Hull Kingston Bronco

No, you can't have it both ways. Those views have been expressed in this topic, it's all up there to see ^^ Rovers tried to buy their way into the top league this season. Club's long history or not, that's a long way from "fair" or "through sporting competition" to to hear all the wailing about unfairness is pretty galling. I say that as a bloke who's experienced being locked out of Super League and a near neighbour getting countless advantages we did not, as someone who's had many relegations, and as someone who's endured repeated failures to get promoted. So I'm not some Wigan fan, raised on a life of luxurious advantage. I have every sympathy for your situation, but some of the self-pitying stuff coming out of Featherstone fans in this topic is pretty unedifying. Let's be honest, the only reason Featherstone might not be able to get into Super League in a year's time ahead of Wakefield is because that club now has an owner with even more money, and/or yours won't want to overspend again. So yes that's not fair. But then neither are your results this season by the same criteria.

Because your club didn't win a match they should have, despite spending about £1m more than their opponents? How much more of an advantage do you need? I'll be going to a coupe of the internationals because I enjoy rugby league, will be entertained, and like many people I enjoy supporting my country in many sports. To not go because your team messed up on the pitch, despite having a loaded deck of cards stacked in their favour, is a bit weird. It's not the sport's fault.

One minute fans of clubs like Featherstone want promotion to the Super League to be all about what happens on the pitch, then the next they want it to be about some nebulous concept of what teams "bring to the game" I wonder, does anyone know if anything happened yesterday in between those two different viewpoints? It's a mystery...

But whichever team gets into Super League next year will have earned it, by winning on the pitch? The fruits of London's grassroots work to build new talent pools were on the pitch last night, and are on the pitch in many other Super League and Championship games that don't feature London Let's have some brutal home truths: Featherstone tried to get into Super League through financial doping, by spending far more on their squad than the other teams in the league could afford to. There's no justice or sporting fairness in that. Just because your local businessman was prepared to set fire to £1m, and another club's wasn't. Now, even having done that, you still didn't win on the pitch and so you're all salty about it. I get you're disappointed, but please save us from the holier-than-thou "Featherstone are the true spirit of the game" nonsense, it doesn't wash. You were the Ben Johnson of rugby league this year, only this version tripped over his laces 5 metres from the finish line rather than failed a drugs test afterwards.

You know IMG have played no role whatsoever in those "topped table 5 times and not got promoted" thingy right? If anything, a new model seems like the only way Featherstone might get promoted... you don't seem to be able to do it on playing merit alone

Ah right, my misread. Never sat in our North Stand to be fair - it looks nice from the restaurant window & our posh seats though

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Really feel for the Fev fans though, this is heartbreaking stuff.

Yes, like all of the DW, I love the steep rake it gives you a great view of the pitch. Atmosphere’s amazing when the ground is full n’all, especially a night match. The Ashes Test in 2003 was something else. Always been surprised by how basic it was though in terms of corporate facilities, presumably now the billionaire fella owns the ground as well as the club he might he making some improvements.

Anyone who’s followed Broncos since Corey Norman arrived and Lovegrove joined the coaching staff isn’t as surprised as Featherstone seem to be by this performance. Still quite something to watch it though. Plenty of time on the clock mind, if Rovers can give their heads a wobble - seem to be losing it a bit at the moment.

I’ve not complained. The East Stand at Craven Park is worse. But the concourse was packed yesterday and it took over half an hour to get a drink, if you put another 1,000 in there it would be a right mess. Just calling it as I see it.

Fine by me mate, not a hill I’m trying to defend let alone die on. Just reported what I read. Nowhere near the right level of facilities for a 5,500 seat stand then, because trust me it didn’t work at all with 4,500 in it so the idea of another 1,000 in there is frankly scary.

https://footballgroundguide.com/leagues/england/league-one/dw-stadium-wigan-athletic.html#:~:text=Away fans are located in,over crowding on the concourse. ^^ this is normally a pretty reliable source

The North Stand has 5,500 seats, but capacity is restricted to 4,800 because they didn’t build a big enough concourse underneath it apparently. Rovers sold 4,400 of the 4,500 given. Looks like they’ve never fitted all the bar spaces out either (there’s unfinished room for more), which caused 30 minute queues pre-match. I guess it isn’t “full” very often so not normally an issue.

Yes you might be right, I can see that argument for the “West of Manchester” and West Yorkshire talent pools. But I think in Hull we’ve a distinct catchment area which, if well developed, can provide a rich seem of talent with only one other club competing for it. But there’s a lot to do to grow participation first and it’s a 10-15 year project. But if you don’t start, then it will always be 10+ years away.

Still sport though eh. It can always blow up in your face. I we can get into the playoffs again next season that’d be great, I’m not in a rush. More important to me is that we get the 4G training pitch and training centre built at Craven Park to be honest. If St Helens is the model, that’s the stuff we need to do: Get 75% of our matchday squad through our own pathways. I’d rather work towards that than have a couple of good seasons like Salford, or build an expensive team like Warrington. Time will tell I guess.

I do think your words show a certain wishful thinking, but maybe I’m wrong. C’est la vie. Hell, I love it when Hull lose - you might just be better than me!

Schneider had a poor game today, in attack and defence. It’s a real shame because his arrival saved our season after our spine got decimated. But players have bad games eh, I still think he’ll have a great career. But he isn’t at Rovers next year… the comps best stand-off will be there instead!

Take your succour where you can mate, but seriously it’s a delusion… none of it will make you feel any better about 10th spot and a club treading water at best. Hull KR had an excellent season, and got knocked out of the comp in a semi-final by the best side in the league, who are on a hot streak of form, at home. I’ve got no issue with that, it’s sport and I’m a grown up man who’s seen far worse. We’re more than capable of beating Wigan when we play well, and have done. We’ve even done it in another semi-final. So no, your somewhat salty perspective doesn’t get anywhere near undermining what I’ve seen over 27 rounds with my own eyes. This journey is great.

Yeah, we performed poorly today, never built any rhythm (not to take anything away from Wigan, who were great). But that’s just one match. Overall, this season was excellent and I’m happy about what’s going on behind the scenes too. I don’t expect Hull KR to be in finals and winning things yet, but we’re getting closer to it.

Hull were never going to win. They finished 10th, saved only by the worst team Wakefield have assembled in 30 years and a Castleford side who nobody wants to coach.

We gave up 60 points picking the reserves against Wigan before the cup final, and had 5 weeks mid-season where we couldn’t buy a try after Abdul’s injury, until we flew Schneider over to rescue the season. I see Rovers every week and Delaney’s defensive impact is a key reason why we’re 4th despite that horror run. One bad performance doesn’t mean you have a bad defence, it means you had a bad day.

We sold 4,400

Rovers were beaten by a better side, who finished 1st in the table for a reason, and who played very well today. In rugby league you lose rugby matches, and can lose badly if you have a long period without possession. It happens. But Rovers weren’t out of their depth, we’ve beaten every single team this season bar Warrington and on another day could have won today. We just lost. That’s sport. Good luck to Wigan in the final, certainly the best performance we’ve had against us all year.

That’s a wild misread. In the first half they worked their way back into a competitive position, when they could have given up with the scoreboard ahead of the clock. They earned a chance in the second half. In the second half they were unfortunate to concede quickly, due to errors not due giving up. They had an awful 10 mins after that, but when we all feared Wigan could easily stick another 3 or 4 tries on in the final 25 mins, they regrouped, got their heads right and held out again. That takes heart, and we appreciated it.