Steve Slater

I won't be at York today due to my wife's illness, in fact I haven't been to many games this year and had to give up my position as match reporter for League Express. BUT I have been lucky in that Rovers have put up a good display on the few occasions I have been able to get down, especially at home to Toulouse and the games against Wakey. I have seen some woeful performances on RoversTV however, and initially put that down to lack of strength in depth amid a crippling injury list and a glut of suspensions. I thought we had turned the corner against Toulouse at home and Bradford and Widnes away, which makes the recent displays against Swinton and Sheffield incompehensible. So this got me thinking about last season when we ran away with the league, and looking back at how that Dad's Army squad managed to win week after week with so many injuries, and asked myself whether the strongest side last year was really much better than the side we will put out today afainst York (minus Danny Addy of course)? We will still have Aekins, Hardcastle, Lacans, Bussey, Day and Lockwood back of course, and isn't Reynolds every bit as good as any half-back we had last year? I know the budget's not as big and more players are now part-time, so if we're not as good as last year, what or whom is the missing link? In view of all that I believe that these players will stand up and be counted to steer us safely into the play-offs.

The only way I would switch Hardcastle would be so that Bussey could play the Danny Addy role - but it would indeed weaken the defence! Plus we don't really have another centre other than maybe Wynne or the exceptional centre who is totally irreplaceable at hooker, Connor Jones.

Team's out of balance with 3 kickers. Patton not needed when Reynolds is playing, move Addy to 6 and bring another forward in at 13.

All well and good POR, but I was suggesting a closer association with Pontefract. The RFL and IMG are totally blinkered with respect to geography and the partisan rivalry within the heartlands.

Would sound better if Pontefract Collieries played here instead, and we got recognised as a club from Ponte rather than from a small suburb of Wakey! Our local population would also treble to around 60K if you included Ackworth.

It might be too complicated, but could Josh be the answer? If we get halves moving out to between the centres and wingers to defend then why couldn't Josn defend in the middle and Turner in the centre? He also does more than his share of carries from centre, so perhaps Turner could just play like an old fashioned 13 in the opposition half? The extra workload might be too titing for Josh, however?

As I said in the post, SOA, Phil was a personal favourite, so would only appear in a list of favourites. This was because he was a mate and I played in the juniors with him. I do remember, however, that Murphy rated him highly and wanted to sign him, and who can forget the 1976 cup semi at Swinton, when we were on our way to Wembley and were also running away with the league until Phil suffered a shoulder injury that caused us to lose the tie? It also put him out for the rest of the season and blighted the rest of his career and eventually led to early retirement.

If I was picking these, I could choose two entirely different sides, dependant on whether it was my personal favourites or those that would have probably been considered the greatest in the eyes of the world. Ironically icons such as Terry Clawson, Steve Nash, Graham Steadman (both those two were world record transfers), and Steve Evans (near world record transfer) wouldn't get into that list along with Don Fox, Gary Jordan and Dave Hobbs. If I was picking my favourites I would struggle at scrum half because I absolutely loved Carl Dooler and Phil Butler.

Nah! Let's see how the likes of Kamano and England develope with DR as a back up, hold on to the moneys savings and strengthen for the run-in. There may be some quality players available from France when their season ends.

Turner Bussey Hardcastle

Over the time I was doing match reports for League Express the announcement of the attendance has dropped off in recent years, but I had a good working relationship with the media guys, Joe Crabtree being my grandson, and I would chase them up after the game. Up until I had to take a step back due to family illness Jac Davies would txt me with the attendance, and if this was after I had submitted my report I would phone it through in retrospect. I am largely unable to do Sunday games for the time being but hope to be available on Good Friday if they still want me!

I heartily agree with you on everything apart from the likely finishing position. Apart from Wakefield, Bradford, and possibly Halifax, I don't see any other clubs that will be yards ahead of us and it should be a cracking competition for the lower play-off places, and whoever can strengthen in mid to late season will have a good chance of progressing to the final. Home advantage always seems to be a poisoned chalice in my book. In the case of Rovers, the current smaller squad gives a lot of opportunity for the virtually unknowns to make a name for themselves, and by mid season we should know where the strengths and weaknesses are, and in which positions to bring in some proven quality if any cash is available (maybe we could all put a bit more into the Squad Builder?). Maybe if we'd not started with a loan half-back who was susceptle to recall at any time, Tommy Lacans might have established himself and been an automatic choice in the semi against London?

So you're judging Fev on one performance and disregarding the poor showings from Widnes and Sheffield?

Bussey for me. In the past he was a real bad boy with a poor disciplinary record but he seems to have turned his game around, and the extra responsibility would help him mature even further.

My grandson Joe Crabtree wrote an excellent piece on Ken for Rugby League World in the Challenge Cup Final edition of 2017. I'll have a dig about to see if I can find it anywhere. I'm sorry to hear that Kenny's not well, I usually push my wife in her wheelchair around Freeport (Junction 32) most afternoons, and we would often bump into Kenny and Beryl (I think that's his wife's name?), but I've not seen him for a while and that explains it. Get well soon Kenny.

Recruitment progressing nicely, but I don't believe we need to go overboard as long as we look good enoug h to compete for the Top 6! Hold some money back for mid to late season recruitment, every year there seems to be at least one top player who comes available and stands out in the play-offs - Let's make sure we get him this time (just like London did with Corey Norman)! The French Elite finishes in late May and there's always one or two quality players there! Last year we were over paid flat pitch bullies who were having it so easy they didn't know how to deal with a side that competes on level terms.

I think he must have got him confused with Jack Bussey?

Sorry Mark, I was under the impression that admission prices were VAT taxable.

Crowd sizes should be paying customers only, verified by the VAT returns. Any club wishing to inflate the figures would then have to pay extra VAT or risk the wrath of the taxman, and possible penalties from the RFL!

Virtual Reality is the thing these days, so if we must go with some kind of grading wouldn't it be fairer to have two tables, the actual results table plus a virtual hybrid table that decides P&R? The hybrid table could combine results and grading, and would also do away with the MPG and discount the Summer Bash/Magic Weekend, so that the top and bottom clubs of the respective divisions would be automatically promoted and relegated!

Which ever team we put out should be good enough to win both games, for me the biggest danger is the unexpected, such as getting a player sent off or injury to a key player, such as when we lost Jono early on in the home game against Toulouse. That's why I'd like to see Bussey in the 17, because he can play edge or middle, or even playmaker in an emergency. He could even do a 10 minute spell at hooker if Connor or Matty were having to do a full 80. Jack might not be 100% fit however,so leaving him out could be understandable. Same with Hau, if Fordy intended to play him he would have been in the 17 against Widnes.

Fax beat us twice this year but are very inconsistent. Seemed to be able to raise their game on the big occasion and their speedy backs were too quick for ours who rely more on size and power.

Might be worthwhile trying Lacans at hooker with Wildie, and trying Jones at centre for a full game? Maybe not tonight though! Win tonight and next week then it's all about preparation for the play-offs, and Jones may be needed to move to centre if one of the backs gets injured during the game. An injury or suspension in a play-off game could tip the balance away from the favourites, and Rovers need to be prepared for this kind of eventuality, so they could ride the storm.

Taking a rest before the run-in through to October, while Fax will be going away on holiday come the end of September.

Taylor - Read my report in League Express for the reason why Hau Hankinson