Sat 3rd - Sun 4th Jul: The Betfred Championship Match Thread

[John Drake]

Discuss this week's Betfred Championship games here

SATURDAY 3rd JULY
Featherstone Rovers  v London Broncos KO 18:00

SUNDAY 4th JULY
Bradford Bulls v Batley Bulldogs KO 15:00
Dewsbury Rams v Sheffield Eagles KO 15:00
Halifax Panthers v Widnes Vikings KO 15:00
Whitehaven v Swinton Lions KO 15:00
York City Knights v Newcastle Thunder KO 15:00

[Barley Mow]

Featherstone Rovers  v London Broncos 
Bradford Bulls v Batley Bulldogs 
Dewsbury Rams v Sheffield Eagles 
Halifax Panthers v Widnes Vikings 
Whitehaven v Swinton Lions 
York City Knights v Newcastle Thunder 

[ATLANTISMAN]

Always great games in the championship

Paul

[Moscow01]

 

Featherstone Rovers 38-12 London Broncos 

Bradford Bulls 24-16 Batley Bulldogs 
Dewsbury Rams 22-20 Sheffield Eagles 
Halifax Panthers 22-23 Widnes Vikings 
Whitehaven 20-24 Swinton Lions 
York City Knights 26-22 Newcastle Thunder 

 

[crashmon]

SATURDAY 3rd JULY
Featherstone Rovers  v London Broncos KO 18:00

SUNDAY 4th JULY
Bradford Bulls v Batley Bulldogs KO 15:00
Dewsbury Rams v Sheffield Eagles KO 15:00
Halifax Panthers v Widnes Vikings KO 15:00
Whitehaven v Swinton Lions KO 15:00
York City Knights v Newcastle Thunder KO 15:00

[Chris Taylor]

SATURDAY 3rd JULY
Featherstone Rovers  v London Broncos KO 18:00

SUNDAY 4th JULY
Bradford Bulls v Batley Bulldogs KO 15:00
Dewsbury Rams v Sheffield Eagles KO 15:00
Halifax Panthers v Widnes Vikings KO 15:00
Whitehaven v Swinton Lions KO 15:00
York City Knights v Newcastle Thunder KO 15:00

[Chronicler of Chiswick]

All home wins bar Widnes.

[GUBRATS]

13 hours ago, Moscow01 said:

 

 

Featherstone Rovers 38-12 London Broncos 

Bradford Bulls 24-16 Batley Bulldogs 
Dewsbury Rams 22-20 Sheffield Eagles 
Halifax Panthers 22-23 Widnes Vikings 
Whitehaven 20-24 Swinton Lions 
York City Knights 26-22 Newcastle Thunder 

 

Some close results there

[The Blues Ox]

Im just wondering what the thinking is behind so many people backing a Widnes win against Fax. We are in pretty good form and conceding an average of just over 8 points a game over out last 8 games, Widnes will need to play a blinder to pull off the win.

[The Blues Ox]

Featherstone Rovers  v London Broncos Expecting Fev to have more than enough in this one. Fev by 24
Bradford Bulls v Batley Bulldogs As a Fax fan not really bothered about who wins this as we just need one of them to lose. I think Batley and Fax wins this weekend and the top 6 will be just about done. Such a tough one to call but I think Batley might just sneak it. Not expecting a lot in it.
Dewsbury Rams v Sheffield Eagles Going for Dewsbury by 10.
Halifax Panthers v Widnes Vikings Fax in good form and although Widnes have had a couple of decent wins this should be a Fax win. Fax by 14.
Whitehaven v Swinton Lions This would be very Swinton like to go and win this game but got to go with form and Haven by 8.
York City Knights v Newcastle Thunder I guess on paper this has potential for an upset but reality is should be a comfortable York win. York by 26.

[THE RED ROOSTER]

The acid test for London Broncos at Featherstone. If they had realistic hopes of winning the championship they might not win at Post Office Roda but would run Featherstone close - This game will not be Featherstone by 28.  Good luck selling tickets at Plough Lane....

[crashmon]

I was at the Broncos games vs Swinton and Haven.  I would be astonished if Fev don't win by 50+.  London are that bad right now

[Barley Mow]

1 hour ago, crashmon said:

I was at the Broncos games vs Swinton and Haven.  I would be astonished if Fev don't win by 50+.  London are that bad right now

I've seen a few Broncos fans saying similar things.

If you look at the results though, of the 10 times they've actually taken to the field (so excluding the conceded match against Toulouse) they have only lost twice. That's the best record of any team in the division other than Featherstone and Toulouse. If the RFL had agreed to let Broncos postpone the game in Toulouse, they would be third in the table.

It's a good sign if you can perform badly and still get the results (although this week should be the toughest test so far).

[The Blues Ox]

17 hours ago, Barley Mow said:

I've seen a few Broncos fans saying similar things.

If you look at the results though, of the 10 times they've actually taken to the field (so excluding the conceded match against Toulouse) they have only lost twice. That's the best record of any team in the division other than Featherstone and Toulouse. If the RFL had agreed to let Broncos postpone the game in Toulouse, they would be third in the table.

It's a good sign if you can perform badly and still get the results (although this week should be the toughest test so far).

Its probably not a fair comparision for the very reason that they have not played either Toulouse or Fev yet. The rest of the teams around them have played either one or both of them.

[Barley Mow]

3 hours ago, The Blues Ox said:

Its probably not a fair comparision for the very reason that they have not played either Toulouse or Fev yet. The rest of the teams around them have played either one or both of them.

You're obviously right that they haven't played a match against either of the top two yet. That said, there are only 7 teams that have played against Toulouse this year.

But even including the conceded Toulouse match (or working on the assumption that would have been a defeat) Broncos have only lost 3 matches - the same as Bradford & Batley.

A Broncos loss today and Fax win tomorrow would see them both on 4 defeats.

My general point was that despite concerns expressed by a few Broncos fans over standard of performance, at the half way stage in the season the results haven't been too bad for them at all. I certainly don't think they have enough to compete with Featherstone or Toulouse over the course of a season - but then I don't think any other Championship club does either. 

[Robin Evans]

7 minutes ago, Barley Mow said:

You're obviously right that they haven't played a match against either of the top two yet. That said, there are only 7 teams that have played against Toulouse this year.

But even including the conceded Toulouse match (or working on the assumption that would have been a defeat) Broncos have only lost 3 matches - the same as Bradford & Batley.

A Broncos loss today and Fax win tomorrow would see them both on 4 defeats.

My general point was that despite concerns expressed by a few Broncos fans over standard of performance, at the half way stage in the season the results haven't been too bad for them at all. I certainly don't think they have enough to compete with Featherstone or Toulouse over the course of a season - but then I don't think any other Championship club does either. 

Astute observations there

[crashmon]

Difference is for the previous seasons Broncos was in Championship 2015-2018, the squad was better than Fev (apart from the 1st season in Champ), and was a match for Tolouse. Again with the exception of 2015, London have been one of the top champ teams, and always challenging for promotion (and made in 2018).

The team now is a shadow of that squad, and the fact we are still full time, yet the squad is worse not only than fev or Tolouse, but I would argue the London squad has less depth than Fax, Bradford and possibly York.

And if anything its going to get worse, rent at Plough Lane will eat into any sort of squad budget, and IMHO its only a matter of time before London are PT, and championship relegation fodder. 

I'm a ST holder (apart from this year) of 20 years, so I have seen some ups and downs and London, but this is the lowest I have ever seen them as a club

[Barley Mow]

12 minutes ago, crashmon said:

Difference is for the previous seasons Broncos was in Championship 2015-2018, the squad was better than Fev (apart from the 1st season in Champ), and was a match for Tolouse. Again with the exception of 2015, London have been one of the top champ teams, and always challenging for promotion (and made in 2018).

The team now is a shadow of that squad, and the fact we are still full time, yet the squad is worse not only than fev or Tolouse, but I would argue the London squad has less depth than Fax, Bradford and possibly York.

And if anything its going to get worse, rent at Plough Lane will eat into any sort of squad budget, and IMHO its only a matter of time before London are PT, and championship relegation fodder. 

I'm a ST holder (apart from this year) of 20 years, so I have seen some ups and downs and London, but this is the lowest I have ever seen them as a club

I suppose that expectations will play into it to a large extent. If you anticipate Broncos being on par with Fev & Toulouse, then yes, results as well as performance will be disappointing.

If being in the group immediately behind the top two was what you predicted at the start of the year, then results might not be as disappointing, even if performances are.

The off-field issues seem to be most concerning to most of your fans and as you point out, that can soon impact the playing side of things through reduced budgets for players wages, etc. 

[Robin Evans]

Just seen fev team. Nowhere near confident now

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

19 minutes ago, Robin Evans said:

Just seen fev team. Nowhere near confident now

? 

[The Phantom Horseman]

1 hour ago, Robin Evans said:

Just seen fev team. Nowhere near confident now

It'll be reight.

[Cardypaul]

Fev up by 30 points to 4 looks like it will 

[crashmon]

Looks like might be wrong. I though it would be 50 for fev, now I think it will be between 60-70 for fev.... But we will see....

[The Phantom Horseman]

Fev 41 London 10 at half time. 41 points up the hill (yes Chisholm kicked a drop goal when the score was 34-10!)

[Robin Evans]

15 minutes ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

It'll be reight.

Not afe. Didn't anticipate this. Some fabulous rugby out there tonight.

Proper buzzin.