Match thread: Championship Round 10: Featherstone v Sheffield. Sunday 7th May 2023.

[The Phantom Horseman]

8 minutes ago, marklaspalmas said:

Can the club cite incidents, or is it left to the Match Review panel?

Yes, they can. It's not all that common, most reviews come from the referee, but it does happen (for instance Toulouse cited a couple of Bradford players after they played them at Odsal).

I don't know what the procedure is and there might be an element of teams not wanting to cite players in case there's a ######-for-tat citing by the opposition on one of their own players.

[marklaspalmas]

1 minute ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

Yes, they can. It's not all that common, most reviews come from the referee, but it does happen (for instance Toulouse cited a couple of Bradford players after they played them at Odsal).

I don't know what the procedure is and there might be an element of teams not wanting to cite players in case there's a ######-for-tat citing by the opposition on one of their own players.

Right. I thought that breast-for-tat thing was the very reason they'd dropped it. Obviously not.

[The Phantom Horseman]

25 minutes ago, elppaxr2i said:

Thats probably because we scraped home and got the result

Had we lost, i think we wouldve seen something similar from Long to what Aston has come out with

Had Sheffield won, Aston wouldve produced an interview similar to what Longy has come out with on the game

Yes, I think it's a fair point that it's usually the losers that whine about the ref.

Long doesn't strike me as the type to moan publicly about the officials on what I've seen so far, but then again he hasn't lost many games yet.

Aston is a past master of the dark art of passive-aggressive comments.

[sentoffagain2]

   A few posters me included think the attack has not been good enough so far this season with a couple of exeptions.First 10  league games last season under boring Mac we scored 50 more points than we have this season.And although our defence is much better last season at this stage we had only conceded 8 more points which surprised me.We can't really compare the two as we have faced different opposition but it does give us an idea on where we need to improve.

[The Phantom Horseman]

6 minutes ago, sentoffagain2 said:

   A few posters me included think the attack has not been good enough so far this season with a couple of exeptions.First 10  league games last season under boring Mac we scored 50 more points than we have this season.And although our defence is much better last season at this stage we had only conceded 8 more points which surprised me.We can't really compare the two as we have faced different opposition but it does give us an idea on where we need to improve.

I think one of the problems we have had is that after a good start to the season, we then had 3 or 4 games where we made repeated handling errors and turned the ball over early in the tackle count. I think that led to the coaching staff calling fro a stripped-back, more basic game plan, especially with Ford being out, the idea being that if we get in the arm wrestle and go set-for-set we will come out on top (Elijah Taylor has made that comment when doing his summarizing pieces on RoversTV too). So we've been a bit less expansive as the season has gone as we try to make sure we just wear our opponents down.

[POR]

37 minutes ago, marklaspalmas said:

Can the club cite incidents, or is it left to the Match Review panel?

Case Number: ON/484/23 Name: Tally Bryer Club and Shirt Number: Featherstone Rovers, 20 Match: Featherstone Rovers v Barrow Raiders Competition and Date: Betfred Womens Super League, 16th April 2023 Report Received From: Club Citing 

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

2 hours ago, marklaspalmas said:

Can the club cite incidents, or is it left to the Match Review panel?

From the RFL's on field disciplinary pages

In relation to each round of Championship, League 1, or Challenge Cup matches solely involving Championship or League 1 teams, or Academy matches, the Panel meet on the Thursday following the Round in question and consider any incidents that have been reported by Match Officials or otherwise brought to the attention of the Panel.

If a Club wishes to bring any incidents of alleged misconduct to the attention of the Panel they must notify the Compliance Manager by: (a) in the case of Super League Players, no later than 10.00am on the first working day after the incident; (b) in the case of Championship Players, no later than 12.00 noon on the Wednesday following the day on which the incident took place.

 

Edited May 8, 2023 by Les Tonks Sidestep

[Andrew Vause]

On 07/05/2023 at 19:56, sentoffagain2 said:

  We do need a ball handler in the forwards and Taylor does that.But players need to play what they see more if someone makes a break support him.Jones had a couple of bursts in the second half with no support.Agree about the half backs.

We could do with a Liam Watts type ball player. 

[lingaro]

Or thacks back? 

[gazza77]

Just looked at the table. Nuts to think that after 10 games, the 6 point gap between us and Toulouse in 2nd place is the same as between Toulouse and Swinton in 12th. 

[RobLambert]

7 hours ago, sentoffagain2 said:

   A few posters me included think the attack has not been good enough so far this season with a couple of exeptions.First 10  league games last season under boring Mac we scored 50 more points than we have this season.And although our defence is much better last season at this stage we had only conceded 8 more points which surprised me.We can't really compare the two as we have faced different opposition but it does give us an idea on where we need to improve.

Yeah I said before yesterdays game that we should be beating Sheffield with a bit to spare or we still haven't shown much improvement since last year.  Maybe that sounds a bit arrogant but whether Sheffield are 3rd in the table or not - on paper our squads are a long way apart.     

[RobLambert]

7 hours ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

I think one of the problems we have had is that after a good start to the season, we then had 3 or 4 games where we made repeated handling errors and turned the ball over early in the tackle count. I think that led to the coaching staff calling fro a stripped-back, more basic game plan, especially with Ford being out, the idea being that if we get in the arm wrestle and go set-for-set we will come out on top (Elijah Taylor has made that comment when doing his summarizing pieces on RoversTV too). So we've been a bit less expansive as the season has gone as we try to make sure we just wear our opponents down.

Not working though is it.  It looks at times as though we've been told to just turn up and we'll win the arm wrestle.

Surely by round 10 we should be able to be a bit more expansive without worrying about mistakes. 

I keep hearing that we look a bit clunky and there's potential for massive improvement but unless we try something - potential is all that it'll be.  

In 2021 we played some of the best stuff I've seen by a Rovers team.  Comparing the 2 squads I reckon we have better forwards and three-quarters now.  Half-backs - another story.

[Squidward]

1 hour ago, lingaro said:

Or thacks back? 

With Chizzy in tandem. 

Although I think lacans has been good and Ford when fit is a Chizzy game breaker.

[The Phantom Horseman]

9 hours ago, RobLambert said:

Not working though is it.

Well, we're 6 points clear at the top of the table and unbeaten in 10 league games, so... but I take your point, we are not as dominant as we would like to be.

When Elijah Taylor does the co-commentary he repeatedly talks about how what we want is to be in the arm wrestle and go set-for-set as we think we will beat anybody when we do that. It's cutting out the unforced errors that has been the key issue, we again turned the ball over 4 or 5 times in our own half in the 2nd half against Sheffield.

9 hours ago, RobLambert said:

In 2021 we played some of the best stuff I've seen by a Rovers team.  Comparing the 2 squads I reckon we have better forwards and three-quarters now.  Half-backs - another story.

Who would you have at half back instead though? There's so little between the about 20 half backs in the lower SL/upper Championship range, they're all inconsistent and all capable of being matchwinners on their day.

Riley Dean, Johnno Ford, Ben Reynolds, Morgan Smith, Joe Keyes, Louis Jouffret, Tom Holmes, Tom Gilmore, Anthony Thackeray, Jarrod Sammut, Dane Chisholm, Lee Gaskell, etc...on their day there isn't much between any of them. On balance overall I'd pick Dean and Ford out of that lot, most of the others are very inconsistent, but on any given day it's just down to who has a good game.

Chisholm had a great year in 2019 and history will probably show that he enjoyed the best spell of his career at Fev, but let's not lose sight of the fact that in the 2021 year you mention he was benched before half time for lack of effort in one game, wasn't selected to start the semi final and was anonymous in the final for the second year running. Don't get me wrong I loved watching Chissy play but let's not blind ourselves to his flaws. Nu Brown was usually his half back partner and that ship has sailed. We tried bringing in another Aussie half back last year in Ryley Jacks and he was ok but not really any better than the others we have played recently at half back.

Most neutral observers have had Dean as just about the standout half back in the comp, he had one of his lesser games on Sunday (and looks to be a bit affected by knocks to me) but he has been very good overall. So has Ford when he's played, the obvious knock is that hasn't been often enough and that's definitely the issue with him.

The one game we have lost all season was the one game where neither Ford nor Dean played in the Cup against Halifax. We aren't near where we'd like to be in terms of performance but I don't think that can be pinned on half back play.

Edited May 9, 2023 by The Phantom Horseman

[POR]

15 minutes ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

Well, we're 6 points clear at the top of the table and uneabten in 10 league games, so... but I take your point, we are not as dominant as we would like to be.

 

Totally agree  but problem  this year teams we will compared to last years leigh SL side BUT what we've got is a team who knows how to win whether we pile on the points or just do enough

What pleased me about Sunday was  we played in an ugly game ruined by a joke of a referee but kept going to the end and scored in the last minute to rub more salt in gobby Aston's wounds

we'ave

[Monkeymagic22]

1 hour ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

Well, we're 6 points clear at the top of the table and unbeaten in 10 league games, so... but I take your point, we are not as dominant as we would like to be.

When Elijah Taylor does the co-commentary he repeatedly talks about how what we want is to be in the arm wrestle and go set-for-set as we think we will beat anybody when we do that. It's cutting out the unforced errors that has been the key issue, we again turned the ball over 4 or 5 times in our own half in the 2nd half against Sheffield.

Who would you have at half back instead though? There's so little between the about 20 half backs in the lower SL/upper Championship range, they're all inconsistent and all capable of being matchwinners on their day.

Riley Dean, Johnno Ford, Ben Reynolds, Morgan Smith, Joe Keyes, Louis Jouffret, Tom Holmes, Tom Gilmore, Anthony Thackeray, Jarrod Sammut, Dane Chisholm, Lee Gaskell, etc...on their day there isn't much between any of them. On balance overall I'd pick Dean and Ford out of that lot, most of the others are very inconsistent, but on any given day it's just down to who has a good game.

Chisholm had a great year in 2019 and history will probably show that he enjoyed the best spell of his career at Fev, but let's not lose sight of the fact that in the 2021 year you mention he was benched before half time for lack of effort in one game, wasn't selected to start the semi final and was anonymous in the final for the second year running. Don't get me wrong I loved watching Chissy play but let's not blind ourselves to his flaws. Nu Brown was usually his half back partner and that ship has sailed. We tried bringing in another Aussie half back last year in Ryley Jacks and he was ok but not really any better than the others we have played recently at half back.

Most neutral observers have had Dean as just about the standout half back in the comp, he had one of his lesser games on Sunday (and looks to be a bit affected by knocks to me) but he has been very good overall. So has Ford when he's played, the obvious knock is that hasn't been often enough and that's definitely the issue with him.

The one game we have lost all season was the one game where neither Ford nor Dean played in the Cup against Halifax. We aren't near where we'd like to be in terms of performance but I don't think that can be pinned on half back play.

This is true and to be honest, Wakey signing Gale, shows the lack of available halfbacks around at the moment, and as shown by Riley Jacks, even an Aussie import isn’t certain to be an improvement.  If we can get Ford back, I’m sure that the situation will improve.

[Fevrover]

1 hour ago, POR said:

Totally agree  but problem  this year teams we will compared to last years leigh SL side BUT what we've got is a team who knows how to win whether we pile on the points or just do enough

What pleased me about Sunday was  we played in an ugly game ruined by a joke of a referee but kept going to the end and scored in the last minute to rub more salt in gobby Aston's wounds

we'ave

Gobby Aston ? That's one word for him.

Edited May 9, 2023 by Fevrover

[POR]

22 minutes ago, Monkeymagic22 said:

 and as shown by Riley Jacks, even an Aussie import isn’t certain to be an improvement.  

Bit harsh on Riley M  he couldn't do  much more in a FEV  shirt  19 tries in 24 games I would take some of that this year

[Monkeymagic22]

Just now, POR said:

Bit harsh on Riley M  he couldn't do  much more in a FEV  shirt  19 tries in 24 games I would take some of that this year

He was a bit like Smith, a good runner, but again for me, not too much craft and he didn’t really have a kicking game.

[georgeb1]

1 hour ago, POR said:

Totally agree  but problem  this year teams we will compared to last years leigh SL side BUT what we've got is a team who knows how to win whether we pile on the points or just do enough

What pleased me about Sunday was  we played in an ugly game ruined by a joke of a referee but kept going to the end and scored in the last minute to rub more salt in gobby Aston's wounds

we'ave

why should you be compared to leigh , you will win this division at a canter , like all champ clubs your destiny will be decided in the playoffs by how many first choice players you have fit plus your discipline and skill when it really matters .

leigh are history a good superleague club now.

[Fevrover]

We aren't putting teams ' to the sword' like most expect but when we got 70 + scores against Widnes,Haven and Sheffield last season? Fans were saying it was boring. 

[POR]

6 hours ago, georgeb1 said:

why should you be compared to leigh , .

Because there's been  various articles this year which have said

" It's going to be a great open championship this year because no one is as dominant as leigh"

[Fevrover]

On 08/05/2023 at 14:42, The Phantom Horseman said:

Yes, I think it's a fair point that it's usually the losers that whine about the ref.

Long doesn't strike me as the type to moan publicly about the officials on what I've seen so far, but then again he hasn't lost many games yet.

Aston is a past master of the dark art of passive-aggressive comments.

Well i really hope Mr Aston AND his Son watch the game again especially the bit when Junior Aston RUNS in on Lacans after he's kicked the ball. How on earth the ref and or touch judges missed i will never know. He wants banning.

[lingaro]

Needs posting on here 

[Fevrover]

1 hour ago, lingaro said:

Needs posting on here 

I can't do it lol.