The Phantom Horseman Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 We have signed him from Fax according to Matt Shaw, who is rarely wrong on these matters (and a Fax fan). Very interesting signing, he's a big powerful unit who takes plenty of bringing down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fevrover Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 46 minutes ago, The Phantom Horseman said: We have signed him from Fax according to Matt Shaw, who is rarely wrong on these matters (and a Fax fan). Very interesting signing, he's a big powerful unit who takes plenty of bringing down Why isn't he good enough for Fax ? Iam sure Oxy will let us know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Blues Ox Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 26 minutes ago, Fevrover said: Why isn't he good enough for Fax ? Iam sure Oxy will let us know. Because our coach is a stats man and Springers stats don't come up to scratch. As a fan his name is one I looked for on our team sheet and one of very few players we have who can break a tackle and offload. Im sure he will do well for you. Bit of a joke that we had to name him in our squad for today otherwise we couldn't name a full squad. I think he is the 3rd of our coaches signings that has been moved on this season. 2 of them retired from us and have since come out of retirement to sign for another team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Evans Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 13 minutes ago, The Blues Ox said: Because our coach is a stats man and Springers stats don't come up to scratch. As a fan his name is one I looked for on our team sheet and one of very few players we have who can break a tackle and offload. Im sure he will do well for you. Bit of a joke that we had to name him in our squad for today otherwise we couldn't name a full squad. I think he is the 3rd of our coaches signings that has been moved on this season. 2 of them retired from us and have since come out of retirement to sign for another team. I've just text that he has some work coming his way if he wants to get in the team.... that'll show his commitment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazza77 Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 Confirmed. https://www.featherstonerovers.co.uk/news/featherstone-welcome-gadwin-springer-Pe6WY Out of interest, which of our forwards are currently injured? I know we've had a very light squad for the last couple of weeks, however I was under the impression we were due most back following isolation. Please view my photos. http://www.hughesphoto.co.uk/ Little Nook Farm - Caravan Club Certificated Location in the heart of the Pennines overlooking Hebden Bridge and the Calder Valley. http://www.facebook.com/LittleNookFarm Little Nook Cottage - 2-bed self-catering cottage in the heart of the Pennines overlooking Hebden Bridge and the Calder Valley. Book now via airbnb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobLambert Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 4 hours ago, gazza77 said: Confirmed. https://www.featherstonerovers.co.uk/news/featherstone-welcome-gadwin-springer-Pe6WY Out of interest, which of our forwards are currently injured? I know we've had a very light squad for the last couple of weeks, however I was under the impression we were due most back following isolation. I'm one of the more ill informed supporters but even I have guessed that Day and Bussey may well be ####ed for the season so for that reason alone this signing makes sense. Who knows how it'll go but he might just rise to the challenge. At his best he does take some stopping but at the very least he's an extra body for the run-in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tms Posted July 26, 2021 Share Posted July 26, 2021 Don't think we signed him because of injuries Bottom line it gives webbo a bigger option to rest forwards as we close in on the playoffs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobLambert Posted July 26, 2021 Share Posted July 26, 2021 3 hours ago, POR said: Don't think we signed him because of injuries Bottom line it gives webbo a bigger option to rest forwards as we close in on the playoffs Err...... well if you've got injuries you can't rest players Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tms Posted July 26, 2021 Share Posted July 26, 2021 15 minutes ago, RobLambert said: Err...... well if you've got injuries you can't rest players NOT really we'ave got injuries and without springer we rested one on sunday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Phantom Horseman Posted July 26, 2021 Author Share Posted July 26, 2021 I think one thing we have struggled with since the glut of injuries in the last couple of months plus Covid absentees is the big drop-off between our starting middles and their replacements, especially in size. Kopczak, Harrison and Lockwood have all been absolute beasts in the middle this season. When we have had all three on the field we have usually dominated the game, and even with two of them on at the same time we have usually been well on top. I'd add Bussey to that list too. There have been a few occasions though when injuries and substitutions have meant we haven't had any of them on the field, and boy have we struggled when that's happened. The first time I really noticed this was in the 1895 Cup against Widnes. Harrison didn't play that day, but with Lockwood and Kopczak on the field we were dominant in the early stages. They were both then subbed and we had Cooper, Davies and Field in the middle. All three of these are good players individually and have played very well this season, but as a trio they don't have anything like the physical stature of our regular starters (as I've said before Johnny D is so much more effective on the edge than in the middle), and Widnes started making yardage up the middle and came right back into the game. We saw this again on Sunday, we went 12-10 up and then Lockwood and Harrison had their first breather. That left our middles as McConnell, Field and Cooper. Bradford scored shortly afterwards and then from the kick off Walker crashed between McConnell and Field to set up that long-distance try. There's simply no way that break happens if Harrison and Lockwood were on the field, and normal service was resumed shortly afterwards when Harrison and then Lockwood came back on. Don't get me wrong, the young lads who have had to play far more minutes than we ever expected have been tremendous, but when we have had the injuries that we have, there is a huge drop-off, especially in size, when we don't have at least one, or preferably two, of our best middles on the field. It feels like Webster has been trying to squeeze by for a number of weeks now, giving Koppy, Lockwood and Harrison a brief 10-minute breather here and there, because we have three or four lads who are tremendously wholehearted but their size means you just don't want too many of them in the middle at the same time. In fairness I think Webster has handled his substituions extremely well in the circumstances. If and when Bussey and Ferguson return that will help a lot, but Springer might help too, he's a big unit who should be ideal for coming on after 25-30 minutes, then a few minutes into the second half whilst our starting middles get some rest. Everything I've ever seen about him suggests that stamina isn't his strong suit so he probably needs to be played in short sharp bursts, and as such he's never going to show up well in terms of stats, but we need someone who can help tire out the opposition when our big lads go off for their rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Blues Ox Posted July 27, 2021 Share Posted July 27, 2021 18 hours ago, The Phantom Horseman said: Everything I've ever seen about him suggests that stamina isn't his strong suit so he probably needs to be played in short sharp bursts, and as such he's never going to show up well in terms of stats, but we need someone who can help tire out the opposition when our big lads go off for their rest. This is my point exactly, Grix must have done some research on him before signing him. I know one thing without having to know too much about rugby, he has more tackle busts for us than any other player per minute played. I don't need to know how many yards he has covered in defence to tell you an important aspect of Rugby League is getting on the front foot and that is what Springer brings to the team. Stats sheets are great but they don't tell the whole story, which player would you rather have? Player A takes the ball up 10 times compared to player B's 2 times. Player A makes no yards, no offloads and is dominated every tackle. Player B breaks one tackle and makes a half break and offload to set up a try. Player A is killing it on the stat sheet with his 10 hit ups....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Phantom Horseman Posted July 27, 2021 Author Share Posted July 27, 2021 Just now, The Blues Ox said: This is my point exactly, Grix must have done some research on him before signing him. I know one thing without having to know too much about rugby, he has more tackle busts for us than any other player per minute played. I don't need to know how many yards he has covered in defence to tell you an important aspect of Rugby League is getting on the front foot and that is what Springer brings to the team. Stats sheets are great but they don't tell the whole story, which player would you rather have? Player A takes the ball up 10 times compared to player B's 2 times. Player A makes no yards, no offloads and is dominated every tackle. Player B breaks one tackle and makes a half break and offload to set up a try. Player A is killing it on the stat sheet with his 10 hit ups....... I'm hoping he'll be in a more favourable environment for his style of play at Fev, in that we have three middles who can do pretty big minutes, but we stop dominating the collisions when those three go off. As I've said earlier the likes of Cooper and Field have been very good for us but if you have three guys that size in the middle at the same time you're going to lose something in the collisions and you start coming off second best in the arm wrestle. On Sunday we had one half back on the bench (who came on and played on the wing in the 2nd half) and one inxperienced guy who got about 10 minutes on the field, that meant Lockwood and Harrison were just getting the odd 10-minute breather. With Bussey still absent I'm hoping Springer can maybe do 25 minutes or so to beef up our bench impact, that's all we need from him, play him as an impact, short-spell guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marklaspalmas Posted July 27, 2021 Share Posted July 27, 2021 Could be a Welly Albert style forward for us? https://www.fevarchive.co.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkeymagic22 Posted July 27, 2021 Share Posted July 27, 2021 I've been impressed by Junior Moors, as well. If we can get a few of the Covid players back, we could have real impact from the bench. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Phantom Horseman Posted July 27, 2021 Author Share Posted July 27, 2021 1 hour ago, marklaspalmas said: Could be a Welly Albert style forward for us? I think there are definitely some similarities between them in their playing style, and perhaps strengths and weaknesses. Wellington had a tendency to run upright and on a few occasions he lost a lot of metres as defenders got lower than him and pushed him back, I'm not sure Springer is as susceptible to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tms Posted July 27, 2021 Share Posted July 27, 2021 1 hour ago, The Phantom Horseman said: I think there are definitely some similarities between them in their playing style, and perhaps strengths and weaknesses. Wellington had a tendency to run upright and on a few occasions he lost a lot of metres as defenders got lower than him and pushed him back, I'm not sure Springer is as susceptible to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Blues Ox Posted July 27, 2021 Share Posted July 27, 2021 1 hour ago, The Phantom Horseman said: I think there are definitely some similarities between them in their playing style, and perhaps strengths and weaknesses. Wellington had a tendency to run upright and on a few occasions he lost a lot of metres as defenders got lower than him and pushed him back, I'm not sure Springer is as susceptible to that. Ive not seen Springer lose a tackle this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasginger Posted July 27, 2021 Share Posted July 27, 2021 There's one thing very clear, just support him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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