Fev v Swinton (Challenge Cup): Teams and Scorers

Fev v Swinton:
Teams and Scorers
Challenge Cup Round 4

Fev v Swinton (Challenge Cup): 19 man squads

Fev v Swinton: 
19 Man Squads

19 Man Squads

Fev and Swinton have now both announced their 19 man squads for our match on Saturday. We have placed players into positions with guess work largely based on the line-ups for the teams in their last matches. 

Dual Reg players are not usually permitted to play in Challenge Cup ties but we are led to believe that Harry Smith and Liam Forsyth are now with Swinton for the whole year so they will feature, and Jack Broadbent has been sent on dual reg to Fev by Leeds.

fevnut's musings #13: What is wrong?

fevnut's musings

Reactions

At Swinton on March 17th we got our first away win. But quite frankly it wasn’t good. Against a team who had lost all their previous seven matches we put up a poor show and compounded that by getting three players sin-binned.

But we were reasonably confident that an honest analysis of the win would lead to a reaction leading to a much better and more disciplined performance in our next game. How wrong we were!

Dewsbury

A week passed and we arrived at the LD Nutrition stadium confident, only to be served up a really lack-lustre effort. Some people have tried to put the blame on the referee. Absolute nonsense - we were beaten by a team that were far superior on the day.

What was the difference?

Much had been made of how the Dewsbury team was packed full of former Fev players who would be out to prove a point. Well, if that was in their minds (and frankly we doubt it) it just might have spurred them on to putting in extra effort, but it wouldn’t have allowed them to dominate the match.

As we saw it, the factors that made the difference were rugby intelligence and leadership. They were to be seen in abundance from Liam Finn and Paul Sykes who completely controlled the game. The way they controlled the game and the Dewsbury team was precisely what we were lacking.

Leadership

You can have a coach who produces a great game plan but unless you have the players on the field to organise play and ensure the game plan is executed a game plan is of no use.

As Fev fans we have been used to having really good organisers. We don’t have to go back far. Three prime examples are Stuart Dickens, Tim Spears and, of course, Liam Finn. When they were around it would have been unimaginable that our players would not have been organised, each doing their own job and linking effectively with one another. When they were around, when the opposition scored there was always animated talk behind the posts whilst the conversion was being taken.

It looked as though that was really lacking against Dewsbury and in most of our matches this season as well.

A coach organises the team during training, makes decisions about interchanges and sends out messages to his team. But a successful team needs an on-field leader as well. Someone has to step up to the mark and really get to grips with that role or there will be more poor displays like the ones we have seen in the past fortnight.

Making the best of our talents

In the backs we have players who can produce fantastic attacking rugby. In particular Luke Briscoe and Harry Newman. Last week they were almost completely starved of the opportunities to use their talent. There was one great move that resulted in Luke’s try but for most of the match they were starved of any decent passes. It almost felt as if we were trying to play a match with 13 forwards and it didn’t work.

Negativity?

You may think this week we have been very negative. It’s not meant that way. We have a squad of good players but the performances over the last fortnight have been well short of their capabilities. It’s what happens when you have so many new players and is not helped by the continual chopping and changing brought about by dual registration and loans. A situation that cries out even more than usual for someone to take charge on the field. Blips happen but what the fans need is to see that we are learning from them. Come on, get a grip!

Fev and Swinton: 2019 Comparative Match Stats

Fev and Swinton: 
2019 Comparative 
Match Stats

Saturday's referee: Fev v Swinton

This Week's Referee

Our referee this week was in charge when we played Sheffield earlier this month. This year he has been refereeing both Super League and Championship matches.

T'Other Side: Swinton Lions

T’Other Side: Swinton Lions

2019 Matches

FIRST TEAM SQUAD

LAST TIME OUT

Head Coach: Stuart Littler

Stuart Littler was promoted to the position of Head Coach in July 2017 last year when John Duffy moved to Fev. He guided them to survival in the Championship, avoiding relegation by one place in the Championship Shield. Then last year he repeated the survival by virtue of the Championship being increased to 14 teams and a play-off against Workington.

His playing career was primarily as a centre. He began with Salford in 1998 and stayed there until moving to Leigh in 2011. In 2014 he played for Rochdale on loan and then spent the final two years of his playing career with Swinton in 2015 and 2016. He also played 19 games for Ireland.

Captain: Rhodri Lloyd

Rhodri Lloyd is now in his first year as the Swinton Lions captain. His professional career began with South Wales Scorpions in 2011 (on loan from Crusaders RL) and then in 2012 he was signed by Wigan but during his 4 years there he only played 7 games spending most of his time on loan or dual reg with South Wales (2012 and 2013), Leigh (2013), London Broncos (2013), Whitehaven (2014) Workington (2015) and Swinton (2015). He then signed for Swinton during 2016 and has remained there ever since.

He has played 15 times for Wales including in the 2013 and 2017 World Cups.

At the back

Matty Ashton is a winger or centre who has made a remarkable start to his professional career. Last year he was playing for Rochdale Mayfield ARL. So far this year he has scored 5 tries in 5 matches and a fortnight ago was named by League Express as man of the match against Fev.

Mike Butt is a winger and is also a regular try scorer. He has been with Swinton since making his professional début in 2015. Last year he was played for the Wales.

This season Jack Hansen has been playing at fullback although in his career to date he has usually played at halfback. He started with North Wales Crusaders in 2016 and transferred to Swinton in July 2017.

Daley Williams is an experienced centre whose career began back in 2005 with Keighley. The following year he was signed by Salford and then in 2009 he returned to Keighley. In 2011 he joined Batley and then, in June 2012, Dewsbury. 2013 saw him return for his 3rd spell at Keighley before joining Hunslet last season.

In the halves

Last year scrum-half Rob Fairclough had two loans spells with Swinton from Saint Helens last year. Although he never got to play in the Saints first team he did play for the England Academy in 2016.

Oscar Thomas who is a Scottish international. He has joined from Sheffield. He started with London Broncos but first played for Skolars on dual reg in 2013. He moved to Bradford in 2016 and joined Sheffield last year. He usually plays at either stand-off or full back and is a goal-kicker.

At Hooker

Luke Waterworth has been Swinton’s starting hooker in all their games so far this year. He made his professional début for Wigan against Hull KR in March 2016 and later that year went to Swinton on loan. He signed for Swinton in 2017.

In the pack

Frankie Halton who was signed this year from Leigh Miners Rangers ARL is a second row forward and has played in all bar one match so far this year despite it being his first season as a professional.

Prop forward Lewis Hatton has also played seven out of eight matches. He is a prop forward who joined Swinton this year having been at Rochdale Hornets in 2017 and 2018.

Kyle Shelford plays at either second row or loose forward. His career started at Wigan in 2016 and that year also played for Swinton on loan. He had a further loan spell with Workington in 2017 and then he joined Swinton last year. He is the son of former New Zealand, Wigan and Wakefield player Adrian Shelford.

Dual Registration and Loans

Swinton Lions do not have any players currently on loan but they have a dual registration agreement this year with Wigan Warriors. So far this season there have been 7 Wigan players who have appeared for Swinton. They are: Liam Byrne (2 appearances, loose forward), Liam Forsyth (7 appearances, back), Josh Ganson (1 sub appearance, hooker), Chris Hankinson* (5 appearances, centre), Liam Paisley (5 appearances, second row/centre) Oliver Partington (3 appearances [1 as sub], loose forward) and Harry Smith (7 appearances, stand-off)

* Wigan signed Chris Hankinson from Swinton last July

Although it is unusual for dual reg players to be allowed to play in the Challenge Cup it has been suggested that Wigan have agreed to Liam Forsyth and Harry Smith staying with Swinton for the whole season so they may be available.

The Fev Connection

There aren’t any members of the current Rovers squad who have previously played for Swinton.

The only member of the Swinton squad who has played for Fev is Gavin Bennion. He made one substitute for Rovers in 2014 while on loan from Warrington.

Championship Talk: Up for the Cup

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.

Up for the Cup

THIS weekend sees the Championship clubs join the Coral Challenge Cup, with a host of fascinating clashes in prospect.

The BBC has chosen the Yorkshire derby between Keighley Cougars and Bradford Bulls to screen online on Sunday afternoon, where a bumper crowd is expected to see Craig Lingard’s side attempt to upset the odds.

It is the biggest match since the relaunch of the Cougars, and John Kear - the old master of the Challenge Cup shock - will be wary of his team playing the fall guys for once.

Having recorded an impressive 26-12 win over Leigh last weekend, the Bulls will justifiably start as strong favourites.

Two former cup winners meet at Sheffield, where the Eagles host Leigh Centurions in one of just three all-Championship ties.

With both currently in the top five after encouraging starts to the campaign, that should be a cracker.

The other two second tier clashes see Featherstone host a Swinton side that recorded their first win of the season at Barrow on Sunday, and the Raiders looking to bounce back from that defeat at home to York 24 hours later.

There are still four amateur teams left in the competition and all will harbour dreams of one more win and a meeting with a Super League big gun.

The OuRLeague live match is the battle of the Crusaders, with Thatto Heath hosting North Wales on Saturday.

The following day Lock Lane travel to Batley, West Hull are at Dewsbury and Featherstone Lions host Doncaster at the LD Nutrition Stadium.

It’s a big ask for any of the quartet to progress, but history has shown it is far from impossible.

Elsewhere, Oldham have moved their home tie with Widnes to Stalybridge’s Bower Fold home to accomodate the travelling army of Vikings supporters, while Halifax face a tricky trip to table-topping and unbeaten Hunslet having struggled to find any consistency to date.

Whitehaven will be looking to repeat their 2018 win over Rochdale, having toppled the Championship side 38-0 on their own ground last year.

The match will also see Hornets coach Carl Forster and player Dan Abram return to their former club, having played for Haven in that victory.

With four Super League clubs joining in the next round, including Leeds Rhinos, the prospect of a coffers-boosting tie will act as a major incentive for everyone.

fevnut special: Fev and Swinton Cup Squads

Fev and Swinton: 
Cup Squads

19 Man Squads

Usually dual-Registration and loan players are not permitted by their parent clubs to play in Challenge Cup ties. That is because they would then become 'cup-tied' as a player can only play for one club in the competition each year.

As both Fev and Swinton have relied heavily on dual reg players and Fev have also used loan players, we have produced the chart below indicating players who probably won't be allowed to play on Saturday.

Jack Bussey also cannot play because he is suspended.

Fev v Dewsbury: Teams and Scorers

Fev v Dewsbury:
Teams and Scorers
Championship
Round 8

Fev v Dewsbury: 19 man squads

Fev v Dewsbury: 
19 Man Squads

19 Man Squads

Fev  and Dewsbury have announced their 19 man squads for our match on Sunday. We have placed players into positions with guess work largely based on the line-ups for the teams in their last matches. 

Although listed in our 19 man squad rumour has it that Harry Newman has travelled to Perpignan with the Leeds squad. Until that is confirmed we have still got him listed.

Fev and Dewsbury: 2019 Comparative Match Stats

Fev and Dewsbury: 
2019 Comparative 
Match Stats

All the stats below should point to a Fev victory. But there is one that is very strange. Dewsbury have kicked substantially more goals than they have scored tries. We've never seen that before. It clearly indicates that Paul Sykes, as well as having a tremendous season so far (he has kicked all the goals and has only missed 2) is kicking lots of penalties, so Fev need to make sure that they do not give away kickable penalties!

Reserves Match Report: Bradford v Fev

Bradford v Fev: 
Teams and Scorers
Reserves Competition
Round 2

Bradford Bulls Reserves v Fev Reserves: Wednesday March 20th

Travelling away to Bradford Bulls for a match at Dudley Hill was always going to be tough for our young and comparatively inexperienced side when they were facing a Bradford side that included 6 members of their first team squad, two with Super League experience, three who have played at international level and an England Academy player.

We count as members of first team squads any player who has been issued with a first team squad number.

The game started brightly for Fev with Bradford knocking on in the very first tackle of the game but, rather like a fortnight ago Fev were up against it and conceded four tries in the opening 20 minutes to go 18-0 down. That 20 minute period included a hatrick from Bradford centre Elliot Culling. The biggest problem, which persisted for most of the match, was a failure to organise properly against kicks.

And it wasn’t just kicks which demonstrated a lack of defensive organisation. In the 20th minute Bradford half-back, Cobi Green, was allowed to skip laterally along the defensive line until he found a huge gap and passed to Elliot Culling who was coming up at speed and found the perfect line to complete his hat-trick.

The Fev side must have felt hugely relieved to be awarded a penalty after 24 minutes which should have enabled them to progress up field but sadly the kick never found touch putting them under pressure yet again. The error was compounded by Fev then giving away a penalty for holding down in the next set.

Three minutes later Fev gave away a penalty on their own line and that led to Jon Magrin powering over from just three yards out.

Bradford’s 6th try in the 30th minute had an element of luck about it. A chip through by Alix Stephenson was not gathered by the defence. It bounced into the base of a post and he was able to simply fall on the ball for the try.

In the last ten minutes of the first half Fev played much better, helped by their kick off after the Stephenson try finding touch. A good passing move, though, was ended when the Fev winger was tackled into touch. just short of the line.

Shortly before half-time a slick handling move by Fev looked like bringing a try but sadly the final pass was too far in front of Nathan Wright and sailed into touch.

HT: Bradford 30 Fev 0

Bradford Second Row, Bradley Gallagher, who had scored their 1st try added two more in the 53rd and 60th minute against a Rovers defence that was looking much tougher than it had done earlier in the match. That brought the score to 40-0.

In the 65th minute the referee appeared to award Bradford a penalty near the Fev line and a fracas broke out. When it was all sorted out he surprisingly kept his cards in his pocket and reversed the decision awarding the penalty to Fev.

Bradford’s 9th and final try, in the 75th minute, was quite obviously the result of a very tired defence. Sam Smith found a huge gap and went in for the try completely unopposed.

With two minutes to go the Fev youngsters got the reward they deserved when good handling down the right and some incisive running saw Nathan Wright in and he was able to come a few yards off the touch line before planting the ball down helping Morgan Punchard to kick the conversion.

Paul March’s lads have a lot to learn but we are confident they are capable of doing so and with more experience the wins will come!

fevnut’s Man of the Match: Luke Walters