Championship Talk: Don’t give up on the Bash

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.

Don’t give up on the Bash

EXCITEMENT on the field, questions off it.

The 2018 Summer Bash provided outstanding action between well-matched Betfred Championship sides, with some thrilling games playing out in the Blackpool sun.

But an aggregate attendance of 11,805 - around 30 percent down on last year’s record of 16,444 - attracted criticism in some quarters.

The crowd figure had risen in each of the three previous instalments of the event, but it came as no real surprise that this year’s weekend failed to reach those heights.

Taking out the considerable support of Bradford Bulls and Hull KR was always going to have a major impact, and has of course led to increases in crowds elsewhere in the sport this year.

I’m not sure we should be sounding the death knell of what has proved to be a successful event on the back of one year’s figure - especially given that should the Bulls return next season and be joined by a well-supported Super League club that has been relegated, it could be straight back up.

Speak to just about anybody that attends the Summer Bash and they are full of praise for it - a weekend that brings fans from various clubs together and, crucially, provides a showcase event for those supporters, players and coaches.

It shouldn’t be underestimated how important it is for players at this level to have a bigger stage to play on at least once a season, live on Sky Sports and at a neutral venue.

All the reasons for launching the Summer Bash are still in place - and if the attendance provides a genuine worry, then work harder to improve that rather than just shelving another rugby league innovation at the first sign of trouble.

Whether having Magic Weekend and the Bash as an extra fixture is fair is a separate argument completely - but while the Super League version remains in place, so should the Championship one in this writer’s opinion.

And there was plenty to relish and remember from 2018 as well - the dramatic finale to Toronto-Leigh, Halifax’s Scott Murrell-inspired win over top four rivals Featherstone and the brilliance of Toulouse full-back Mark Kheirallah.

There was Swinton Lions’ first win of the season over rivals Rochdale, the dynamism of Dewsbury’s Daniel Igbinedion and Cory Aston’s brilliant hat-trick for Sheffield.

Players, supporters and coaches will remember those moments for years to come - let’s hope it’s not as final acts in the Summer Bash’s run.

Fev v Halifax: Teams and Scorers

Fev v Halifax: Teams and Scorers
Championship Round 15 @ Summer Bash

fevnut's blog: Fev v Halifax (Summer Bash)

Match 18: Halifax 

(Summer Bash) Championship

fevnut's musings

We loathe Blackpool

Do you remember, back in 2006, when the full fury of the Aussie press was launched upon Leon Pryce. He was in Australia with the Great Britain Lions touring tem for a three test series. We thought that he had lost his marbles. Not for disparaging for Bondi but because he would have had a case if he had compared it unfavourably to one of the Yorkshire coastal resorts but Blackpool - absolutely crazy! We loathe Blackpool, and have got to almost dreading Summer Bash. It’s never the best of journeys but to have the Bash there on a Bank Holiday weekend means it is impossible to avoid the most terrible traffic jams. We’ve tried several alternative routes but never managed to escape from nose to nose clogged up roads.

We never did like Blackpool, ever since attending Trade Union conferences there many moons ago. It’s why we never attend the whole weekend. For us it is get in and get out as soon as possible although this year we are trying a different approach and staying overnight but some way out of Blackpool to the North. A decision brought about so that we can be there to watch Fev Ladies in action at 12.30 on Saturday.

Of course, our Blackpool phobia has been hugely compounded by the agony of watching Fev at Bloomfield Road over recent years. Three times at Summer Bash and three defeats.

24-May-15	Leigh Centurions	C	12-31 L	2015	SB
29-May-16	Halifax	C	0-37 L	2016	SB
27-May-17	London Broncos	C	16-42 L	2017	SB

That’s an aggregate score of 28 points for Fev and 110 against! And there’s more Bloomfield woe because we were there for a Northern Rail Cup final against Halifax that we lost 21-12 in 2012.

It does seem to be Bloomfield Road that is the curse because we never lost playing against Blackpool Panthers or Blackpool Borough.

But all bad things have to come to an end and we are absolutely desperately hopeful that the curse of Bloomfield Road will be ended by a great Fev win this year.

Top 4

At the end of April we were sitting pretty in second place in the Championship and there were many Fev fans who seemed to be absolutely confident that we were heading for a top 2 finish. We were rather more sanguine having looked at the schedule of matches for May.

The fact is that now we are down to fourth, with the worst points difference of the top 5, and have a fight on our hands to ensure that we get into the qualifiers this year. Leigh, who began the season with 5 losses in 6 games, have won their last 11 games and are playing with a restored confidence clearly shown by their defeat of Salford in the Challenge Cup. They are just two points behind us with a points difference that is 47 better than ours. London Broncos had a wobble in late March/early April but now seem to be back playing very well with Sammut in sparkling form. And, although they have a considerably worse points difference than ours, Halifax are just 3 points behind and have a game in hand. So the breaking of the curse of Bloomfield Road is incredibly important. WE MUST BEAT HALIFAX.

As we said we knew that May was going to be a difficult but we did think we would do better than the way it turned out, another reason why it is so important to win at Summer Bash and finish the month on a better note.

We then have a week off, followed by a run of potentially easier fixtures. Of course, our final two Championship fixtures (London at home and Toronto away) are very tricky indeed so we really need to be well established in the top 4 before we get to those. What we need is, starting with Summer Bash, to have our own run of 7 wins in a row before we head into the final two weeks.

Saturday's referee: Fev v Halifax (at Summer Bash)

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.

So, it's Tom Grant. fevnut has been dreading that since his last time when he reffed the home match against Swinton and had a very poor game indeed, and that is being kind. He also seems to have a propensity for sending Fev players off, having done so the last three times he has been in charge. It was Misi for fighting against Swinton, Rich Moore for a swinging arm against London Broncos and Rich Moore again for fighting (after the final hooter had gone!) against Halifax at the end of last year. If he plays, Rich better be very careful!

Championship Talk: Wolfpack makes amends

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.

Wolfpack makes amends

IT’S fair to say there were even more eyes than usual on Toronto Wolfpack in Newcastle last weekend.

The Canadian club were the centre of unwanted attention when they crashed out of the Challenge Cup 66-10 at Warrington, having had one man sent off, three sin binned and playing with 10 men at one stage.

But last Saturday they presented a much better version of their Super League credentials in beating Toulouse 43-30 in the Magic Weekend opener.

          “We got back on track from the previous week and had a better character and attitude towards the game,” coach Paul Rowley said.

          “If anything, when things didn’t go our way we were a lot less petulant in our reaction to adversity and it was a step in the right direction.

          “To knock off the second placed team gives us a nice little cushion and I was happy with the outcome and the attitude of the players.”

Asked about whether his side were conscious of creating a better impression in Newcastle, Rowley said: “We reviewed the first half against Warrington because everybody said they thought we’d done alright.

          “But we weren’t happy with the first half, and the second half was a reflection of that.

          “We were really honest and hard on ourselves in the review, and weren’t happy at all. That’s not the way we want to portray ourselves.

          “Newcastle was an opportunity to not right the wrong, but certainly to put our best foot forward and show what we are about as sportsmen.

          “Fate dealt us a good hand with the Toulouse goal kick that was allowed but clearly missed. It was a good test for how we responded - this time last week we threw our toys out of the pram and it was how we kick on from those situations.

          “We came out with a really good attitude and as luck would have it we then had a try go in our favour. We were rewarded for our attitude and got away with one.”

          Rowley believes the best is still to come from his side as they head towards the business end of the season.

          “That win put us five points clear at the top of the league after just one home game and that’s not a bad achievement from these boys, who we’ve recruited as the season’s gone on,” he added.

          “We’re yet to play a prolonged period together, but the signs are there.

          “That’s why I’m more about the attitude and commitment, and how we go about our business, because I know the performances will come with practice and togetherness.”

Players Birthdays: May 26th to June 9th

This Week's Birthdays:
May 26th to June 9th

Each year we try to do something a bit unusual. This year we are celebrating the birthdays of players in the Super League, Championship and League 1. Usually we list birthdays for the week from our next match but because we have no match in the first week of June this time the birthdays listed are for a longer period.

An oddity
Of the 32 players who are in the Fev Squad for 2018 or who have played for Fev in 2018 no fewer than 11 have their birthdays in February or March and only one had theirs in April or May. 

Fev v Leigh: Teams and Scorers

Fev v Leigh: Teams and Scorers
Championship Round 14

fevnut's blog: Fev v Leigh

Match 17: Leigh Centurions 

(Home) Championship

fevnut's musings

Challenge Cup: Man of the Round

We had a bit of an indulgence with the 6th round of the Challenge Cup. As well as, of course, attending Fev’s match we watched the three other televised games and managed to catch highlights of the other four as well.

So we thought we would select a Man of the Round.

From our own match there were two contenders. Luke Briscoe for equalling the record for tries in successive matches and Gareth Hock because we thought he made a huge difference when he came on. It was undoubtedly his best match yet in a Rovers shirt and what a pity that he won’t be able to play against Leigh. We ended up choosing Gareth Hock for our shortlist of three.

From the Hull KR against Wigan we thought there was only one possible contender and that was Sam Tomkins but it wasn’t a good game and there was no one really worthy of the Man of the Round.

We have to reluctantly admit that Leigh were very good against Salford and it was really pleasing to see one Championship side beating Super League opposition. We thought that both Peter Mata’utia and Harrison Hansen were excellent and will obviously be a threat to us on Saturday. But were they outstanding enough to take fevnut’s award? We don’t think so.

In the Widnes match against Leeds both sides seemed rather poor and the only memorable thing was the Widnes fightback even though it was in vain. Best player on the pitch for us was Stevie Ward but nowhere near outstanding enough for the award.

Huddersfield Giants against Wakefield was also a poor match and there were no contenders there.

We only managed to find the briefest of highlights from the tie between Catalans and Whitehaven so we couldn’t possibly select anyone from this one.

In the match between Castleford and Saint Helens, Ben Barba was brilliant yet again so he got onto the short list. What a joy it is to watch him playing. An incredible talent who enhances the pleasure of watching every match in which he plays.

That leaves just the tie between Toronto and Warrington. To be honest it was a pretty terrible advert for the sport we love and with the way that Toronto played we were glad that they ended up being hammered. Their attitude reminded us of the worst sort of sportsmanship we saw a couple of years back from Leigh. Could it possibly be the result of them having the same coach? Yes, of course it could. But you may be surprised to know that the third person on our shortlist for Man of the Round did come from this match.

The Verdict

Third place on fevnut’s Man of the Round goes to Gareth Hock for his outstanding contribution in galvanising the Featherstone team after they had been taken apart in the early stages of the match and his contribution led to them matching a very powerful Hull FC for the rest of the game when it looked as if they were going to get a very big beating.

Second place goes to Ben Barba. What a joy it was to watch a player who is so brilliant and plays with a smile on his face the way that Ben does.

And the winner, fevnut’s man of the round is ……. Ben Thaler!!! Well, we did say ‘Man’ of the Round not ‘Player’ of the Round.

Three weeks ago we wrote about how feigning injury and dissent were ruining the spectacle of rugby league and making it increasingly difficult for referees to do their job properly. Well, Ben Thaler was having absolutely none of that sort of nonsense and rightly exerted his authority when the Toronto players tried it on. He red-carded one Toronto player for a punch and two yellow cards for dissent. If only more referees would be show the strength that Ben Thaler did that day. A no-nonsense performance that should be a lesson to all his colleagues. We give him the award because he did more for the good of rugby league than any player during the 6th round of the Challenge Cup!

fevnut’s confession

When Fev signed Gareth Hock we thought it was a big mistake. We thought that his disciplinary problems and his style of play were unsuited to the way in which Duffy had got us playing. WE WERE WRONG. Apologies to Gareth, Apologies to John Duffy and Apologies to Mark Campbell.

Saturday's Referee: Fev v Leigh

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.

Matt Rossleigh taking charge of his second Fev game. Has he got sufficient experience to handle a potentially tough game between Fev and Leigh. We shall see!

Championship Talk: Contrasting Fortunes

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.

Contrasting fortunes

THE four non-Super League clubs in the last 16 of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup certainly had varying experiences last weekend.

          It’s impossible not to start with Leigh, who passed their test against top flight Salford with flying colours in a 22-10 win.

          The opening stages apart - when the Centurions fell 0-10 behind - Kieron Purtill’s improving side dominated the match, both in the forwards and in terms of ball control and cutting edge.

          Halfbacks Ben Reynolds and Drew Hutchison completely outplayed their opposite numbers, Harrison Hansen rolled back the years with an outstanding performance in the pack, and full-back Peter Mata’utia was a joy to watch throughout.

          The performance bodes well both for Purtill’s permanent job hopes (still unconfirmed at the time of writing) and the Centurions’ prospects if they can make this year’s Qualifiers.

          Leigh have been drawn away at Leeds in the quarter-finals, but with the game being staged at Featherstone, they could cause the Rhinos some genuine problems.

          On Thursday night, Featherstone themselves were involved in a remarkable clash that finished with Hull FC having just nine men.

          John Duffy’s team looked set for a stern lesson when they trailed 0-18 after just 13 minutes, but the remainder of the game finished 20-20 and Rovers certainly showed their prowess with the ball at times.

          On Saturday, the last remaining League One club Whitehaven gave Catalans an early scare before succumbing to a 56-10 defeat in Perpignan.

          Tries to Jessie Joe Parker and Dave Thompson in the space of four first half minutes saw them trail their Super League opponents just 12-10 well inside the second quarter.

          But the French side’s quality eventually shone through, although Haven player coach Carl Forster will take much out of the experience.

          Finally - and most dramatically - Toronto Wolfpack took on Warrington on BBC2 on Sunday.

          The Championship leaders were 10-6 ahead when Andrew Dixon was dismissed for punching Harvey Livett, having already had Liam Kay sin binned for a dangerous tackle.

          In the remaining 41 minutes they conceded 60 points, including a spell with 10 men when captain Josh McCrone and prop Darcy Lussick were yellow carded for dissent.

          Coach Paul Rowley later used the words “shambolic” and “nightmare” to describe the second half, although the first showed the potential in the side if they can keep their discipline.

          The Wolfpack get another chance on the big stage at Magic Weekend against Toulouse and will be keen to make amends quickly.

Player Birthdays: May 13th to May 25th

This Week's Birthdays:
May 13th to May 25th

Each year we try to do something a bit unusual. This year we are celebrating the birthdays of players in the Super League, Championship and League 1. Usually we list birthdays for the week from our next match but because the Hull FC match was on a Thursday we didn't have time to compile all the usual pages so this time the birthdays listed are for a longer period.