Sat 11-Sun 12 Feb: Betfred Championship (Non-TV) Match Thread

[sweaty craiq]

5 hours ago, JonM said:

Keighley have had two relatively tough fixtures - Fev at home and Widnes Away. They'll be favourites to beat Newcastle at home next weekend. Barrow have had two home games and would have been looking to win one or both.

Barrow have had the season in the sun, only hope will be Haven are even worse 

[sweaty craiq]

It’s round 4 of the Fev plus one season, so far TW, TO and Leigh have spoiled the party. 

[The Phantom Horseman]

12 hours ago, ShropshireBull said:

So June is when you get the proper game. Both teams will be resting players I suspect in Sept

Possibly, but only if the play-off positions are already set, which will be far from guaranteed two games from the end of the season. If Toulouse and Fev are the top two teams at that stage of the year, they'll both be desperate for home advantage in the play-offs.

[The Phantom Horseman]

7 hours ago, sweaty craiq said:

It’s round 4 of the Fev plus one season, so far TW, TO and Leigh have spoiled the party. 

Nope, Batley spoiled the party last year.

[crashmon]

So at least this year London get the win in week 2 and not week 10. Still think the squad is paper thin, but if they can get some early wins in, then hopefully a season of mid-table insignificance will hold for us, which would be a large improvement from last year

[tim2]

Sheffield will be better this season than last. Their position will to a large extent depend on whether Thackeray stays fit. It's still really wide open below Fev and, probably, Toulouse.

[Harry Stottle]

3 hours ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

Nope, Batley spoiled the party last year.

It was on the cards it was going to happen to Fev, the semi v Batley was a culmination of bad tactics, coaching and selections throughout the season by Big Mac, obviously it was a big dissapointment for the Fev Fans on the day but a lesser one I would imagine it would have been had they travelled to the LSV for the final.

It will all be put behind them this year though, it is definatley Fevs year.

Edited February 13, 2023 by Harry Stottle

[Nothus]

Fev to finally win the million pound game...only to be thwarted by IMGs grading system and kept in the championship anyway

[David Shepherd]

41 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

It was on the cards it was going to happen to Fev, the semi v Batley was a culmination of bad tactics, coaching and selections throughout the season by Big Mac, obviously it was a big dissapointment for the Fev Fans on the day but a lesser one I would imagine it would have been had they travelled to the LSV for the final.

It will all be put behind them this year though, it is definatley Fevs year.

Have to admit I'm a bit more optimistic now Harry.  We're definitely a level above last year and the ease with which we dominated a major rival yesterday was impressive.

We definitely slacked off in the last 20 though which is a concern. Halifax were nowhere near and the final score flatters them.

[Griff]

18 hours ago, ShropshireBull said:

Another season where it looks like we have two teams streets ahead but we won’t go to a 14 team super league but we will keep loop fixtures. 

Are we not heading towards the position we wanted ?  An undercompetition producing teams that could at least withstand a viable, if ultimately unsuccessful, relegation battle in the following season ?

Would it really be a step forward to promote Toulouse and Fev ?  What happens at the end of the season ?  One of those clubs relegated and an ill-prepared, ill-financed team takes their place ?

In any case, now isn't the time.  IMG are about to come up with their plan.

Edited February 13, 2023 by Griff

[Griff]

3 hours ago, tim2 said:

Sheffield will be better this season than last. Their position will to a large extent depend on whether Thackeray stays fit. It's still really wide open below Fev and, probably, Toulouse.

There's a lot of clubs who could fill in any of places 3-10.  A mid season signing here, an injury there, could change prospects dramatically in mid-table.

[sweaty craiq]

On 13/02/2023 at 07:46, The Phantom Horseman said:

Nope, Batley spoiled the party last year.

You know better, they stopped after the Bash. They knew they couldn’t win

[watcherofRL]

On 11/02/2023 at 19:27, Marrafan said:

Didn’t have Coleman in charge when you travelled to Cumbria last season. Oh and by the way we travel the same distance.

Wasn’t saying it was about travel as both sides travel was stating that the double was due to Coleman and after the win at weekend it’s proved the team is up to the challenge- hopefully the double 

[The Phantom Horseman]

3 hours ago, sweaty craiq said:

You know better, they stopped after the Bash. They knew they couldn’t win

We just weren't good enough last year, as Batley showed, twice. There's a world of rugby league outside Leigh, you know.

[sweaty craiq]

5 minutes ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

We just weren't good enough last year, as Batley showed, twice. There's a world of rugby league outside Leigh, you know.

You made some awful recruitment of past it’s and the coach was a one trick pony who hates everyone. Much better balance this season

[Marrafan]

16 hours ago, watcherofRL said:

Wasn’t saying it was about travel as both sides travel was stating that the double was due to Coleman and after the win at weekend it’s proved the team is up to the challenge- hopefully the double 

Poor argument. Your defeat at Whitehaven last season was two months after Coleman was sacked.