Match 22: Rochdale Hornets
(Home) Championship
fevnut's musings
England v New Zealand in Denver
What a joy it was to sit down in
front of the television to watch the much criticised game in Denver. It looked
bad to begin with but who would have guessed that an injury to Jonny Lomax
would have led to the re-shaping of the team and as a result England looked
much better structured and played with a freedom not seen before from a Wayne Bennett
coached squad. Don’t get us wrong. We have a lot of time for Lomax even though we
doubt if he has the quality to be an effective force at international level. It
seems to us that the transformation was almost entirely due to Jake Connor
coming on. He was brilliant. What a start to an international career! Let’s
hope that it is just the start. He has the potential to become the pivot around
which the England team revolves for many years to come. Especially if he can
somehow retain his guts and determination while curbing some of his less
savoury antics. But it certainly wasn’t a one-man performance from England.
Elliott Whitehead was outstanding as were all the pack. The three-quarters looked
the real deal once Tommy Makinson came on and we were no longer playing with a
second-rower at centre. Of course, we were up against a weakened New Zealand
team but it nevertheless showed so much promise. Let’s hope that the lessons
have been learnt. We are now looking forward so much to the Autumn test series
and believe it will be a cracking affair if Wayne Bennett sticks with the team
shape that played the second half in Denver. It will be great to see this England
team playing against a New Zealand team who we hope will be bolstered by the
inclusion of the likes of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Shaun Johnson.
Some people have expressed
disappointment that the crowd was only about 20,000. We think that was pretty
good. We also believe that there is huge scope for the development of rugby
league in North America. There has to be an opportunity to give a chance to
those who have not quite made the grade in American Football to find a sport
that is so much more enjoyable to play. That’s assuming that they are tough
enough to play a hich impact sport without their suits of armour!
Growth of Rugby League Internationals
The
international calendar for this year would have been inconceivable a few years
ago. In officially sanctioned European competitions participants include the
Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Malta, Russia, Scotland,
Serbia, Spain, Ukraine and Wales. The development in Europe has been phenomenal
but sadly has received only tiny publicity. Now it should be over to the southern
hemisphere to get their act together and afford the opportunities that the
Pacific Islands states deserve. And we don’t mean just one off tests in Sydney
as happened last weekend.
Football World Cup
Have you been watching it? We have
tried several times and more often than not fallen asleep on the sofa through
sheer boredom! We are writing this on Thursday. Tonight we have a choice
between watching England against Belgium in the World Cup or Wigan against Fev
Reserves (aka Leeds Rhinos) in Super League. Well, we will definitely choose
the latter and then possibly catch the highlights of the soccer match on the
news. Judging by the rest of the tournament there won’t be more than a couple
of minutes of it that are worth putting into a highlights package.
Luke Briscoe
Sometimes it can be really
frustrating being a Fev fan. Communication between the club and the fans leaves
a lot to be desired. We are all totally confused as to what the situation is
with Luke Briscoe. According to the official Fev statement he is ‘on-loan’ at
Leeds and then back playing with us on dual registration. Can you really have a
player on dual registration when he is your player anyway? And we thought the
rules state that loans have to be for a minimum of a month. According to
statements from Gary Hetherington Leeds have actually signed him for the rest of
this season which would seem to qualify him to play for us on dual reg. Surely
as loyal fans we deserve to have the position fully explained.
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