “If the funding went, a lot of clubs like Whitehaven wouldn’t be able to survive in my opinion.”

          Forster believes that some people in Super League have little understanding of what goes into running a club outside the top tier.

          He added: “I just don’t think they realise what’s involved.

          “A lot of clubs at this level are family-orientated and run by volunteers.

          “I know this from being at clubs like Rochdale and Whitehaven - the groundsmen, people who sell lottery tickets, all things like that are often done for free and for the love of the club.

          “You can’t take that away from rugby league in my opinion.

          “These things are always about money aren’t they and everyone always wants a bit more.

          “But it’s to the long-term benefit of Super League clubs to have those lower divisions because it allows their dual reg and loan players a chance to play against adults at a good level.

          “The top eight or so clubs in our league could all give most Championship clubs a run for their money, and the Challenge Cup weekend proved that.

          “You have clubs like York and Bradford who are really getting their names out there, and to put all of that to an amateur status would be ridiculous for me.”

Batley v Fev: Teams and Scorers

Batley v Fev: Teams and Scorers
Championship Round 7

Championship Talk: Life in League One

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.

Life in League One

IT took only one minute but illustrated perfectly the depth of feeling among League One clubs at present.

          Less than 60 seconds after tweeting to praise York and Whitehaven’s Ladbrokes Challenge Cup wins over Championship Swinton and Dewsbury, a reply from Doncaster chief executive Carl Hall appeared.

          “And rumour is League One don’t contribute to the game,” wrote Hall, adding a couple of wide-eyed emojis.

          It was a thinly-veiled response to Wigan chairman Ian Lenagan’s proposal to other Super League clubs that there should be two top divisions of 20, and the rest should have their central funding cut completely.

          For clubs like Doncaster, York and Whitehaven that would be hugely significant. It would be for every single club that lay outside of that 20 “elite”.

          It should be stressed at this stage that this is only one man’s proposal, and if anything, the circulation of it has galvanised Championship and League One clubs and brought them together.

          But the Challenge Cup results were a timely reminder that teams at that level have plenty to offer the sport, both on and off the field.

          Whitehaven’s stirring 25-18 win at home to the Rams was in contrast to their form up until then, which had seen them lose both league matches including a thrashing at Doncaster.

          But Carl Forster’s men rose to the challenge at the Recreation Ground to book their place in the fifth round.

          There they will be joined by the City Knights, who rushed into a 20-0 lead against Swinton and withstood a Lions comeback to triumph 26-12 in a match played at Featherstone’s LD Nutrition Stadium.

          The debate about central funding is likely to run and run this year, with some Super League clubs apparently keen to take as much as possible for the top table, and those affected naturally defending their corner.

          This writer stands firmly in the corner of the clubs at the bottom end, who do thankless and tireless work in their local communities to provide semi-professional opportunities for talented rugby league players.

          There are officials at this level who have been pouring their own money into rugby league for a lot longer than some of those that want to cut their funding, and to overlook their clubs’ contribution to the sport is as disappointing as it is disrespectful.

          For the amounts of money that we’re talking - around £75,000 a year for each club in the third tier - it would be much better off continuing to let them use that to push the sport into their local communities than say signing another overseas player for top flight clubs, some of whom can’t even run more than one team.