The Phantom Horseman

"Sheffield Eagles are delighted to announce our new player-coach, Cory Aston."

Good shout, yes - I think it was the only try all season by a starting prop ie nominally the guy who played 8 or 10.

Yes, he looks like a good signing and he played well against us in both games last season. There will be some competition for us at centre this year with Carlos Tuimavave, Bailey O'Connor (who like Hatton swept the boards at his club's player of the season awards) and Josh Hardcastle.

Some good points above. I have a mini quiz question that's related to this. What was special about Nathan Massey's try at Dewsbury last season?

Looking at the squad as it stands, the only area where I think we are possibly a bit light is in big units in the middle. I think the squad list on page 1 of this thread doesn't quite tell the full story, as it suggests we have only 4 "props", but Addy and Beckett are sure to be regulars in the middle this season. Obviously Springer is a sizeable presence and Akauola can bring an impact off the bench, but as it stands we don't have many "chunky" middles. That might not be a bad thing - we had a few last season but still got rolled down the middle in some games - but we could probably do with at least one more middle, then again virtually every club could say that. As it stands (and assuming Nakubuwai doesn't return) we're probably looking at Springer, Akauola, Williams, Addy, Beckett, and Arnold as our main rotation but I think there must be a good chance Webb, and possibly Boothroyd, will be asked to play middle, at least on some occasions. As I've said elsewhere on the thread I'd see Stevens as a fringe/developmental player based on his experience to date, but am more than happy to be proved wrong on that one. I'd say we're looking pretty much set at just about every other position.

Worth pointing out that the Toulouse CEO Cedric Garcia has rubbished the article via League Express, saying that the 20% reduction in city council grant for all the pro teams in Toulouse is true but that otherwise the article is full of what he described as "lies". https://www.totalrl.com/this-article-is-full-of-lies-toulouse-olympique-chief-slams-claim-of-issues-after-clarifying-financial-position/

Yeah that's not a million miles away from my first try, but then that means leaving out last year's supporters' player of the year Connor Wynne and the ever-reliable Josh Hardcastle.

That's a good way of laying it out...I tried to come up with a 17 but I thought there was so little between a few players at several positions that I couldn't decide who made the cut. We have a lot of players with not much between them on paper at a number of positions.

It also looks like we can confirm James Lockwood as being added to the list of retirements, not least because Fordy stated that Danny Addy is the oldest player on the books. I wonder what the situation with Ben Nakubuwai is. Wouldn't have expected him to be at pre-season training yet, given his recent international involvement, but we can now account for the 26 Fordy says we have signed. Bradford supposedly have a couple more to announce and they and York were both reportedly in for Nakubuwai when we signed him on loan so I wonder if he's been lured to one of those two clubs? Or maybe he's gone back home.

Thanks. Yes, I got the impression Wakefield would have kept Boothroyd had it not been for the 7 overseas players limit. I am sure he'll be very solid and probably a regular starter, and less likely to be snapped up by a SL club if he goes well than the likes of Frankie Halton or James Harrison ie British players. The homesickness thing is always a potential issue, we lost Sam Irwin for the same reason a few years ago IIRC. It just makes more sense recruiting young Aussies now than in the last couple of years as we aren't really in contention for a SL spot at the moment and thus there isn't the quota-related pressure to only sign them if they are likely SL starting-quality.

For what they're worth, which might not be very much, here are my thoughts on our new signings so far. Carlos Tuimavave Unquestionably our "marquee" signing, almost revered by Hull FC fans who don't have a bad word to say about him. Obviously his best years are behind him and hit by injuries the last couple of years but I watched a Hull game from last year the other day and he's still going to be a really good player at this level if we can keep him fit. If he plays on the right as he has done for Hull he might not get much creativity down that side but still think he'll make an impact. Derrell Olpherts Had a good year for Wakefield, I do think he benefitted considerably from playing on their left hand side which was by far their more potent side in attack, he did get quite a few walk-in tries. Having said that he was keeping Lachlan Walmsley out of the team which says something. I'm not completely convinced he's better than Gale or Wynne so there could be some controversial selection decisions (assuming Gaz is back with us) but at least it means we have competition. Toby Boothroyd: Unlucky with injuries last year having to deal with two separate absences of 3 months then 2 months. Can play edge back row or middle but built more like a back rower. Didn't get into the Trinity play-off team but played seven or eight games when he returned from injury and looked solid. Will only be 22 next month so best years hopefully ahead of him, makes sense signing these younger Aussies as they have to turn out to be very good to attract SL interest with the 7-player overseas limit. Clay Webb: Another young Aussie forward (22yo), he's been playing in the NSW Cup for the last 3 years, first for Canberra then last year for Newcastle. Again can play middle or edge and often came off the bench for the Knights, and again makes sense as a signing as he'd need to be very good to attract SL attention. I asked on the Knights forum if anyone had any views on him and someone replied "Webb was a long time reserve grade player at Canberra Raiders and came to Knights last year in an attempt to break into the NRL. He is just below NRL standard and could be an ESL player, so he should be very good at your level. He is a small prop or second row." Siti Akauloa: Plenty of SL experience for Warrington and Salfod, been with Toulouse the last 2 years though did miss a fair bit of time due to injury. Usually came off the bench for Toulouse and probably more of an impact player than a big-minutes middle, looks like a direct replacement for Wellington Albert who was a bit underwhelming last year. Zach Herring 23yo Aussie who alternated between hooker and half back for Newcastle last year, looks like he'll be a handy utility player providing cover for Rynolds/Lacans at half and Jones/Jubb at hooker. Will Jubb Been a very solid performer for York, not much of a running threat but a really good defender and a good passer out of acting half. Can see him starting regularly at 9 allowing Jones to come off the bench. Jordan Williams Rangy long-striding middle (think James Harrison in terms of build) who played 13 times in SL for London last year, all bar 1 off the bench. Seemed to lose his place and was sent out on loan to Widnes where he got injured in his first game. Actually played a couple of games at centre early in his career for London Skolars but established as a middle now. Jaydon Hatton Seems to have progressed since joining Swinton and won both players' and coaches' player of the year award last year when he scored 16 tries for a relegated team, including in both games against us. Strong runner, runs good lines, still only 25, looks a good signing. Bailey O'Connor The standout performer in a struggling Dewsbury team last year and another who swept the board at his club's player of the season awards, has a bit of quality with ball in hand, and still only 22. Will need to find a way into the team first with Aikens cemented at full back and Tuimavave, Hatton and maybe Hardcastle at centre but should get some chances. Callum Turner As I said elsewhere was probably signed many months ago, unspectacular but solid at full back and can also play half back, should provide squad depth. Robson Stevens Ex Huddersfield prop who also had a spell with Dewsbury, been in Australia for the last 2 years, been on the books of Mackay Cutters but as far as I can tell spent most of 2024 playing for the Magpies in the Mackay & District comp which is third tier, for that reason I'd see him as squad depth rather than a likely regular in the 17. Looking overall at the new signings my view is that what we have really improved is the depth. Other than Tuimavave I don't think there are many wow signings but there are plenty that could turn out to be really good, notably Boothroyd, Webb, Hatton and O'Connor. I really can't say that the new signings completely transform the overall strength of our likely 17 (I've seen some people getting carried away and saying top 2 etc), but what there should be is lots of competition for places especially in the threequarters and back row. So I'm pretty happy with the business we've done, acknowledging we're still awaiting confirmation or otherwise for some of our squad from last year.

I agree with this, as much as fans clamour after the butcher's stripe jersey there are only so many variations you can have on it.

Top news, a 1-year extension for Josh https://featherstonerovers.co.uk/josh-hardcastle-inks-new-featherstone-deal/

Has shown in recent years he can still do long minutes on the pitch too

Fev kit unveiled. Nice homespun piece with Pete Smith, a legendary figure in Rovers circles and a player that you never heard a bad word said about during his playing days or since https://fb.watch/w0i0xvy01b/

New kit unveiled. Can't get a more solid, dyed-in-the-wool Fev legend than Pete Smith to promote it. Good stuff. https://fb.watch/w0i0xvy01b/

Indeed...lest there be any doubt, I wouldn't extend his contract either if it was only to the end of 2024.

It depends on whether he signed until the end of 2024 or for 2025 too when he joined us, if it's the latter "get him off the wage bill" is going to mean paying him off isn't it?

That piece was removed not long after it was published, which of course could be for a number of reasons.

I'm aware of that, I'm just providing context of why some Fev fans prefer P & R to "off-the-field" based systems such as Licensing, IMG's points system.

It's worth remembering that a lot of Fev fans' feelings about P & R compared with other systems date back a long time, not just the last few years. The events of 1994/95 are still well remembered by older fans of the club; Fev finished 11th of 16 which should have been comfortably prevented them from being relegated, but instead they were booted into the second tier, alongside the likes of Keighley, who were expecting to be promoted after winning the 2nd division, to make room for London Broncos (who finished fourth in the 2nd division) and newcomers Paris St Germain. The in 2011 Fev crowned a steady ascent to the top of the second tier, topping the league, losing only 1 game all season, and crushing Sheffield in the Grand Final. However, under the licensing system, Widnes, who finished 5th, 18 points behind Fev, and were thrashed 56-16 and 40-4 in their two games against Fev, were promoted instead. Personally, I thought the old P & R system wasn't ideal, in that it made it very difficult for teams that were promoted in October to recruit a SL-ready team unless they had a Beaumont or Ellis who could afford to build a SL-quality team under Championship funding levels. So I'm not against "a more rounded model" necessarily, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to point out what I see as some obvious flaws with the current system. But that's for another thread!

This thread highlights the fact that there are still some (well at least 1, though there are undoubtedly more) Fev fans keen to play the victim card, and at least a couple (though again there are undoubtedly more) RL fans happy to label the fans of one club under a single banner. Neither is a good look.

If we have any floodlit games it might have to be "Dancing In The Dark".

Pretty confident Springer will be staying, largely because he was announced as being signed on for next season at the fans' forum in June, but also because I'm sponsoring him!

He was a pleasant surprise I think to a lot of us last year.