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Sat 25 Sept: Halifax Panthers v Whitehaven KO 17:30 (TV)


Who will win?  

64 members have voted

  1. 1. Who will win?

    • Halifax Panthers
      28
    • Whitehaven
      36

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  • Poll closed on 25/09/21 at 17:00

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I know we should be favs because of 3rd place and home advantage blah de blah but Haven have been probably the 3rd best team that we have played this season and there will not be many Fax fans predicting a victory in this one. I hope we can keep it close and maybe nick a tight one but Haven got a few players who will be wanting to put on a show not least the couple that will be at Fax next year. Haven by 4 for me.

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59 minutes ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

If I were thinking of Championship half backs whose presence could cause a 14-point turnaround in predicting the outcome of a game Harris would be a long way down my list.

Mine too. Between Robinson, Grix, and Harris our half backs really have not had that good a season despite us finishing 3rd. I think all that is tied in to the standard of the Championship been down overall this season especially as we have basically been able to limp in to 3rd.

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55 minutes ago, The Blues Ox said:

 I think all that is tied in to the standard of the Championship been down overall this season especially as we have basically been able to limp in to 3rd.

I have thought that over and over this season. Don't know how much has been down to Covid, the long absence etc, but there have been far more under-achievers than over-achievers this year in terms of pre-season expectations.

Aside of the two stand-out teams Toulouse and Fev, obviously Whitehaven have had a spectacular season and Batley have done very well too. But I don't think any of the other teams can be especially pleased with their season or feel they have taken a significant step forward. Halifax and Bradford, for instance, have probably improved only slightly, yet almost by default have finished higher than was the case in 2019.

Meanwhile York (who did have a huge amount of injuries), London, Sheffield and maybe one or two others have regressed badly. Newcastle also looked some way off being contenders although that might change dramatically next year if rumours about their recruitment are true.

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3 hours ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

I have thought that over and over this season. Don't know how much has been down to Covid, the long absence etc, but there have been far more under-achievers than over-achievers this year in terms of pre-season expectations.

Aside of the two stand-out teams Toulouse and Fev, obviously Whitehaven have had a spectacular season and Batley have done very well too. But I don't think any of the other teams can be especially pleased with their season or feel they have taken a significant step forward. Halifax and Bradford, for instance, have probably improved only slightly, yet almost by default have finished higher than was the case in 2019.

Meanwhile York (who did have a huge amount of injuries), London, Sheffield and maybe one or two others have regressed badly. Newcastle also looked some way off being contenders although that might change dramatically next year if rumours about their recruitment are true.

Yet selling their best centre and top try score  Kieron Gill to the Bulls ? , be interesting to see who they have lined up to replace him.

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30 minutes ago, clogdance said:

Looking forward to this, hope Greg McNally is on the winning team (Leigh fan) 🤪

I think Gregg is Injured and would be a huge loss for Haven.

On their day, Fax can play some good stuff. I think fax might win a tough encounter but what a great season from Whitehaven. Fair play !

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5 hours ago, The Blues Ox said:

Game could be billed as a battle of the leagues 2 big over achievers. Fax finishing 4 places higher than expected and Haven a spectacular 8 places above where they were predicted.

Nah, Fax were forecast to be in the 4th-6th range by most people (well, in my preview on here anyway!) along with London and Bradford. York, who were forecast to be 3rd, underperformed spectacularly, as did London. For me Bradford and Fax ended up where they did by default to a degree. 

The two over-performers were Whitehaven, obviously - who were supposed to be relegation candidates - and Batley, who finished 10th in 2019 and won only one of their games in the truncated 2020 season.

There wasn't a cigarette paper between Fax, Batley and Bradford but only one of that trio overperformed really imo. Maybe next year for Fax though...

As for this game...tough one to call. Betting will be interesting (if there is any) as definitely the type of game where you'd want to back Whitehaven if they are underdogs, but they might not be. Prediction: Walmsley wins the game with a late try, attracts SL interest with the game being televised and invokes a clause in his contract which enables him to back out of whoever he has signed for next year 😉

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2 hours ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

Nah, Fax were forecast to be in the 4th-6th range by most people (well, in my preview on here anyway!) along with London and Bradford. York, who were forecast to be 3rd, underperformed spectacularly, as did London. For me Bradford and Fax ended up where they did by default to a degree. 

The two over-performers were Whitehaven, obviously - who were supposed to be relegation candidates - and Batley, who finished 10th in 2019 and won only one of their games in the truncated 2020 season.

There wasn't a cigarette paper between Fax, Batley and Bradford but only one of that trio overperformed really imo. Maybe next year for Fax though...

As for this game...tough one to call. Betting will be interesting (if there is any) as definitely the type of game where you'd want to back Whitehaven if they are underdogs, but they might not be. Prediction: Walmsley wins the game with a late try, attracts SL interest with the game being televised and invokes a clause in his contract which enables him to back out of whoever he has signed for next year 😉

From what I’ve seen this season Walmsley is better than Championship standard so if the SL clubs haven’t already been knocking on his door then they should be asking themselves what scouting & recruitment systems they have in place. He is also an excellent goal kicker and the bottom end of SL next season will be very tight and a good goal kicker will be invaluable 

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49 minutes ago, LeeF said:

From what I’ve seen this season Walmsley is better than Championship standard so if the SL clubs haven’t already been knocking on his door then they should be asking themselves what scouting & recruitment systems they have in place. He is also an excellent goal kicker and the bottom end of SL next season will be very tight and a good goal kicker will be invaluable 

From what I can gather a top 6 SL team offered him a 2 year deal but the first year he would be sent out on loan to Newcastle which he didn't want. It sounds like the deal with the SL club is still on but will be the season after next.

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1 hour ago, The Blues Ox said:

From what I can gather a top 6 SL team offered him a 2 year deal but the first year he would be sent out on loan to Newcastle which he didn't want. It sounds like the deal with the SL club is still on but will be the season after next.

I heard a rumour about Wigan and I can understand him not wanting to go out on loan

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26 minutes ago, LeeF said:

I heard a rumour about Wigan and I can understand him not wanting to go out on loan

He’s a far better player than their recruit from London,maybe he’s reluctant to play outside Isa or Thornley,which is understandable.

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10 hours ago, The Blues Ox said:

Game could be billed as a battle of the leagues 2 big over achievers. Fax finishing 4 places higher than expected and Haven a spectacular 8 places above where they were predicted.

This is one of yours from before the season start

Our starting 17 is good enough for the top 3 in my opinion but we go past that

and a few others

 

Personally I would be disappointed if we finish below Widnes and Bradford with the team we have put together.

At the moment Id go top 2 of Fev and Toulouse then York, Widnes and Fax making up the five.

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14 minutes ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

This is one of yours from before the season start

Our starting 17 is good enough for the top 3 in my opinion but we go past that

and a few others

 

Personally I would be disappointed if we finish below Widnes and Bradford with the team we have put together.

At the moment Id go top 2 of Fev and Toulouse then York, Widnes and Fax making up the five.

Yeah I were pretty confident that we could get 3rd, it wasn't really any surprise to me or anyone who had an idea about Championship rugby. It was pretty clear we had put together a decent team. Touch wood its looking better for next season.

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Tough one to call this, it could go either way and a mistake or great play could make the difference, lets hope its the latter.

Greg McNally out of the Whitehaven squad, which takes away an attacking dimension, but replaced by Karl Dixon who's having a great season an certainly won't weaken the team. I think it will be either Dixon in at centre, Mossop on the wing and Walmsley to fullback or Dixon at 6 and Jouffrett to fullback. Think I'd prefer the latter.

Pushed for a prediction I think Whitehaven by 4 due to recent form

100% League 0% Union

Just because I don't know doesn't mean I don't understand

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Seems to be a few mistruths on the Haven forum. I don't know where the assumption is that Fax are full time comes from but whenever we go up there it seems to be said to us quite a lot but Fax have not been full time for a long time and we certainly won't be next season. Also a few questioning how Walmsley and Jouffret will play against us, I don't see it been an issue at all. Grix is very specific about the type of character that he wants in people playing at Fax so in that sense he won't be expecting them to be going anything less than 100%.

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15 hours ago, The Blues Ox said:

From what I can gather a top 6 SL team offered him a 2 year deal but the first year he would be sent out on loan to Newcastle which he didn't want. It sounds like the deal with the SL club is still on but will be the season after next.

Which begs the question why he's chosen part time FAX over full time newcastle 

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