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Mon 6th Mar: Ch: Featherstone Rovers v Bradford Bulls KO 19:45 (Viaplay)

John Drake

By John Drake
in The General Rugby League Forum

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Who will win?  

61 members have voted

  1. 1. Who will win?

    • Featherstone Rovers
      56
    • Bradford Bulls
      5

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  • Poll closed on 06/03/23 at 20:15

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Gav Wilson
Gav Wilson

Will Fev put a team out despite the impending liquidation?

Wolford6
Wolford6

Most away games under Kear ... I'd have paid £50 to get out.

The Blues Ox
The Blues Ox

Thought it was a pretty boring game to watch, one where Bradford probably thought they had a shout at times but in reality it was one they never really looked like winning. Bradford did what they came

The Phantom Horseman

The Phantom Horseman

Posted
Posted

It's funny but four games into the season I'm still not sure where Fev are ability-wise compared to last season. The mood is very upbeat amongst fans and understandably so because Long is a much more personable and supporter-friendly coach than McDermott was. Two or three of the older forwards have moved on and the off-season signings generally have looked good.

It's hard to say at this stage whether the squad is playing much better than last season or whether nobody has really had a proper dig at us yet though. Halifax rolled over very quickly and the other three teams we have played are all in the bottom four, and we were clunky at times against both Whitehaven and Newcastle.

We look to have a bit more depth than last season, which is a good job with injuries already starting to bite. Aekins and Hankinson have both been excellent and we could definitely have done without their recent injuries.

Bradford are sure to fancy their chances after not only playing well, but also clearly getting under Toulouse's skin and visibly rattling them and Fev will have to be careful not to fall into the same trap. There may well be plenty of verbals flying around once again and it might need a strong referee, I don't normally bother looking to see who the officials are but I did for this one and it's interesting to note that as of now this is the only senior  game this weekend where the ref hasn't been announced on the RFL website. There are a couple of youngish lads in their early 20s reffing at Championship level and whilst they are promising I don't think this is the game for them.

I think Bradford too are still a little tricky to assess ie are they now bona fide promotion candidates or merely a bit improved on last year? They clearly have a better squad this season especially with DR to help, if they beat Fev on Monday then the Championship is going to be seen as wide open.

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The Phantom Horseman

The Phantom Horseman

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56 minutes ago, The Blues Ox said:

Fev by 36. Despite Bradford's upset against Tolouse, Fev will have far too much all over the field as they continue their run of favorable fixtures to start the season.

We've faced four of the current bottom six, surely it's unrealistic to expect such a big win against a team that isn't currently languishing near the relegation zone like our 4 previous opponents?

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The Blues Ox

The Blues Ox

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57 minutes ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

We've faced four of the current bottom six, surely it's unrealistic to expect such a big win against a team that isn't currently languishing near the relegation zone like our 4 previous opponents?

To be honest I wouldnt read too much in to a league table till at least half the games have been played. Like you say yourself its very hard to judge where Fev are at the moment but of course its hard to see past them now for topping the league with ease but playing a newly promoted team away from home then a couple of the relegation favs and a team that hasn't won at your ground in god knows how many years, they are very clearly on a roll. Now if Toulouse had started with the same fixtures we would have been talking about how great Toulouse look in all probability. However that said if Fev had faced say Bradford away, Fax away, and maybe Widnes away and still been putting up convincing wins then its a completly different outlook.

Ive said before though, I'm enjoying watching how giddy that Fev fans are getting after those first 4 fixtures and although last season it was very painfully obvious that it would have taken a miracle for anyone to beat Leigh in the grand final, I really don't see Fev been in such a comfortable position come this years final which will make it interesting viewing.

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The Phantom Horseman

The Phantom Horseman

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, The Blues Ox said:

Ive said before though, I'm enjoying watching how giddy that Fev fans are getting after those first 4 fixtures and although last season it was very painfully obvious that it would have taken a miracle for anyone to beat Leigh in the grand final, I really don't see Fev been in such a comfortable position come this years final which will make it interesting viewing.

We do have one or two fans who seem to have only two gears, either we're an unstoppable force or it's all going pear-shaped and we need to sack the coach, but then again so does just about every team, and I'm sure if Bradford win on Monday some of the same fans who have been ripping their club apart on social media for ages will suddenly become very "bullish", excusing the pun.

But we are miles away from being a dominant team like Leigh were last year, from about May onwards most teams were barely getting out of their own 30 in yardage sets against Leigh and were lucky to get more than 1 or 2 attacking sets in a game, Fev are a long way from that kind of superiority. As you say it's still early days though and every team could still progress or fall back.

Still, I see that Mick Gledhill has stated after the Toulouse game "if Bradford play like that, they'll beat Featherstone, end of story", so I guess it doesn't really matter how Fev play on Monday night.

Edited by The Phantom Horseman
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Phil

Phil

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23 hours ago, Fevrover said:

I should imagine they will bring more then Halifax.

Wonder why we don’t go to Fev? 
 

There’s one Fax fan can’t go anywhere anymore 😒

"Freedom without socialism is privilege and injustice, socialism without freedom is slavery and brutality" - Mikhail Bakunin

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kiggy

kiggy

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Posted
6 hours ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

 

Still, I see that Mick Gledhill has stated after the Toulouse game "if Bradford play like that, they'll beat Featherstone, end of story", so I guess it doesn't really matter how Fev play on Monday night.

He means, if Bradford don't play 13, and wave imaginary cards at the referee then they will win!

Fév are more savvy than that, and if Ford plays, he knows how to handle intimidation on the pitch and will help out.  I expect Fév to win. 

 

 

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Fevrover

Fevrover

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On 01/03/2023 at 11:36, The Blues Ox said:

To be honest I wouldnt read too much in to a league table till at least half the games have been played. Like you say yourself its very hard to judge where Fev are at the moment but of course its hard to see past them now for topping the league with ease but playing a newly promoted team away from home then a couple of the relegation favs and a team that hasn't won at your ground in god knows how many years, they are very clearly on a roll. Now if Toulouse had started with the same fixtures we would have been talking about how great Toulouse look in all probability. However that said if Fev had faced say Bradford away, Fax away, and maybe Widnes away and still been putting up convincing wins then its a completly different outlook.

Ive said before though, I'm enjoying watching how giddy that Fev fans are getting after those first 4 fixtures and although last season it was very painfully obvious that it would have taken a miracle for anyone to beat Leigh in the grand final, I really don't see Fev been in such a comfortable position come this years final which will make it interesting viewing.

Giddy ? Iam EXSTACTIC knowing its better then under Mcdermot, that was dreadful.

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The Blues Ox

The Blues Ox

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32 minutes ago, Fevrover said:

Giddy ? Iam EXSTACTIC knowing its better then under Mcdermot, that was dreadful.

Funny thing is with this same team, these opening fixtures, and McDermott in charge, I reckon you end up with similar results and then maybe he looks like a great coach?

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Fevrover

Fevrover

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2 minutes ago, The Blues Ox said:

Funny thing is with this same team, these opening fixtures, and McDermott in charge, I reckon you end up with similar results and then maybe he looks like a great coach?

We're playing as a team that look to be enjoying it,Sean talks to fans gives  autographs  etc, feels a different atmosphere so far. Defence is definitely better so far.

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The Phantom Horseman

The Phantom Horseman

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13 minutes ago, The Blues Ox said:

Funny thing is with this same team, these opening fixtures, and McDermott in charge, I reckon you end up with similar results and then maybe he looks like a great coach?

To be fair we played you on this weekend last year at Fev and were arguably fortunate to win, in complete contrast to this year's game.

I tend to agree though that it's still early days. The fans are rightly enthused by Long's opennness and engagement with fans and I really get that, but I'm not a fan of cheap narratives and I want to see us be as good in March, April, May etc as we have been in February.

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