Fev v Barrow: Teams and Scorers

Fev v Barrow: Teams and Scorers
Championship Round 17 

fevnut's blog: Fev v Barrow

Match 20: Barrow Raiders 

(Home) Championship

fevnut's musings

Half Backs and Hookers

We, like all Fev fans, were plunged into deep dismay with the news that not only had Martyn Ridyard suffered a long-term injury but that Tom Holmes was out for the rest of the season. We had been comparatively lucky with injuries up until then but to lose both half backs who had been at the centre of all that had been best in our performances this year was a hammer blow of massive proportions.

The gloom was partially lightened by an excellent display from Anthony Thackeray against Dewsbury. By far and away his best display of the season. No doubt contributory factors included that he had a point to prove and that he was back playing a controlling game in the team, which he clearly relishes. We also thought that Matty Wildie had his best game yet in the halves but still believe that he is better at hooker.

The fact is that we are woefully short, now, of cover in the half back and hooker positions. And these are the most difficult positions to fill with dual reg players because of their need to understand how the whole teams and how to direct them. Don’t get us wrong, Brad Dwyer did a good job, but we can’t rely on his availability. We have seen in the past how difficult it is to put other players into the hooking role. John Davies deservedly won the Player of the Year but was woeful when picked at hooker.

We sincerely hope that Mark Campbell and John Duffy see bringing in a quality hooker or half back in for the rest of the season as a high priority.

Super League Europe

This week we saw yet another attempt by the chairmen of SL to bully the whole of rugby league by announcing a new structure for 2019 as if it was a fait accompli. How dare they make such announcements over and above the Rugby League. But it’s typical and a long term problem, particularly from Wigan Chairmen who regularly show complete contempt for the sport. Maybe they would be happy if the only fare on offer was Wigan v Wigan U19! Some of us haven’t forgotten how rugby league was nearly ruined by the decision of Wigan to unilaterally go full-time resulting in the only real competition for several years was to be runners-up. Then the same Wigan Chairman managed to get into a position of leading the Rugby Football League and tried to destroy nearly all our clubs by way of mergers. There were to be only two clubs to survive unscathed and, yes, one of them was Wigan!

We once had a phone call from that same person and it was the most unpleasant call of our lives. For reasons too long to go into here fevnut ended up responsible for both Belle Vue and Post Office Road for a time back in the 1980s. We received a request from BARLA for their Yorkshire Cup final to be played at Belle Vue. A request we were very happy to grant. Then came the phone call and we were told that if we allowed the BARLA match to go ahead then Wakefield Trinity would be expelled from the Rugby League. It’s true! It was just bullying because there was a dispute going on between BARLA and the RL at the time. After we pointed out that if they took any such action against Trinity we would see them in court because it wasn’t, at that time, in the jurisdiction of Trinity to decide what matches could be played at Belle Vue. Needless to say, after realising that the bullying tactics weren’t going to succeed, we heard no more about it and the Yorkshire Cup final went ahead as planned.

Now you can see why we know that Wigan chairmen have absolutely no concern for rugby league. Then it was full-time and bullying clubs, recently it was unilateral declarations of what is going to happen such as reducing money to Championship sides and casting adrift the whole of League One.

That is why there are just a few occasions when we actually want Castleford to win. But it only happens when they are playing Wigan!

Penalties

Matches get ruined when there are too many penalties. That is usually the fault of the players rather than the referees. We have a bit of a worry about this coming Sunday because Featherstone and Barrow are this season’s two most heavily penalised teams in the Championship. Oh well, let’s see what happens.

Fev and Barrow: Comparative 2018 Match Stats

Fev and Barrow: Comparative 2018 Match Stats

The figures in the average columns are rounded to the nearest whole number

Championship Talk: Raiding the Championship

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.

Raiding the Championship

IT has almost gone under the radar with so much focus at the top end of the Betfred Championship, but Paul Crarey deserves considerable credit for his work at Barrow Raiders this year.

Sunday’s 20-6 win over Rochdale Hornets put the promoted Raiders on 13 points and in eighth place in the table.

Having drawn no fewer than three matches this year - two of them against Swinton - Barrow have only lost two more matches than full-time teams Leigh and London.

That’s an outstanding achievement having come up from League One, and at the moment they look a safe bet to preserve their Championship status.

Last year Swinton Lions survived with 16 points - and Barrow still have another 14 matches to play.

Their progress this year has been built on their superb home form, which has included taking a point from table-toppers Toronto and beating the Centurions.

They have also achieved it without the help of a dual registration partnership, something proud Barrovian Crarey is passionate about - along with sticking to a strict budget in their first season back in the second tier.

“We'll go with what we've got until the well runs dry,” Crarey told the North West Evening Mail earlier this month.

“I haven't asked for anybody and the board have said ‘if any money comes available, you can have someone’, and that's fine.

“If not, we're not going to bankrupt the club and we'll stick with what we've got and see if that's good enough to get us until the end of the year.

“We want to keep the identity of the team.”

That has meant plenty of opportunities for talented young local players, who have fitted in alongside impressive overseas duo Dean Parata and Alec Susino and evergreen veteran Martin Aspinwall.

Prop Joe Bullock has earned admirers in the top flight for his performances and even a handful of long-term injuries hasn’t disrupted the side too much.

Crarey stays loyal to an expansive style of rugby as well, and if his team replicates their first half of the season in coming months, he should be among the contenders for the competition’s Coach of the Year award.

The one blot on their copybook has been an inability to win on the road - their solitary point away from Craven Park came in a draw at Swinton.

They have another chance to amend that at Featherstone this weekend, but Crarey and his squad deserve recognition regardless for their impact in the Championship this year.

2018 Championship Club Sides: Updated June 13

2018 Championship Club Sides

This page will be updated weekly
Players in pink are dual reg players (either in or out)
Players in italics are on loan at the club
Players who have their name crossed out are not currently at the club (either out on loan or now signed for a different club)
Any players in white on black background have retired or been released during the season

This Week's Birthdays: June 17th to June 22nd

This Week's Birthdays: June 17th to 22nd

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. 

Sunday's Referee: Fev v Barrow

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.

Greg Dolan has officiated in just one Fev game this year. And that was his first game of ours since a Challenge Cup match 10 years ago!