Wednesday, 15 September 2021

fevnut's musings #27: Liam Finn, 1,000 points and Milestones




Liam Finn


This week Liam announced his retirement at the end of the season so, if he plays, Dewsbury’s match on Sunday against Oldham will be the last in his professional career which started way back on August 4th, 2002 playing for Halifax against Castleford when he was only eighteen.

His wonderful time at Fev gives the impression that he was playing for us for many years. That is not actually the case. He played for us in 2005, when he came on loan from Wakefield and then signed as a Fev player a month later. At the end of the year he joined Dewsbury (his hometown club).

Liam returned to Fev for the 2010 season and stayed until the end of 2013 with Fev topping the Championship table in all four of those seasons, a magnificent feat and Liam was very much the lynchpin of the team during that time.

His remarkable performances are illustrated by the many records he set.

 


Liam’s technical ability combined with a wonderful ability to read the game and magnificent rugby league intelligence not only meant that we had a top-quality scrumhalf but also a player who brought out the best in the players around him. It is, therefore, no surprise that his time at Fev is very fondly remembered by all who watched him playing for us.

We are sure that all Rovers fans would want to wish Liam a very happy and fulfilling retirement. Thank you, Liam.

 

1,000 points


Last Sunday we took our points tally for the season to 1,015, only the 14th time in our history a Fev team have reached a 1,000 points. What makes it remarkable is that it has been done in a season with comparatively fewer games.

The record was achieved in 2011 with 1,253 points with an average of 40.4 points per game.

Currently, the average for this season is even higher at 40.6 points per game.

We need now is to score a mass of points against Sheffield on Sunday. Our likely play-off semi-final opponents will be either Halifax or Bradford and we have already shown the ability to score over 40 points against both of them at home.

And then, of course, we will almost certainly be taking on Toulouse in France in the Million Pound Game.

Fev fans need should be aware just how difficult that will be. Comparisons between the teams are very difficult when there is such a large disparity in the number of games played. But the average points scored and conceded is a pointer.

As mentioned above Fev are averaging 40.6 points per game. Toulouse are averaging 45.5. No great difference there. But there is a big difference in average points conceded. For Fev it is 20.8 and for Toulouse just 8.7.

This is NOT a matter of being pessimistic but rather a pointer to where some really hard work needs to be done between now and October 10th.

 

Milestones



We’ve never known it like this! As a consequence of the number of points Fev are scoring there are several Fev player milestones being passed every week.

On Sunday against London:

Callum Field made his 50th career appearance

Tom Holmes and Connor Jones both passed 50 points for Fev

Gareth Gale scored his 100th point for Fev and, because he has only played for Fev, that was also his 100th career point.

Congratulations to Callum, Tom, Connor and Gareth!

 



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