marklaspalmas

Good to see this thread has still got legs despite the IMG era being officially over with the reintroduction of NigeBall. I wonder if the youthful challenger of a thread about Wood will last as long as this gnarly veteran.

Left field suggestion. Will Cooke keep Olpherts on the wing, slot GG into centre,with Hardcastle's spot under threat? It's a smallish squad, but very tight and competitive at the moment, and even more so when Williams and O'Connor are ready.

Yeah, that's logical. So, assuming Day is ready, it's hard to see a place for Akauola in the 17, which is a shame for him, as he's improving.

I tend to agree, whilst recognising that's tough on Olpherts who deserved to be dropped but reacted positively and came back better.

There's the 21, but as other posters have pointed out, are all 21 fit and available? Confusion over Moran, is Turner making up the numbers? O'Connor and Williams still not ready. Stevens seems to be 18th man now. A decision needed about the 3/4ers. Who are our best two wingers, and does the third play centre? Or is that Hardcastle's spot if Day is fit? In the forwards, Akauola will get a bench spot if indeed Moran is no longer with us. Bit more speculation than normal about our matchday XVII

Me too

Done.

It's about that time of year that the rumours start about who's staying and who's leaving for next season. Maybe a thread about this will help keep it all in one place. Discounting loans and DR, Rovers have had 29 squad members in 2025, but seven players have already left (Herring, Lacans, Openshaw, Jeffries, Boothroyd, Arnold, Hatton). This is the squad list as it stands today, with the years of their contacts as announced when they signed. I'll update it as we go. 1 Caleb Aekins 2025 2026 2 Derrell Olpherts 2025 3 Carlos Tuimavave 2025 2026 5 Gareth Gale 2025 6 Ben Reynolds 2025 2026 2027 8 Gadwin Springer 2025 9 Will Jubb 2025 10 Jimmy Beckett 2025 2026 11 Brad Day 2025 2026 2027 13 Danny Addy 2025 14 Connor Jones 2025 2026 15 Sitaleki Akauola 2025 16 King Vuniyayawa 2025 17 Clay Webb 2025 19 Robson Stevens 2025 20 Josh Hardcastle 2025 21 Jordan Williams 2025 22 Calum Turner 2025 23 Connor Wynne 2025 24 Bailey O'Connor 2025 2026 28 Ryan Hampshire 2025 29 James Glover 2025 2026 2027

A few hints here from the head coach as to who's in tomorrow:

My best efforts at locating something for Featherstone Rovers games in 2025 have produced very slim pickings. A teamsheet from each home games. A match programme (hurray!) at Barrow. The 1895 at Wembley of course. A teamsheet from London as a PDF. Nothing from Widnes, York, Oldham (2 visits), Halifax and Catalans. Still to visit: Hunslet, Toulouse, Batley, Donny, Sheffield and Bradford.

Mate, stop buying CDs and take out (yet another) subscription to Spotify.

I know the feeling I get a lot of value out of my annual NRL pass tbh

40 quid a month on Watch NRL? I think I paid 125 quid for the whole year

We now have a 22 man squad plus the 2 loan signings.

Day, Williams and Wynne all in the squad for Friday