Match thread. Championship Round 25. Newcastle v Featherstone Rovers. Friday 8th September 2023

[marklaspalmas]

After negotiating a tricky trip to Bradford, Rovers now face bottom-of-the-table and already relegated Newcastle. It's on Friday and is the second of three successive away games, having switched the fixtures for some reason back in February. 

Hard to know what to expect from the Thunder, but Rovers must be hoping for a convincing big victory.

Apart from the re-jigged 17 that accounted for Bradford, there are another six players in possible contention for a spot:

Taylor and Koppy were rested.

Ford is in cotton wool and may sit this one out.

Briscoe will hopefully be back soon.

Lacans is available but appears to be 4th choice HB.

Not heard when Yei is ready, but his return would be timely.

Adz Hau misses another game after his concussion.

Time running out for Bussey to stake a claim. Just three league games left before the playoffs.

I don't think Hardcastle or Hepi will be risked at this stage.

Any combination ought to be enough, but after the tough defensive stint at Odslum, it'd be grand to see some slick attacking ballhandling this weekend. I have a feeling it'll be the defence and forward dominance that will us a GF in mid October, if we get there.

Squad announced on Wednesday.

Up The Rovers.

Edited September 5, 2023 by marklaspalmas

[Featherstonerovers11]

The game is on Friday night isn’t  it ?

[jamescolin]

My records show the match on the Friday 8th September at 8pm.

[Fevrover]

8 hours ago, Featherstonerovers11 said:

The game is on Friday night isn’t  it ?

Yes it is.

[marklaspalmas]

Thanks guys. Just checking to make sure you're all paying attention.

[roversspud]

10 hours ago, marklaspalmas said:

Briscoe will hopefully be back soon.

On Radio Leeds on Sunday, Ford said Briscoe would be out about 5 weeks. So that gives him an outside chance of being fit for the play-off semi-final.

Edited September 5, 2023 by roversspud

[marklaspalmas]

24 minutes ago, roversspud said:

On Radio Leeds on Sunday, Ford said Briscoe would be out about 5 weeks. So that gives him an outside chance of being fit for the play-off semi-final.

Ah. I'd not heard that. That's a blow.

How did Hally do at Bradford?

[Monkeymagic22]

Think that I’ve seen Yei in some of the players instagram threads, so maybe he’ll be available soon. Worth keeping Springer fresh for the play offs, looked really good against the Bulls.

[The Phantom Horseman]

11 minutes ago, marklaspalmas said:

Ah. I'd not heard that. That's a blow.

How did Hally do at Bradford?

He actually played pretty well I thought. He's never going to produce like Briscoe does out of yardage but he took a few carries in and did well.

We did get exposed a couple of times on our right flank in the second half, though that looked down to a combination of not getting the numbers right and Hall hanging back to defend potential 40-20s which are always a danger given the pitch dimensons there.

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

15 hours ago, marklaspalmas said:

......Rovers now face bottom-of-the-table and already relegated Newcastle. 

......

Up The Rovers.

To be pedantic (and obviously wildly fanciful) Newcastle could still finish 12th....

[marklaspalmas]

7 minutes ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

To be pedantic (and obviously wildly fanciful) Newcastle could still finish 12th....

Well, if we're being pedantic Barrow play Swinton this weekend and one of those two must reach 16 points. Newcastle are down.

[fevnut]

17 minutes ago, marklaspalmas said:

Well, if we're being pedantic Barrow play Swinton this weekend and one of those two must reach 16 points. Newcastle are down.

You are absolutely right there, Mark. My extended league table still shows Newcastle relegation as 'possible' rather than 'definite' but that is because despite several attempts, I have been unable to find a way of programming the spreadsheet to take this sort of scenario into account. It would take far too much time to go through the possibilities of every remaining match manually!

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

1 hour ago, marklaspalmas said:

Well, if we're being pedantic Barrow play Swinton this weekend and one of those two must reach 16 points. Newcastle are down.

DOH, always check your facts eh?

Edit: although technically the game could be postponed and never played

Edited September 5, 2023 by Les Tonks Sidestep

[The Phantom Horseman]

11 minutes ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

 

Edit: although technically the game could be postponed and never played

Based on recent events in League 1, we could call this Skolars' Mate.

[marklaspalmas]

19 minutes ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

DOH, always check your facts eh?

Edit: although technically the game could be postponed and never played

Tbh mate I thought you were right, but I had read somewhere Newcastle were down and when I saw the fixtures I worked out how.

Not sure it'll really affect the way they play against us.

[jamescolin]

We must play our strongest team available. We then will get coordination for the play offs.

[Phil Briscoe]

Surely this game is an opportunity to give some fringe players a game and get minutes into players returning from injury. Give as many players as possible a chance to stake a claim for a spot in the play off 17 and keep competition for places as high as possible. 

[Monkeymagic22]

Rest a few this weekend, surely Locky is due a week off, and I’d give Lacans a runout. Which ever team we pick from the squad should be good enough to easily win.

[The Phantom Horseman]

9 hours ago, roversspud said:

On Radio Leeds on Sunday, Ford said Briscoe would be out about 5 weeks. So that gives him an outside chance of being fit for the play-off semi-final.

Positive-sounding news from Martin Vickers today:
"In terms of the run-in to the play-offs, with the exception of long-term absentees Josh Hardcastle and Tyla Hepi (who thankfully is now back in training), we are expecting all players currently missing to be available for the big play-off games."

[Monkeymagic22]

1 hour ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

Positive-sounding news from Martin Vickers today:
"In terms of the run-in to the play-offs, with the exception of long-term absentees Josh Hardcastle and Tyla Hepi (who thankfully is now back in training), we are expecting all players currently missing to be available for the big play-off games."

It’s upto Ford to manage the players, and these days, players don’t need matches to get fit. It’s sports science and looking at the stats. Let’s just trust the staff.

[marklaspalmas]

2 hours ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

Positive-sounding news from Martin Vickers today:
"In terms of the run-in to the play-offs, with the exception of long-term absentees Josh Hardcastle and Tyla Hepi (who thankfully is now back in training), we are expecting all players currently missing to be available for the big play-off games."

Sounds good for Yei, Briscoe and Bussey.

[marklaspalmas]

Squad announced and it's the same 21 as Sunday.

So, no Briscoe, Yei, Hau nor Bussey.

Let's see if Ford, Lacans, Koppy or ET get a game.

[POR]

8 minutes ago, marklaspalmas said:

Squad announced and it's the same 21 as Sunday.

So, no Briscoe, Yei, Hau nor Bussey.

Let's see if Ford, Lacans, Koppy or ET get a game.

Lets see if the club can get it right this week M cos they named Luke B in the squad last week instead of Thomas L but then named Thomas L as 18th man

[haskey]

Who would be a coach.? Any permutations would work .

[marklaspalmas]

27 minutes ago, haskey said:

Who would be a coach.? Any permutations would work .

Quite. Koppy and ET are two veterans with little to prove. I think they'd both be in a possible GF XVII. As would Ford,  who's obviously not 100%. So that leaves Tommy Lacans, fourth choice halfback and third choice hooker. Unlucky.

Maybe we'll go with the same XVII at Newcastle