Mon 27th Feb: Ch: Widnes Vikings v Halifax Panthers KO 19:45 (ViaPlay)

[John Drake]

Discuss Monday's televised Championship game Widnes Vikings v Halifax Panthers here.

[spanishknight]

Fax by 22.

[Nigel Fax]

Fax by 8, 

 

[The Blues Ox]

Tough game for us this as always at Widnes. Both teams will have a few players missing and the season hasn't really clicked for either team but this is the sort of game we need to be winning if we want to separate ourselves from the likely chasing pack in the race for 3rd/4th. Not expecting much from Widnes under Kear but we have looked average in the middle of the field which has to be an area where Widnes will fancy getting over us. If our pack steps up anything like then I reckon Fax by 10.

[Cw25]

Widnes 18-28 Halifax

[doc]

Widnes 22-10 

 

[DavidM]

Halifax by 14

[Chronicler of Chiswick]

Widnes by 8.

[Wolfey Rovers]

Widnes by 8

[The storm]

Halifax are a great club

 

Love visiting there

But on our home ground its widnes by 10

[Ovenden Grunt]

Fax by 2.

[The Phantom Horseman]

Interesting game with a spread of 34 points between the two most extreme predictions (Widnes by 12, Fax by 22). What's fascinating is that there are 4 predictions of Fax by more than 1 score and the same number for Widnes by more than 1 score so far.

Halifax won this fixture by a wide margin in September and I think their backs should ensure they win again.

Edited February 24, 2023 by The Phantom Horseman

[POR]

Lee Radford has pulled no punches after his Castleford Tigers side lost their opening round to Hull FC. Two of his overseas players, Mahe Fonua and Suaia Matagi have been dropped and sent on dual registration.

[The Blues Ox]

I will reserve judgement until after Monday but I am already more excited about our DR partnership with Cas than I were in about 5 years with Huddersfield. 

[doc]

Strengthening your squad with two loan players 48 hours before a game? I'd say it was a tad unfair, but this is RL, so I wont. I'll just sulk.

Mind, maybe they'll be rubbish for Fax as well.

[tim2]

Could go either way bu I'm going for a narrow Widnes win.

[Simon Hall]

On 25/02/2023 at 16:01, The Blues Ox said:

I will reserve judgement until after Monday but I am already more excited about our DR partnership with Cas than I were in about 5 years with Huddersfield. 

I'd be really cheesed off if York had a DR partnership and the SL club's coach was "dropping" established 31 year old SL players and making them play for us for a game. Embarrassing that a club who should be one of the leading sides in the Championship has accepted it. 

[The Blues Ox]

18 minutes ago, Simon Hall said:

I'd be really cheesed off if York had a DR partnership and the SL club's coach was "dropping" established 31 year old SL players and making them play for us for a game. Embarrassing that a club who should be one of the leading sides in the Championship has accepted it. 

Would you rather your team played with 15 players? Fax approached Cas for some players due to our injury crisis. There isn't 17 Fax players available that should be playing tonight, obviously some will put their hands up to play when they shouldn't be but which option is the best for our club?

Edited February 27, 2023 by The Blues Ox

[Ovenden Grunt]

18 minutes ago, Simon Hall said:

I'd be really cheesed off if York had a DR partnership and the SL club's coach was "dropping" established 31 year old SL players and making them play for us for a game. Embarrassing that a club who should be one of the leading sides in the Championship has accepted it. 

Totally agree 

[Simon Hall]

5 minutes ago, The Blues Ox said:

Would you rather your team played with 15 players? Fax approached Cas for some players due to our injury crisis. There isn't 17 Fax players available that should be playing tonight, obviously some will put their hands up to play when they shouldn't be but which option is the best for our club?

We went to Toulouse with 16, including 5 young lads and I was more proud of that than I would be had we signed a couple of players who didn't want to be there.

 

[The Blues Ox]

3 minutes ago, Simon Hall said:

We went to Toulouse with 16, including 5 young lads and I was more proud of that than I would be had we signed a couple of players who didn't want to be there.

 

Id be more concerned at putting your players at risk to be honest if they are not ready. That just seems like stupidity if there is another option.

[sentoffagain2]

   I can't decide who will win this one.I think they are evenly matched so i would be surprised if the winning margin for either team was more than 10 points.

[Simon Hall]

26 minutes ago, The Blues Ox said:

Id be more concerned at putting your players at risk to be honest if they are not ready. That just seems like stupidity if there is another option.

Better to grow your own players than help a SL side punish theirs.

[The Blues Ox]

19 minutes ago, Simon Hall said:

Better to grow your own players than help a SL side punish theirs.

Grow your own players? Don't make me laugh what chance has any team at Championship level got of growing their own players. Fax probably have more locally born players in their team than most teams but at the end of the day what does it matter? If someone is good enough they go to SL, if someone wants more money then they leave. All this pie in the sky ideal world stuff sounds great but lets not forget the purpose that we serve in the grand scheme of things.

Just going back to York traveling with 16 players and some of them sounding like they aint ready to play that level, the RFL allowing that to happen shows what they think of teams at our level and when the governing body is willing to allow a team to put players in danger you kind of stop caring about things and it makes you a little sefish and at a semi pro level I really only care about my team doing what is best for themselves. Rant over.

[Simon Hall]

9 minutes ago, The Blues Ox said:

Grow your own players? Don't make me laugh what chance has any team at Championship level got of growing their own players. Fax probably have more locally born players in their team than most teams but at the end of the day what does it matter? If someone is good enough they go to SL, if someone wants more money then they leave. All this pie in the sky ideal world stuff sounds great but lets not forget the purpose that we serve in the grand scheme of things.

Just going back to York traveling with 16 players and some of them sounding like they aint ready to play that level, the RFL allowing that to happen shows what they think of teams at our level and when the governing body is willing to allow a team to put players in danger you kind of stop caring about things and it makes you a little sefish and at a semi pro level I really only care about my team doing what is best for themselves. Rant over.

The players are all first team players so will be playing Championship this year, 3 of them played yesterday and one was 18th man, wasn't like they were ball boys signed on as cannon fodder. I'm really proud of the direction my club is going with regards to producing players.

You go enjoy your club being treated like a naughty step.