The Phantom Horseman

A good weekend for us in terms of the table, not only did Barrow, Halifax, Doncaster and Widnes all lose, but the first three mentioned all had better points difference than us beforehand, but don't now. Think we saw once again the inconsistency of Championship teams and how hard it is to back up from a tough game, Barrow were pretty weak in contact after the first 20 minutes despite (or perhaps because of) having beaten Bradford last week. Hunslet almost beat us a week after we had a gruelling cup final but shipped 130 points at home against Barrow and London in their next two games, the form book is completely out of the window in the Championship this year as a tough game or a couple of injuries seem to make a huge impact. For that reason it's a bit tricky to judge our performance because I don't think that was anywhere near the best version of Barrow, but we got the job done without too many worries and scored some good tries. Perhaps the biggest bonus yesterday was we got a significant performance out of Siti Akauola, obviously he's been hampered by injuries/fitness earlier this year and it remains to be seen if he can continue with the form he showed yesterday but that was way better than anything he's shown previously this year. For me King V stands out almost every week in terms of contact, we still struggle to win the collision at times but defensively in particular he's like a brick wall, I really hope we can get him back next year.

For the second time this season I don't think Fev saw the best version of Barrow, the inconsistency of most teams in the Championship this year is crazy (which is why I think York are probably the best team at the moment, they seem to be at least 7 or 8 out of 10 every week). Barrow were pretty moderate and after a shakey first 20 minutes Fev were not bad. From looking dead and buried in terms of the play-offs a few weeks ago, Fev have gained crucial wins against Widnes, Barrow (x2), and Halifax in the last couple of months that have enabled them to claw their way back into the top 6, having been one from the bottom after losing 6 of the first 8 games. Looks like the 5 teams in the current 5 to 9 slots are competing for the last 2 play-off spots. My gut feeling is that Fev and Doncaster are the two favourites for those last 2 spots on recent form, which makes the game at the Eco-Power Stadium on 17th August a big one.

Toulouse at 100% are really good. They're clearly missing Shorrocks & Ashall-Bott, in particular, at the moment, but they also tend to throw in 2 or 3 absolute clunkers away from home each year. London improving steadily with one or two useful additions/returns over the last few weeks, so not easy to call.

Cooke suggesting in his pre-game interview that King might play. https://www.facebook.com/FevRoversRLFC/videos/1416910549616460

It's just really hard to forecast games in the Championship as teams are so inconsistent. Barrow are missing a few looking at their squad (Bradley Walker, Josh Wood, Andrew Bulman, Jarrod Stack and Ryan King all missing for instance), but they have Salford's Joe Bullock who they didn't have when we played at their place. I thought they were very poor that day but given their result against Bradford we have to prepare for the best version of them.

Cooke said in his interview after the York game that King might need another week ie the Barrow game might come too soon. Not surprising if Wynne isn't fit for Sunday, also not surprising in the grand scheme of things that York's full back didn't get a ban judged on the disciplinary update today, but I think it's pretty poor that the RFL no longer see fit to publish the reasoning behind bans/non bans for incidents such as this that were placed on report.

Brad Day missing this week hence Ruan presumably.

See the top of the forum. "The place to talk about anything other than Rugby League".

Yes but that's not an inherent advantage to being in SL over being in the Championship. In any case my gripe with IMG isn't against the system in its entirety, but some of the scoring, not just the incumbency bias but also the catchment area and a couple of other issues.

No, straight P&R isn't comparable in this sense at all. Under straight P & R a team that finishes top/wins the Grand Final doesn't have to worry that the team at the bottom of SL might have higher crowds/more sponsorship/more merchandise sales.

Yeah for clarity I don't doubt they'll manage to push it through. I guess I'm just aggrieved that we're in July and there's still some discussion about the methodology of how we work out who goes in what division next year, but I should know better because we've been here plenty of times before!

Yes my bad, you're correct, but it still highlights the massive inbuilt advantage of being in SL. One year being in SL will signficantly boost your attendances and lots of other financial areas, 3 in a row will make you almost untouchable for Championship clubs barring a Salford-style meltdown.

Seriously? Their average attendances more than trebled from 2023 to 2024 (1,079 to 3,282). That's a 1.25 point rise in IMG points on its own. You really think this is down to "taking things seriously", rather than the fact that every club gets more supporters when they move from Championship to SL, including a lot of healthy support from away clubs? I must admit I'm still wondering how they get this through without facing the prospect of legal challenges. From the 2025 Operation Rules "At the end of the 2025 Super League Season the RFL shall confirm each Club’s Grading position with the top 12 ranked sides being placed in Super League for the following Season as set out in the Grading Handbook, such Grading Handbook being subject to amendment as approved by the Board from time to time." If a team that finishes in the top 12 doesn't get into SL next year - or indeed a team that finishes in the top 14 doesn't get into a 14-team SL - all hell's going to break loose, isn't it?