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Match Thread: pre-season friendly, Featherstone Rovers v Batley, Saturday 13th March 2020


marklaspalmas

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Not getting carried away with todays display.Stating the obvious Parata and Ferguson had good games and proved to be a handfull for the Batley defence.John Davies and Bussey worked hard and we seemed ok at full back he couldn't be blamed for any of the tries.We gave the ball away far too easily in the first half but much better after half time.Liked Chissy's try playing what he saw instead of passing to the right.Hardcastle worked hard in the first half but was caught between attackers for Batleys first try.Not sure about Gale but the Batley left winger showed plenty of speed for the last try although he did have a clear run to the line.I would put Prata on for the final 15 min of the first half and probably the last 20 min of the second he is quick at acting half ,good passes ,and reads the game very well.

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2 minutes ago, jamescolin said:

Defence ok but too much one man rugby especially in the second half. Lets not have 5 tackles and a kick all season.

To be fair Colin, the weather is nasty out there and the pitch was cutting up. 

Got to play the conditions and there was a lot of changes in the team.

James Webster has a tough job in picking a starting 13.

2008 RFL Wakefield & District Young Volunteer of the Year

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Most I’ve seen us taking ball from acting half back in a while, we made some good ground, we have strength in depth this season, think Parata will be a good sub for back end of halves, he got pace, forwards all playing well, impressed with Halton and Spence today out of young players. Roll on next week.....

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1 hour ago, Chris Taylor said:

To be fair Colin, the weather is nasty out there and the pitch was cutting up. 

Got to play the conditions and there was a lot of changes in the team.

James Webster has a tough job in picking a starting 13.

You are right Chris. Just wanted to see a bit more ball movement. 

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   If you asked a dozen supporters to name the team i don't think more than a couple would come up with the same 17.If all fit i would pick Hall- Blackmore-Welham-Hardcastle/Minns cant decide- Gale.    Holmes-Chisholm  Forwards= Kopczak-Brown-Ferres-Day -Harrison-Lockwood.  Subs Ferguson-Parata-Bussey-Davies.   Which would be hard on those missing out such as Jones-Halton-Cooper and whichever centre is left out.But most players will get a chance during the course of the season.

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1 hour ago, sentoffagain2 said:

   If you asked a dozen supporters to name the team i don't think more than a couple would come up with the same 17.If all fit i would pick Hall- Blackmore-Welham-Hardcastle/Minns cant decide- Gale.    Holmes-Chisholm  Forwards= Kopczak-Brown-Ferres-Day -Harrison-Lockwood.  Subs Ferguson-Parata-Bussey-Davies.   Which would be hard on those missing out such as Jones-Halton-Cooper and whichever centre is left out.But most players will get a chance during the course of the season.

I don't think you will be far off there. Like you say the backs virtually pick themselves bar Hardcastle/Minns. Josh has played really well in the first 2 games, I'm just a bit surprised that after playing Welham on the right and Hardcastle on the left v Oldham he switched Josh to the right v Batley with Minns on the left. So I'm not sure what Webbo's thinking is there.

I think Jones will still start against Bradford at hooker leaving the decision to be Parata or Brown on the bench, my guess is he'll go with Brown.

Webbo hasn't said much about Moors but if his visa comes through he's obviously a candidate to play off the bench if he's fit.

If it were me I might start with Halton on the left edge and have Ferres on the bench given his lack of game time as he can cover that position and the middle.

But there's one more factor to add in. In his post-game interview yesterday Webster commented upon how he learned from what he felt was his mistake against Bradford last year in trying to pack the bench with middles and he said he'd be surprised if he went with four forwards. Now whether this means simply thta he uses Brown off the bench as a utility, or whether he puts Hardy/Minns on the bench, we'll have to see, but in the games after that Bradford one last year, he had at least one three quarter on the bench in every game using Conor Carey and Brandon French for that role.

My guess for the line-up:
Hall, Gale, Welham, Hardcastle,  Blackmore, Holmes, Chisholm, Kopczak, Jones, Harrison, Day, Ferres, Lockwood subs Brown, Ferguson, Minns, Moors/Halton.

I think the amount of minutes Coops, Bussey and Davies (and probably Parata too) have played in the second half of the pre-season games suggest they might struggle to get in the 17 in the early stages, though they'll all play a part as the season goes on. Not seen anything from Field yet to suggest he should be in the 17 though Webster seems to rate him.

 

 

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2 hours ago, Rarefrith said:

Hall Gale Hardcastle Welham Blackmore Holmes Chisholm Kopczak Jones Harrison Day Halton Lockwood

Subs: Ferguson Davies Bussey Brown but I would pick Parata ahead of Brown. 

I would bracket Parata along with Bozzy and Andy Ellis, who would always be among the first on the team sheet, but to start on the bench.

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  The reason i picked Brown instead of Jones to start at 9 is because as it is a cup game with no league points at stake i would like to see if Parata could make an impression off the bench in a stronger game.Brown would be cover for either half backs should there be any injury.I think we have 20 strong contenders for the  17 positions and the other 4 are well worth their place in the squad.Trust Webster to pick the right team when required he has a good pedigree as a player and coach so i trust his judgement.

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14 hours ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

 

I think Jones will still start against Bradford at hooker leaving the decision to be Parata or Brown on the bench, my guess is he'll go with Brown.

 

If it were me I might start with Halton on the left edge and have Ferres on the bench given his lack of game time as he can cover that position and the middle.

 in the games after that Bradford one last year, he had at least one three quarter on the bench in every game using Conor Carey and Brandon French for that role.

Parata or Brown  Brown has got to be in every seventeen if fit  ether as a starter or backup because of his versatility  value 

least one three quarter on the bench  not this year if brown in starting seventeen 

brown can cover or fill in halfback which means 

holmes can then cover or fill in fullback which means   

hall can then cover or fill anywhere in the back lines  which means 

jobs a gudn but if he's out that's when webster earns his money

11 hours ago, Steve Slater said:

I would bracket Parata along with Bozzy and Andy Ellis, who would always be among the first on the team sheet, but to start on the bench.

  Parata unfortunately steve he's not as good as brown and jones so only real hope of getting a regular  start is if one of those two gets injured   but that's not to say he won't get game time because with the squad we've got webster has  got the choice of resting players when he sees fit  

19 hours ago, Robin Evans said:

Learned a few things. Some players underpinned what we already know.

Players like Whitton et al demonstrated that no position is a given.... cos he's ready to slot right in.....

Picking 17 will be a right ball ache

 Players like Whitton and I think Harvey Spence has shown if we need him there won't be a big drop off  or difference in team performance 

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Totally agree Robin re Paratta - indeed he would be my starting 9 with jones coming on against tiring  defences after 20 mins of each half.

Much debate about our best centre combination but for some reason this is masking the real problem area which is the wings. Everybody seems to assume Gale & Blackmore are the first names in the 13 just because they are the only recognized out and out wingers in the sqaud  but I would pick Hardcastle or Minns infront of them as a winger.  Both have experience of playing out wide.

Websters man management skills will certainly be tested keeping all the squad happy.

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Who can remember the home game against Toulouse at the end of the 2019 season? It was what seemed an unfortunate game for Rovers at the time, but it all came right at the end when we got our revenge in the play-offs. It was the game where we were robbed by the referee who disallowed what would have been a perfectly legitimate last minute match winning try by Jack Ormondroyd, and we also lost Cameron King and Brad Day for the run-in.

All that is beside the point though- It was a game of two hookers, Cam King's outstanding display and subsequent injury in the first half, and then Parata's introduction off the bench for Toulouse in the second, sparking a recovery in a man of the match display in which he scored two tries of his own to haul his side to victory from a 10 point interval deficit.

Parata is definitely a bench hooker, as he was used at Toulouse, but that doesn't mean he should play second fiddle to the starting no.9. 

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2 hours ago, Steve Slater said:

Who can remember the home game against Toulouse at the end of the 2019 season? It was what seemed an unfortunate game for Rovers at the time, but it all came right at the end when we got our revenge in the play-offs. It was the game where we were robbed by the referee who disallowed what would have been a perfectly legitimate last minute match winning try by Jack Ormondroyd, and we also lost Cameron King and Brad Day for the run-in.

All that is beside the point though- It was a game of two hookers, Cam King's outstanding display and subsequent injury in the first half, and then Parata's introduction off the bench for Toulouse in the second, sparking a recovery in a man of the match display in which he scored two tries of his own to haul his side to victory from a 10 point interval deficit.

Parata is definitely a bench hooker, as he was used at Toulouse, but that doesn't mean he should play second fiddle to the starting no.9. 

Wouldn't that have been Jones, not Parata? 

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4 hours ago, Robin Evans said:

Agree with most of that but feel you are underselling Parata. A cracking player who certainly made his presence felt this weekend.

Minnsy plays for me. Either in the centres or the wing.

underselling Parata. no i'm not  i agree he is A cracking player  butI think  other two are  better 

3 hours ago, Steve Slater said:

Who can remember the home game against Toulouse at the end of the 2019 season? Parata's introduction off the bench for Toulouse in the second, sparking a recovery in a man of the match display in which he scored two tries of his own to haul his side to victory from a 10 point interval deficit.

Parata is definitely a bench hooker, as he was used at Toulouse, but that doesn't mean he should play second fiddle to the starting no.9. 

off the bench for Toulouse in the second, sparking a recovery in a man of the match display  think your looking through  rose tinted glasses steve he didn't spark a recovery that started after  24 minutes when FEV  18 nill up had them on the ropes  decided to stop playing until last five minutes when suttclffe amd ormondroyd  went over and he definately wasn't man of the match ford and rodin  and Kheirallah pulled all the strings when they were scoring all their tries from the 32 minute  

scored two tries of his own to haul his side to victory steve yes he scored   two tries but didn't create either put through a big gaps in rovers defence first by Kheirallah  and then by ford  and he didn't haul toulouse to victory  that was the ref  who disallowed sutcliffe try after 7 minutes and ormondroyd in the last minute 

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1 hour ago, Robin Evans said:

Then can I register a failure to agree?😅

of course you can Robin that's the beauty   of FEV different  opinions coming together for the common goal FEV ruling the world😀😀😀

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On 14/03/2021 at 17:13, Rarefrith said:

Hall Gale Hardcastle Welham Blackmore Holmes Chisholm Kopczak Jones Harrison Day Halton Lockwood

Subs: Ferguson Davies Bussey Brown but I would pick Parata ahead of Brown. 

This is spot on to me. Tough on Cooper. Not much to choose between many (particularly centres, hookers and middles) so it might be worth adopting the fashionable rota system which may benefit later in the season.

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10 hours ago, gazza77 said:

Wouldn't that have been Jones, not Parata? 

Ignore me, I didn't read the original post properly first time around. 🙄

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I think the backs pick themselves. (Maybe Welham gets in as Minns hasn't played for.....years)

Interesting to see how we all pick the forwards / subs.  Theres no right or wrong but I'm surprised at some going for new recruits such as Field ahead of the likes of Coops.  Also Ferres seems to get the nod for most but, based on the few games we saw last year and his absence so far this year, he's not in the picture for me.

Hooker is the biggie though.  No question I'd go with Jones and Parata.  Apart from a nice solo try Brown hasn't shown much.....yet.  Jones has proved twice now that he can slot in well and impress immediately.  As for Parata I reckon that only Brad Day has impressed more over the two games.  There will be an element of 'why would we bring Brown all this way to not play him' (come to think of it that goes for the other two) but hopefully he'll play a big part this year and as has been said its a great problem to have

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7 hours ago, RobLambert said:

I think the backs pick themselves. (Maybe Welham gets in as Minns hasn't played for.....years)

 

Surely Welham's place isn't in doubt? Was a regular starter in SL last year as in previous years, rested last week like other assured starters/guys who had played SL last backend. The battle is surely for the other centre place between Hardcastle and Minns.

7 hours ago, RobLambert said:

Interesting to see how we all pick the forwards / subs.  Theres no right or wrong but I'm surprised at some going for new recruits such as Field ahead of the likes of Coops.  Also Ferres seems to get the nod for most but, based on the few games we saw last year and his absence so far this year, he's not in the picture for me.

I think Ferres will play unless he's still bothered by his foot injury, he's seen as one of the team leaders, but I kind of agree about his effectiveness last year, to me he doesn't have the penetration of Day or even Halton on what we've seen of him so far. If it were me I'd play Ferres in the middle, he's still very fit (played big minutes in SL last year) and a big unit and might be more effective there at this stage of his career.

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