Fri 29th Apr-Sun 1st May: The Betfred Championship (Non-TV) Match Thread

[DEANO]

13 hours ago, Harry Stottle said:

 

I believe the reward for finishing top is enough with home fixtures, incidentally the format is exactly the same as the lead up to the SL Grand Final, I have yet to hear anyone say the final shouldn't be played at Old Trafford but at the home of the highest placed team in end league placings to make the final, could any of you please explain why it should be different in the Championship Grand Final?

Mainly because sl has a #### eyed set of fixtures whereas the championship only has one loop fixture 

[The Blues Ox]

On 29/04/2022 at 13:34, spanishknight said:

 

We are pretty near to nailing these predictions so far. 

Fax game yesterday was one of the most boring second halfs of rugby I have watched in a long time (and Ive watched quite a bit of SL this season). Game was over within about 25 minutes and then half time came and Fax looked more interested in getting out on the ######. It was men against boys, literally. You have to feel a bit for Newcastle that they are now in a situation where they are having to play a bunch of kids. The good thing is for them that there are 3 teams in the division cast away at the bottom and they should be able to stay up and maybe pick some more points up if they can get some players back.

[Harry Stottle]

1 hour ago, DEANO said:

Mainly because sl has a #### eyed set of fixtures whereas the championship only has one loop fixture 

One extra fixture or multiple extra fixtures is precisely the requirement of having a Grand Final, extra fixtures makes the final table screw whiff, if everyone just played each other home and away, I would agree the team finishing top would not only be the League Leaders but also the the Champion team no need whatsoever for a Grand Final. The same applies to both SL and the Championship.

I just wonder what the reaction would be if Leigh and Fev finish on equal points won over the season and just accrued points difference no matter how minute means one finishes above the other, would that be really conclusive enough to have one team being awarded home advantage in such an important fixture as the GF - if they both got there that is.

[dkw]

14 hours ago, tim2 said:

It's my opinion, and I don't really care either way as the Eagles won't be in it. As I said, I'd rather promotion not be decided on a one-off game. 

I've always felt it very harsh on a team coming top having to win a play off to get promoted. Although I also don't mind teams below first having to go through play offs to get promoted, and i realise thats almost counter intuitive. Ive also quite liked the idea that 1st replaces bottom of the league above, and 2nd place to play 2nd bottom on a play off.

[Harry Stottle]

3 minutes ago, dkw said:

I've always felt it very harsh on a team coming top having to win a play off to get promoted. Although I also don't mind teams below first having to go through play offs to get promoted, and i realise thats almost counter intuitive. Ive also quite liked the idea that 1st replaces bottom of the league above, and 2nd place to play 2nd bottom on a play off.

I think there is too much consternation in SL for any team to be relegated - excepting the new team to the division - so having an additional one would in my opinion not be even discussed never mind entertained, for an example look back to when we employed the 8's, if 4 SL teams stayed up then not much was said about it that is how it should happen, but if a SL team happened to be threatened with relegation even on these pages there was all sorts of remarks that it was not fair, people could lose their jobs etc, etc, just imagine ensuring another team apart from 'newbie' would get relegated, and what if it is a team not expected to take the drop, it just won't happen, my opinion of course.

[tim2]

1 hour ago, dkw said:

I've always felt it very harsh on a team coming top having to win a play off to get promoted. Although I also don't mind teams below first having to go through play offs to get promoted, and i realise thats almost counter intuitive. Ive also quite liked the idea that 1st replaces bottom of the league above, and 2nd place to play 2nd bottom on a play off.

Back in the early 2000s they used this for the bottom 2 divisions. In 2003 the Eagles played a close final against Keighley at a neutral venue (Warrington IIRC), lost then had to go away to Batley from what is now the Championship the week after. Very hard to pick yourself up after that loss then go away to a team that was allowed to spend more money and had been competing at a higher standard.

They ditched it not long afterwards.

[Gav Wilson]

28 minutes ago, tim2 said:

Back in the early 2000s they used this for the bottom 2 divisions. In 2003 the Eagles played a close final against Keighley at a neutral venue (Warrington IIRC), lost then had to go away to Batley from what is now the Championship the week after. Very hard to pick yourself up after that loss then go away to a team that was allowed to spend more money and had been competing at a higher standard.

They ditched it not long afterwards.

The 2004 version of that game still hurts me... 

[Phil W]

2 hours ago, The Blues Ox said:

We are pretty near to nailing these predictions so far. 

Fax game yesterday was one of the most boring second halfs of rugby I have watched in a long time (and Ive watched quite a bit of SL this season). Game was over within about 25 minutes and then half time came and Fax looked more interested in getting out on the ######. It was men against boys, literally. You have to feel a bit for Newcastle that they are now in a situation where they are having to play a bunch of kids. The good thing is for them that there are 3 teams in the division cast away at the bottom and they should be able to stay up and maybe pick some more points up if they can get some players back.

Summed up the second half nicely there to be honest. You guys blew us away in the first half and I was fearing a cricket score.

As has been said more experience for our lads and the lads who came in on loan definitely added something. We might get some players back from injury soon if we're lucky!

[JonT]

2 hours ago, Gav Wilson said:

The 2004 version of that game still hurts me... 

Me too Gav

[JonM]

Workington T 10 Batley 6 HT score in the 2pm KO.

[Rockingchair]

5 hours ago, The Blues Ox said:

We are pretty near to nailing these predictions so far. 

Fax game yesterday was one of the most boring second halfs of rugby I have watched in a long time (and Ive watched quite a bit of SL this season). Game was over within about 25 minutes and then half time came and Fax looked more interested in getting out on the ######. It was men against boys, literally. You have to feel a bit for Newcastle that they are now in a situation where they are having to play a bunch of kids. The good thing is for them that there are 3 teams in the division cast away at the bottom and they should be able to stay up and maybe pick some more points up if they can get some players back.

Yes me n the mrs’ braved the coach for the 1st time , it’s a long whole trek , like you say 1st half was great then 2nd half was like they’d already changed into their going out clothes , my mrs’ was giving me some right earache in the 2nd half about the performance, not my fault mcombs thinking about sporting his new wig on the toon rather than the game .

[David Shepherd]

Good job we don’t rely on away support. 
 

Sheffield bring more that Widnes have

[Fevrover]

12 -0

[JonM]

13 minutes ago, David Shepherd said:

Good job we don’t rely on away support. 
 

Sheffield bring more that Widnes have

As I've posted several times before, it's the only RL ground I don't go to, and I know plenty of other Widnes fans who feel the same. If you want away fans, make the place feel like it's a safe and welcoming place for them to visit.

[Fevrover]

9 minutes ago, JonM said:

As I've posted several times before, it's the only RL ground I don't go to, and I know plenty of other Widnes fans who feel the same. If you want away fans, make the place feel like it's a safe and welcoming place for them to visit.

I witnessed the Widnes fans causing trouble last season so you can hardly talk.

[doc]

25 minutes ago, David Shepherd said:

Good job we don’t rely on away support. 
 

Sheffield bring more that Widnes have

So under 30 then?

a point for each one so far?

[JonM]

1 minute ago, Fevrover said:

I witnessed the Widnes fans causing trouble last season so you can hardly talk.

I'm a fifty-something man who goes to games with family. I just want to turn up and watch the rugby without being subject to threats, racist abuse, witnessing fights nearby etc. I can do that at other grounds. If Fev don't want away fans paying their money, it's fine by me, there's plenty of other things I can do on a Sunday afternoon, but it's a bit rich to come on here and moan about numbers of away fans.

[gazza77]

Fev 42 nil up at half time, playing uphill. 

Fev playing some lovely stuff. Widnes are shocking, barely made it out of there own half. 

[JonM]

Workington T 10 Batley 16 FT score.

[doc]

2 minutes ago, gazza77 said:

Fev 42 nil up at half time, playing uphill. 

Fev playing some lovely stuff. Widnes are shocking, barely made it out of there own half. 

Always on the cards. No coach, best players injured, total lack of confidence, and then having to play away to the top side. Record score coming I reckon. 

[Fevrover]

1 minute ago, JonM said:

I'm a fifty-something man who goes to games with family. I just want to turn up and watch the rugby without being subject to threats, racist abuse, witnessing fights nearby etc. I can do that at other grounds. If Fev don't want away fans paying their money, it's fine by me, there's plenty of other things I can do on a Sunday afternoon, but it's a bit rich to come on here and moan about numbers of away fans.

Iam 65 and been to Widnes many times and usually lost by 40 even 60 and SOME of your fans left a lot to be desired but it didn't but me off. You can't tar all of us with the same brush. The coach driver of a Widnes fans bus said it was always the same with some of the fans causing trouble. They should refuse to big them. 

[Johnny Ringo]

Great effort from Workington, only a spilled ball over the line in the last play of the game denied them their first point of the season. 

[Tubby]

4 minutes ago, JonM said:

I'm a fifty-something man who goes to games with family. I just want to turn up and watch the rugby without being subject to threats, racist abuse, witnessing fights nearby etc. I can do that at other grounds. If Fev don't want away fans paying their money, it's fine by me, there's plenty of other things I can do on a Sunday afternoon, but it's a bit rich to come on here and moan about numbers of away fans.

And this is the problem, perception is all-important. Regardless of who causes trouble at Post Office Road, if the perception of away fans is that it’s all Featherstone aggression then it’s difficult to change that perception. It doesn’t help how it comes across on fora, trike this one. 

[gazza77]

7 minutes ago, doc said:

Always on the cards. No coach, best players injured, total lack of confidence, and then having to play away to the top side. Record score coming I reckon. 

I wasn't expecting a tight game tbh, but based on that half I'd have said Widnes are the worst team I've seen this year. 

Edited May 1, 2022 by gazza77
Typo

[JonM]

Just now, Fevrover said:

You can't tar all of us with the same brush. 

I'm absolutely not tarring you all with the same brush. Most people supporting Fev are well-behaved, there to enjoy the game, the same as RL fans anywhere else. And there are certainly some proper idiots supporting Widnes home and away. There's plenty of things to like about Featherstone as a place steeped in RL tradition. But it's just not a good place to visit for an away fan, and hasn't been for quite a few years.