Match 31: Dewsbury Rams (Home) Championship Shield
fevnut's musings
League Structure (Part 2): Why we fell out of love with the
Qualifiers.
We remember, when it was announced
in 2014, giving a big thumbs-up to the announcement of a new structure
including the Super 8s. We were prompted to do so because it was the end of ‘franchising’
and the re-introduction of a route whereby Championship clubs could win
promotion to Super League.
But now we have well and truly
fallen out of love with the Qualifiers. It soon became patently clear that a
part-time Championship club had absolutely no chance of gaining promotion. So
it has driven some of the better Championship clubs to go full time and thus
made it virtually impossible for many to compete. We are glad that Fev didn’t
go down that route, apparently having learned the lesson of Sheffield doing so in
2016 with near disastrous consequences.
On the two occasions we have taken
part in the Qualifiers it has led to a miserable end of the season for Fev fans
watching us, more often than not, getting heavily beaten by full-time super
league teams with financial resources we can only dream about. In fact, looking
through the Qualifier matches since 2015 there was only one single occasion
when a part-time Championship club beat a super league team, that being in 2015
when Sheffield beat Wakefield in the last match of the season. It was a meaningless
match. Wakefield were already headed for a home match in the ‘Million Pound
Game’ whatever the result.
We are writing this before Friday’s
meeting at the RFL which is supposed to be sorting out the structure for 2019.
I hope the voice of the Championship and League 1 clubs will win the day and
ensure that there is no change for next year. That’s because, as we wrote last
week, mid-September is an absolutely unacceptable time to change the structure
for the following year.
We believe that there should be
changes but they should be decided a good twelve months before they take effect.
Every club should go into pre-season with a clear knowledge of what they are
playing for.
So, we are hoping that from 2020 or
2021 the Super 8s will disappear. Next week we will write about what we believe
to be a better structure for professional and semi-professional rugby league.
Harry Newman
Last week we witnessed
a truly magnificent try at Sheffield from Harry Newman. It included pace,
swerve, side-step and made a mockery of the Sheffield full-back’s repeated attempts to
tackle him. For us it was the best try we had seen this season.
We mentioned
on social media how it had reminded us of watching a young Paul Newlove, definitely
the greatest centre we ever saw. There were lots of Fev fans who agreed with
that, but some thought it ‘ridiculous’ to make the comparison. We didn’t
compare Newman to Newlove we just said it reminded us. Very different. And we
do wonder if some of those who were so indignant were the very people who
called Newy a traitor when he signed for Bradford Northern!
We are
useless at seeing the full potential of youngsters. Sometimes we get it right,
sometimes horribly wrong. We once saw an 8 year old that we thought, despite
his diminutive size, would go on to become an international. That time we were
right. But we also thought a 20 year-old who played four games for Fev on loan
would never get anywhere in professional rugby league (and there were plenty of
other Fev fans who agreed). Well, this particular individual became one of the
most renowned props in the modern era and also became the Great Britain
captain!
We will be
watching the development of young Harry with more than a passing interest.
Dear Mr
Hetherington, we are sure that it would be best for his development to let him
have the opportunity of a full season in the Championship rather than a few odd
opportunities on dual registration. Please arrange a season long loan for him
at Fev next year!
By the way,
here IS a comparison produced a bit tongue-in-cheek! In Newy’s first season he
scored 18 tries in 30 appearances. So far Harry Newman has scored 13 tries in
10 appearances. And before anyone has another go, we are fully aware of the fact
that Newy was scoring his tries against the likes of Leeds, Warrington and
Saints. That’s why someone can remind you but there is never a fair comparison
in the circumstances!
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