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

[bobbruce]

On 30/04/2022 at 18:52, 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?

No home ground in SL can hold 60k+. 

[The Phantom Horseman]

2 hours ago, Harry Stottle said:

Have you played London at Home yet? If not you are in for a treat

We played them on a very wet day in February, and the pitch conditions helped keep the winning margin down...as I recall, the same thing happened in our first home game of the season 

[Snowys Backside]

11 minutes ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

We played them on a very wet day in February, and the pitch conditions helped keep the winning margin down...as I recall, the same thing happened in our first home game of the season 

I like it

[Cw25]

Congratulations London Broncos.

[Northern Eel]

12 hours ago, LeeF said:

So why are they in a complete mess? Also why could it become worse?

Any team in a pro/semi-pro league that ships such a huge score line has huge problems. Yes, they have injuries, but you have to ask why so many (and so many more than everyone else). Is the back room team good enough or well populated enough?

Looking at the comments from some of their supporters, they are particularly miffed with a growing disconnect between club and fans/community; the most important stakeholders.

Many were, for sometime underwhelmed by the coach and couldn’t see anything changing under his remit. It didn’t and eventually he paid the price.  

Others have challenged the club’s priorities. One example being that some feel the club’s emphasis on pushing gimmick training videos online was poor and that they should be focusing on other more important things. (Not my words)

Fans will vote with their feet. Lower income will make it harder to meet financial obligations. That’s a tough rut to get out of. 

Edited May 2, 2022 by Northern Eel

[GUBRATS]

RL is a cruel game , you cannot just defend in the way you can in football , it can be almost impossible to turn momentum around , once a game is won , the team with the lead can open up and chance their arm with plays they wouldn't normally attempt in a tight game , then fatigue sets in and it can get very ugly 

 

[watcherofRL]

On 29/04/2022 at 13:53, crashmon said:

Leigh Centurions v Sheffield Eagles KO 20:00
Newcastle Thunder v Halifax Panthers KO 15:00
Featherstone Rovers v Widnes Vikings KO 15:00
London Broncos v Dewsbury Rams KO 15:00
Whitehaven v Bradford Bulls KO 15:00
Workington Town v Batley Bulldogs KO 14:00

 

Going with my heart rather than my head on the London game. Also its my 50th Birthday, so I really hope the Bronocos give me a surprise birthday gift here

Happy birthday - glad they won to make it a good day

[watcherofRL]

33 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

RL is a cruel game , you cannot just defend in the way you can in football , it can be almost impossible to turn momentum around , once a game is won , the team with the lead can open up and chance their arm with plays they wouldn't normally attempt in a tight game , then fatigue sets in and it can get very ugly 

 

This is the problem London have and All fans are brutal when things go wrong - they give so much negativity in the name of ‘it’s my right as I’ve supported for years’

A lot of players in part time contracts earning as little as £4k to train 3 times a week and give the whole weekend up each week for the chance to play RL. It’s a tough place to be when you are losing and the coaches and management do need to look at how to change things up

[GUBRATS]

1 minute ago, watcherofRL said:

This is the problem London have and All fans are brutal when things go wrong - they give so much negativity in the name of ‘it’s my right as I’ve supported for years’

A lot of players in part time contracts earning as little as £4k to train 3 times a week and give the whole weekend up each week for the chance to play RL. It’s a tough place to be when you are losing and the coaches and management do need to look at how to change things up

As I said last week , I was cheering on the London lads when they were stood behind the sticks , they probably thought I was taking the Micheal , but I wasn't , it's not a good place to be , 20 years ago I was coaching my son's team , basically the ' misfits ' a previous fellow coach had brought in while attempting to improve his son's team but leaving us with a squad so big kids weren't getting a game , our first game as a separate team was against Johnny Lomax's Orrel St James team who were undefeated in years , apart from my son and 2 others most of the others had played less than 5/6 games , that season we lost every game , it's hard 

[watcherofRL]

16 hours ago, gazza77 said:

Better 2nd half from a Widnes tbf. 

Final score 74-6

Worse than Leigh v London 

[watcherofRL]

5 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

As I said last week , I was cheering on the London lads when they were stood behind the sticks , they probably thought I was taking the Micheal , but I wasn't , it's not a good place to be , 20 years ago I was coaching my son's team , basically the ' misfits ' a previous fellow coach had brought in while attempting to improve his son's team but leaving us with a squad so big kids weren't getting a game , our first game as a separate team was against Johnny Lomax's Orrel St James team who were undefeated in years , apart from my son and 2 others most of the others had played less than 5/6 games , that season we lost every game , it's hard 

It is hard and when there is lack of guidance it comes down to grit and desire to win and I really hope now that London can begin to build in this and allow this one win to steady their nerve and build- bring back Rob Butler to provide another anchor and allow more rotation in the middle and get some leadership at training. Not heard anything about the coach as still think London could do with fresh eyes and ideas from someone who has worked at a higher level than league one!

[Griff]

34 minutes ago, ShropshireBull said:

When is this Batley vs Eagles catch up coming? 

At least 2 months

[Harry Stottle]

37 minutes ago, ShropshireBull said:

Blo#dy heck. Well best ignore it for now.  I pencilled it in as a Batley win but alot can happen in two months.  Next rounds fixtures all look fairly predictable bar Batley maybe pulling off a shock for Leigh. 

Batley v Leigh is the Monday Night Premier game. 

As much as I like and appreciate how well Batley play I think Leigh will be to strong for them, honestly can't see there being an upset in this one.

Edited May 2, 2022 by Harry Stottle

[Fevrover]

15 hours ago, Cardypaul said:

Yeah it was a freezing cold wet Saturday night, they were better than Widnes 

Workington were better then Widnes ( no disrespect to Workington).

[The Blues Ox]

Huge win for london yesterday and looks like they will put up a fight. Id expect them to beat Newcastle in the next game too.  Would like a barrow win tonight but really can't see it, Barrow are now settling in to the season and are finding it tough against the better teams.

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

1 minute ago, ShropshireBull said:

When lads have to work on the day think it drastically reduces the chance. Playoffs will all be weekends though. 

PO games shown on Premier will almost certainly be on a Monday night

[Harry Stottle]

1 minute ago, ShropshireBull said:

When lads have to work on the day think it drastically reduces the chance. Playoffs will all be weekends though. 

Good point, but still I would be very surprised under any work, Sunday or even extended holiday condition that Batley would beat Leigh presently this season, it is quite a strong formidable team for the opposition in the Championship with the obvious exception of Fev.

But as they say in a two horse race anything can happen.

[Harry Stottle]

5 minutes ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

PO games shown on Premier will almost certainly be on a Monday night

Yep, didn't consider that one, well done that man.

Maybe they will try to throw an extra one or two in on other days.

[Harry Stottle]

What's happened to Dewsbury this season?

[Griff]

2 hours ago, ShropshireBull said:

Blo#dy heck. Well best ignore it for now.  I pencilled it in as a Batley win but alot can happen in two months.  Next rounds fixtures all look fairly predictable bar Batley maybe pulling off a shock for Leigh. 

When would you suggest they fit it in in a very crowded May and June ?

[gittinsfan]

1 hour ago, Harry Stottle said:

Batley v Leigh is the Monday Night Premier game. 

As much as I like and appreciate how well Batley play I think Leigh will be to strong for them, honestly can't see there being an upset in this one.

All we need is Degsy to come out and boast that Leigh will go unbeaten for the rest of the season.Then we have got a chance LOL.

[Harry Stottle]

7 minutes ago, gittinsfan said:

All we need is Degsy to come out and boast that Leigh will go unbeaten for the rest of the season.Then we have got a chance LOL.

If he gets a couple of good half-back maybe, just maybe!

[The Blues Ox]

1 hour ago, Harry Stottle said:

What's happened to Dewsbury this season?

It appears they have stood still while teams around them are improving. Yo always got the feeling that Dewsbury are usually just good enough to be in a relegation battle. This year though relegation s a distinct possibility. The question is if Newcastle and Widnes could still get dragged in to the battle as well.

[Griff]

1 hour ago, ShropshireBull said:

I'm not.  

Then a long delay should have come as no surprise.

[The Phantom Horseman]

On 30/04/2022 at 07:10, The Blues Ox said:

Fev just hit a little dip in form and probably should have lost to Fax as well and at this moment in time I would much rather play Fev than play Leigh but that said their squad still looks incredible. I will probably give the away game at Leigh a miss when we play them, the home game we were totally dominated even though it was not really reflected in the score and I would be surprised if we could get within 30 points of them despite me thinking we are best of the rest with Batley and York.

I thought Leigh played particularly well in that game against Fax (and it helped a lot that they had James Bell, who was outstanding) whereas in the 2nd half at the Shay and for most of the game at Post Office Road Fev were poor (and Fax played well). What I'm saying is that we all tend to judge the merits of opponents on how they played against their own team and also some teams might match up better against one team than another. Having said that, both Leigh and Fev have been on TV enough for people to make up their minds based on other games too.

For me the question mark about Leigh is whether they have enough quality at half back to open up an opponent if they aren't totally dominant in the yardage sets (which they usually are, their pack eats up the metres, but weren't in the first game against Fev). But you can't argue about their recent defensive record.

Still, it's possible that Fev might play Leigh as many as five times this year so we will have more and more direct form comparisons rather than collateral ones.