Steve Slater

Fev to win, even though I am worried about Jamie Field.......check the Batley programme from last year to see how many times he was on the losing side. I think Grayshon should go to loose forward with Spears coming into the 2nd.Row if he's fit enough. We need to maintain the aggressive defence where we keep the opposition pinned deep in their own half. Jessie Joe looked like he could step through them at will yesterday, and I'm not sure whether they will be able to keep him quiet if we give him quality ball, yet if they pay him too much attention Briggs will have another field day. If they try to shore up their left, Tommy & Welham will murder them down their right. It's nice for a change to speculate on our star players instead of worrying about Penky, Royston and Black, but if we ease up at all they have the individuals to hurt us. Fev 26 Fax 12, as long as the defence can still do its job without Jamie.

Does anyone know what happened to Jamie Field today? He went off early, and as far as I can remember, I don't think he came back on in the second half. Did he pick up any injury or was he just being rested for friday?

If Hardacre and one or two others look good enough for the first team, it may be a good idea to play them against Warrington, because it is a match we wouldn't be expected to win and would therefore have nothing to lose. If he or any of the others play a blinder we will know they are ready and it won't be such a risk throwing them in for future league games. Failing that, there's only Toulouse on 22nd.April or Keighley on 16th.May where you might possibly risk changing a winning side- all the other games look far too tough!

Rovers 30 Whitehaven 12 MOM Andy Kain Attendance: 1450 Our pack will be as solid as a rock once again, as long as we have no injuries. We won't be as effective without Kaye, but Andy Kain will stand out more and win the MOM, although it should really go to any of the forwards.

Kain is a top player, but he is not a leader. Finn is far better at taking us upfield and is a far better kicker. Kain has the zip and looks ideally suited for the acting half-back role. No-one has mentioned their defensive qualities. While neither of them can match Briggs in this department, the defence cannot be faulted whilst Finn has been starting at scrum half, so you know what they say about if it ain't broke!

Daryl admitted he messed up against Leigh, probably because they got beaten by York the week before? He obviously didnt rate them and rested the backbone of his pack to give the loan players a try out. Credit to the guy though, he held his hands up and admitted his mistake, saying he wouldn't repeat it. Even after his mistake, I wouldn't swap him for Ian Millward, or any other! We slipped up against Leigh because we underestimated them. I wonder if they will underestimate us and rest players when we play them next? I doubt it very much!

I thought that attendances would pick up after the marvellous away win at Halifax last year, but we went and shot ourselves in the foot when we were abysmal in the next home game against Toulouse! That is why it is imperative to win, and win well, against Whitehaven. Then, win lose or draw, we must put in a good performance against Fax. If we can avoid inept home displays like some of last year's horror stories, the stay-aways will slowly drift back. I feel quite confident that we can achieve all this, because this years squad looks more capable of achieving consistency. Although giving out free tickets is not the answer, I feel that genuine fans could be trusted to nominate former fans who they believe might come back to the club if they were re-introduced with a free ticket. I also think that season ticket holders from other clubs should be given half-price admission to the Thursday night televised games, especially against clubs like Toulouse who will bring little travelling support, otherwise the terraces will look bare.

Perhaps it's a good thing that Rovers won't get a franchise this time around, because the way some of the clubs are going about their business, to either get SL status or preserve it, one or two of them might not be here in a few years time. By that time the RFL might be asking sensibly run Championship sides to help out in Super League.....Or perhaps not? DREAM ON!

I think he's taken the Harris factor far too much into consideration. We that saw him all know that, taking the play-offs as a seperate issue, we did just as well in the League games without him, apart from the shocker against Toulouse after he went off injured. No, the player we missed most of all was Jamie Field, who was on the losing side only twice in the league:- Halifax at home and Barrow away. He didn't play either in the shock defeats at home to Dewsbury (NRC) and Whitehaven, which I believe was a major factor. He also didn't play in the defeat at Leigh the other week. Jamie and Matty Dale are the backbone of our pack and we rarely lose with them both in the side. The return from injury of Jamie Field is better than any major signing, but Dave Woods won't know that!

Fax were only a smidgin' away from beating Cas last year, taking them to extra time at the Jungle. Didn't Sheffield also go very close last year? Rovers might have a better chance if they rest a few regulars in order to lull the Wire into a false sense of security- They don't know how good our fringe players are!

Best wishes Bob, you are what Featherstone Rovers is all about. While ever there are supporters like you around, this club will never die!

I would rather have another easy home draw, because if DP is going to stick to picking his strongest team they will be ready for a rest by then, and the fringe players will be ready for another game. I assume the next round will be played on 18th. April, if so we would only have 4 days rest before the Thursday night game against Toulouse. Then we can play Cas or Wakey in the next round when thecrowd would be beigger, or better still, if we got another winnable game that would get us into the quarter finals.

It's not just the tries the wingers are scoring, it's the work they do from acting hal-back to bring the ball out of our half. Tommy Saxton used to be an enigma, now he's a revaltion on the wing. The props are also much fresher because they don't need to drive the ball in half as much. Well done Daryl!

It's difficult to understand coaches. I can't understand why we didn't field our strongest side against Leigh, when we had Rochdale coming up the following week-surely that was the time to try new combinations. It was the Bonus Point we didn't get at Leigh that cost us just as much as the draw against Sheffield.

Sheffield taught us a lesson I hope we will learn from. They are like a sticky bogey you can't get rid of, even when they are outplayed. The number of bonus points they earned last year is testimony to the fact that they never throw in the towel. I would tip them to finish high up the table again this year, above teams you would expect to do better. If Rovers want to improve on last year they must dig in when things are going against them, instead of falling apart.

I like Andy Kain, but as a junior partner, because he is not a leader. With Finn calling the shots Kainy will be outstanding again. But if Finn gets injured, I fear we will be the same as we were last year without Harris.

The team selected looks a good mix of regulars and hopefuls, so I tip Rovers to win, even though the points are meaningless, because over the next two matches (Hunslet & Workington) everyone will be playing for a place in the forthcoming league games. The regulars can't afford to slacken off, because if one of the hopefuls has a stormer, it might be his place he'll be taking.

Impressive performance, especially the way they defended for a 20 minute spell midway through the first half. I lost count on the number of consecutive sets they had due to some excellent grubbers from Tiger, causing us to concede drop-outs from under the sticks. Rovers didn't flinch, however, and came back strongly at the end of the half .with 2 further tries. One point I disagree on from a previous post is the inclusion of Jamie Field at loose forward. I think this is the best option as it gives us 3 back rowers on the field and makes us very solid. Early on in the season you get too many mistakes if you have too many ball-players, although playing a half-back ###### loose forward may be a better tactic later on in the season. Whoever plays there, however, would need to be as good on defence as Iestyn was last season.

One of the biggest farces in a competition that is deemed so important it can qualify a club for a SL franchise application, is the unequal fixture allocation where you can get edged out of your group by a club you haven't even played. I believe there could also be ruptions when Rovers play Hunslet. If they have no chance of qualification they are unlikely to play their strongest team, thus giving Hunslet a path into the next round at the expense of one of our rivals for a franchise application.

The weather forecast says there's a chance of snow on each of the next 3 days.

I have to disagree slightly Bro. Halifax showed the way early on last season when they almost beat Cas in the Cup. They WERE the best side by a country mile back then, but Barrow, Widnes and Rovers stepped up a gear to make it a great competition. When Rovers beat Fax at the Shay they could have kicked on and topped the league, but the following week they were awful against Toulouse and struggled for consistency until Harris returned from injury. Where we did fall short of Super League last season is that many matches were decided by injuries and suspensions to influential players. As far as this season goes, I feel the standard is poor due to lack of preparation and won't peak until this foul weather is long behind us. The schoolboy errors you saw against Sheffield, such as all the daft penalties conceded can't be easily rectified until we get some games in. As far as Rovers crowds go, every great win seems to be followed by a stinker, and when stay-aways return in hope they are disappointed. What Rovers need above anything else to improve crowds is consistency, especially at home.

True, last year Halifax regarded Watene and Thamgart as their first choice props, but they usually started on the bench.

No-one has mentioned revenue! We had some big crowds in the two seasons when Cas were scumming it with us, but under the present format we would only play them once instead of twice. Local derbies are what keeps the game going, so let's have more of them! I know we don't have a close rival at present, but other clubs do, and you never know....after the next round of franchises????? Well, I can dream can't I?

We have to assume we are good enough to beat Rochdale with the inclusion of those that haven't had a game yet, otherwise we might as well pack in now! Batley is the toughest game of the next four, and will require a full strength line-up, so we should be looking at the Rochdale game as a warm up to that. We shouldn't be even thinking about Workington & Hunslet 'til after the Batley game, but once it is gone, and if we still have a chance in the NRC, I would approach them both with a one game at a time attitude. I am glad we have drawn Workington, but it brings a problem in having to play those in need of a rest, and the fringe players won't get a chance to impress.

If the discipline is sorted out for Sunday and we don't give daft penalties away, I can't see us losing. This is based on the way we were pinning Sheffield back near their own line, they could only get upfield with the aid of penalties, and the ease in which we were moving upfield, particulary with Tommy Saxton's jinking runs from acting-half.