Sun 10 Oct: MPG: Toulouse Olympique v Featherstone Rovers KO 18:00 (Sky)

[tim2]

16 minutes ago, Wakefield Ram said:

Think Fev will be favourites to go up next year.

Leigh might have something to say about that - I guess it will be between those two.

[David Shepherd]

Despite the fact that we lost, I'm really chuffed for TOXIII.  They've worked really hard to get to today.

I think their squad is already strong enough to ensure they won't be relegated.  For me they already look to have better players than both Wakefield and Salford.  A few additions over the break should see them competing quite well.

I'll miss the trip to France, that and York away are the highlights of my season.

Fev's day will come. 

[David Shepherd]

23 minutes ago, Wakefield Ram said:

Think Fev will be favourites to go up next year.

We're losing quite a few to Newcastle by the sounds of it.  I think a lot will depend on our signings and then how much Degsy is going to throw at Leigh. Newcastle could be quite a force, although I worry that they've done a Sheffield and gone pro far too early.

[sweaty craiq]

13 hours ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

They would have beaten Leigh, if that's the suggestion you're blushingly groping at.

They wouldnt though, for as poop as we were in some games and the fact we had no middles in most until the last few - we ended up with a decent pack that was far better than anything on show yesterday. Put simply we would have done a Wakefield 2015. The gap between divisions is huge, recruitment is key and we didnt find the players in the few weeks we had. So back down we go, stay FT spend £1.4m on the team and do it the only way that gives you a small chance again - ps we didnt spend £1.4m this season as we couldnt find the players

[Davo5]

I see the Leigh delusions of grandeur have started early.

[Eddie]

16 minutes ago, David Shepherd said:

Despite the fact that we lost, I'm really chuffed for TOXIII.  They've worked really hard to get to today.

I think their squad is already strong enough to ensure they won't be relegated.  For me they already look to have better players than both Wakefield and Salford.  A few additions over the break should see them competing quite well.

I'll miss the trip to France, that and York away are the highlights of my season.

Fev's day will come. 

At least you’ll get to go to Workington instead. 

[Eddie]

11 minutes ago, David Shepherd said:

We're losing quite a few to Newcastle by the sounds of it.  I think a lot will depend on our signings and then how much Degsy is going to throw at Leigh. Newcastle could be quite a force, although I worry that they've done a Sheffield and gone pro far too early.

They’ve got much better financial backing than Sheffield Eagles had though I think. 

[David Shepherd]

6 minutes ago, Eddie said:

At least you’ll get to go to Workington instead. 

And the 87 day trip to Barrow too.

[Davo5]

3 minutes ago, Eddie said:

At least you’ll get to go to Workington instead. 

Great eh,2 trips next season travelling through a World Heritage Site.

[The Phantom Horseman]

29 minutes ago, sweaty craiq said:

They wouldnt though, for as poop as we were in some games and the fact we had no middles in most until the last few - we ended up with a decent pack that was far better than anything on show yesterday.

Casty and Garbutt are players that fans of even the more successful SL clubs would not have turned their noses up at, Sangare is rapidly turning into a bit of a beast, Peyroux was a regular starter for the best team in SL over the previous 4 years, and Paulo had been a fringe player at Saints. Then there's Hansen still playing at a pretty high standard. But you think the Leigh pack that got mauled all season and still averaged 42 points conceded per game over its last 5 games was "far better". Hmm.

[Scubby]

Just now, The Phantom Horseman said:

Casty and Garbutt are players that fans of even the more successful SL clubs would not have turned their noses up at, Sangare is rapidly turning into a bit of a beast, Peyroux was a regular starter for the best team in SL over the previous 4 years, and Paulo had been a fringe player at Saints. Then there's Hansen still playing at a pretty high standard. But you think the Leigh pack that got mauled all season and still averaged 42 points conceded per game over its last 5 games was "far better". Hmm.

That pack is extremely strong and they will be adding to it with a couple of signings no doubt. It appeared to be the difference in both TO-Fev games that they were able to dominate and stifle Rovers natural attacking weapons. 

[The Phantom Horseman]

5 minutes ago, Scubby said:

That pack is extremely strong and they will be adding to it with a couple of signings no doubt. It appeared to be the difference in both TO-Fev games that they were able to dominate and stifle Rovers natural attacking weapons. 

Indeed, the one thing you could say is that their pack has a lot of veterans in and certainly Casty, and maybe one or two others, might retire. Fev's average points scored per game this year is the highest in their history yet as you say Toulouse stifled them, I've watched most of Toulouse's games this year and their defence is absolutely outstanding.

[Lowdesert]

1 minute ago, Scubby said:

That pack is extremely strong and they will be adding to it with a couple of signings no doubt. It appeared to be the difference in both TO-Fev games that they were able to dominate and stifle Rovers natural attacking weapons. 

I dont think Casty will go around again.  He is not the player he was and from what I saw, TO will need a more than a couple of quality additions to compete regularly. 

TBF I thought TO opted for a very risk free approach last night which invited Fev into the game more as it went on.  Sure, their completions rates would have been good but it didnt show on the scoreboard as much it could have done. Although, imo, Fev didnt deserve it, another try and anything could have happened.

Fabulous atmosphere though.

[JonM]

2 hours ago, tim2 said:

Depends what you mean by "a lot". They've funded away games in the UK this season with no home matches. Would any of their rivals have done that?

One of the French papers today had a statement along the lines of - this year's 3.5 million euro budget won't be enough for 2022 in Superleague. 

[Scubby]

51 minutes ago, Davo5 said:

I see the Leigh delusions of grandeur have started early.

Did they ever stop?

[Scubby]

9 minutes ago, Lowdesert said:

I dont think Casty will go around again.  He is not the player he was and from what I saw, TO will need a more than a couple of quality additions to compete regularly. 

TBF I thought TO opted for a very risk free approach last night which invited Fev into the game more as it went on.  Sure, their completions rates would have been good but it didnt show on the scoreboard as much it could have done. Although, imo, Fev didnt deserve it, another try and anything could have happened.

Fabulous atmosphere though.

Agree, had that been a league game it could have been 26-0 at H-T such was the dominance. Fev seemed to sense Toulouse were playing it safe and just completing in the second half and it inspired them to play off that angst. They nearly got right back in the game and it would have been a very nervy last 20 minutes had Hall got that ball down.

[JonM]

29 minutes ago, Lowdesert said:

I dont think Casty will go around again. 

His post-match interview confirmed that this was definitely his last game. I suppose there's always a chance someone might change his mind.

[Scubby]

Has there ever been a season where the top 2 clubs go through the whole season unbeaten (except for the games against each other)? Both teams deserve a lot of credit for amazing consistency in such a disrupted season.

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

2 hours ago, David Shepherd said:

Despite the fact that we lost, I'm really chuffed for TOXIII.  They've worked really hard to get to today.

I think their squad is already strong enough to ensure they won't be relegated.  For me they already look to have better players than both Wakefield and Salford.  A few additions over the break should see them competing quite well.

I'll miss the trip to France, that and York away are the highlights of my season.

Fev's day will come. 

I hate to say it but Wakey and Salford would be the least losses to SL

[Lowdesert]

39 minutes ago, JonM said:

His post-match interview confirmed that this was definitely his last game. I suppose there's always a chance someone might change his mind.

Didn’t see that.  Hard for a player to take sometimes and, like many boxers we’ve seen, they come back for the wrong reasons.

I think most would agree, Remi has nothing to prove now and has been a champion player.

[sweaty craiq]

2 hours ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

Casty and Garbutt are players that fans of even the more successful SL clubs would not have turned their noses up at, Sangare is rapidly turning into a bit of a beast, Peyroux was a regular starter for the best team in SL over the previous 4 years, and Paulo had been a fringe player at Saints. Then there's Hansen still playing at a pretty high standard. But you think the Leigh pack that got mauled all season and still averaged 42 points conceded per game over its last 5 games was "far better". Hmm.

How many games did that ageing pack play, how many were tough games? If they had played a run of SL fixtures they would have been crippled with injury, Flower played about 40 mins all season for us and is younger than some mentioned.

middle 8’s and they don’t go up, this season has been a farce and if it goes to 2 x 10 with 1 promoted after next year then 3 clubs are in SL2 - can’t wait to see what happens as panic sets in next year

[sweaty craiq]

1 hour ago, Scubby said:

Has there ever been a season where the top 2 clubs go through the whole season unbeaten (except for the games against each other)? Both teams deserve a lot of credit for amazing consistency in such a disrupted season.

I doubt the championship has been so uncompetitive for quite a while, only 2 ever in it and one of them played less than half its games, hopefully next year is better with Newcastle going FT

[The Phantom Horseman]

5 minutes ago, sweaty craiq said:

How many games did that ageing pack play, how many were tough games? If they had played a run of SL fixtures they would have been crippled with injury, Flower played about 40 mins all season for us and is younger than some mentioned.

middle 8’s and they don’t go up

They didn't even need to dip into their war chest to sign players for the end of season. Perhaps because they did their due diligence on the health and wear & tear of the players they signed at the start of the season?

Toulouse have made some well-judged signings and have a quality coach, two things that have been blatantly lacking under the stewardship of D Beaumont.

[Scubby]

1 minute ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

They didn't even need to dip into their war chest to sign players for the end of season. Perhaps because they did their due diligence on the health and wear & tear of the players they signed at the start of the season?

Toulouse have made some well-judged signings and have a quality coach, two things that have been blatantly lacking under the stewardship of D Beaumont.

Harsh but fair. 

[Faithful1865]

14 hours ago, RayCee said:

It may sound an unusual angle but will they have French officials for the games or fly over English ones?

The local gendarmerie have been called on to find Thierry Alibert.