Sat 6th-Sun 7th Apr: The Betfred Championship Match Thread

[Barley Mow]

1 hour ago, Stirlin said:

still at it , from the live blog today......

'' Looks as though Daley's dropped in at hooker, Dee has moved to the halves and Liam Harris is on the wing. (4-6)''

From listening on the radio, I think that was because of injuries. By the end York had a 2nd row on the wing.

[Mumby Magic]

22 minutes ago, Fevrover said:

We had plenty of Bulls fans round us in main stand and it was good banter and no malice. A few Fev fans in Bulls end but i don't think there was any trouble- and nor should there be.

Other end. No I get it, heard it was an instruction from Council.  No biggy just confusing but either way communication would have helped.

[Fevrover]

Just now, Mumby Magic said:

Other end. No I get it, heard it was an instruction from Council.  No biggy just confusing but either way communication would have helped.

Not often away fans move from away stand. 

[RedAndGoldArmy]

6 hours ago, tim2 said:

Very good win for Sheffield today. Whitehaven had won 2 out of 2 and it's a tough place to go.

Did the double over us last year and at 10-12 HT, wouldn’t have been too shocked if they put one over us again.

Thrilled by the FT score. Going well for the time being, the Gulls. 

[robt]

2 hours ago, RedAndGoldArmy said:

Did the double over us last year and at 10-12 HT, wouldn’t have been too shocked if they put one over us again.

Thrilled by the FT score. Going well for the time being, the Gulls. 

Aren't you meant to be on your Honeymoon Dan?

[RedAndGoldArmy]

1 hour ago, robt said:

Aren't you meant to be on your Honeymoon Dan?

Not our honeymoon this Rob, just an extended break in the Americas.

Not sure we’ll cope well with the pre-season chill next year! 

If Eagles keep up this form, I might never be back..

Edited April 8 by RedAndGoldArmy

[Snowys Backside]

Widnes quietly going about their Business and Alan doing a great job coaching a sleeping giant that should be in SL. 
 

Looks to be a good league this season and I will certainly keep my eye on how things pan out

[Stirlin]

21 hours ago, Barley Mow said:

From listening on the radio, I think that was because of injuries. By the end York had a 2nd row on the wing.

Yes but putting Harris , our playmaker on the wing is dumb .

[Bull Mania]

4 hours ago, Snowys Backside said:

Widnes quietly going about their Business and Alan doing a great job coaching a sleeping giant that should be in SL. 
 

Looks to be a good league this season and I will certainly keep my eye on how things pan out

Always thought Coleman was the type of coach Widnes needed. Possibly taking one step back to finally take a few forward.

Widnes would rip apart Halifax or Bradford, but had zero back bone and would completely fold against Whitehaven or Swinton at home. Coleman needs to make the Vikings a horrible, tough team to play against which is what looks like he's doing. 

Barrow, Swinton & Dewsbury will probably be towards the bottom of the table, but Widnes would have lost one of those games last few years. Tough games to come now so we will find out more about Widnes in those. But pleased to see them heading in the right direction. 

[The Phantom Horseman]

Worth remembering it's still very early days in the Championship. Last year Widnes won 3 of their first 4 including a mauling of Halifax in their 4th game and looked lively playoff contenders.

They then lost their 5th game to Sheffield who at that point had won 4 of their first 5.

Sheffield and Widnes went on to lose 25 league games between them that season.

[SUPERSTUD]

On 07/04/2024 at 18:19, Jill Halfpenny fan said:

Won the game in that ten minutes.

I attended in support of Dewsbury yesterday and I was disappointed that we did makeWidnes work a bit harder for the justified victory. No disrespect but I did not feel that Widnes looked anything special on the day. However if I am the head coach on the journey back home I am thinking job done. Talking of which as I was walking out at the final hooter had a good craig with four Widnes supporters. Three males and a female. It was regarding the Chemic's fans chanting in support of Alan Coleman. It reminded me of the Neil Warnock (Ex Sheffield Utd) Manager documentary. He as miced up during an home game and the fans were shouting “Warnock Warnock give us a wave”. Which he eventually did. He then said to his assistant Kevin Blackwell “F——-g give them a wave. They’ll be wanting me out next week”. We all chuckled wished each other well and it was concluded by the Widnes contingent saying “Hey mate it’s right though. These lot will be wanting Coleman out in a few weeks if it starts going busters up”!  

[Jill Halfpenny fan]

38 minutes ago, SUPERSTUD said:

I attended in support of Dewsbury yesterday and I was disappointed that we did makeWidnes work a bit harder for the justified victory. No disrespect but I did not feel that Widnes looked anything special on the day. However if I am the head coach on the journey back home I am thinking job done. Talking of which as I was walking out at the final hooter had a good craig with four Widnes supporters. Three males and a female. It was regarding the Chemic's fans chanting in support of Alan Coleman. It reminded me of the Neil Warnock (Ex Sheffield Utd) Manager documentary. He as miced up during an home game and the fans were shouting “Warnock Warnock give us a wave”. Which he eventually did. He then said to his assistant Kevin Blackwell “F——-g give them a wave. They’ll be wanting me out next week”. We all chuckled wished each other well and it was concluded by the Widnes contingent saying “Hey mate it’s right though. These lot will be wanting Coleman out in a few weeks if it starts going busters up”!  

From a Widnes viewpoint, Dewsbury have given us plenty of problems both home and away in recent seasons so I suspect most of us would have took yesterday's performance and result. Signing Murray and having Langtree available have made a big difference to our pack but we've had a few false dawn's in recent seasons so we won't get carried away.  Tbh I doubt any Widnes fan thinks we're anything special but so far they are playing for each other, putting in the effort and grinding out the results. Two more vital points in our relegation battle.

[SUPERSTUD]

50 minutes ago, Jill Halfpenny fan said:

From a Widnes viewpoint, Dewsbury have given us plenty of problems both home and away in recent seasons so I suspect most of us would have took yesterday's performance and result. Signing Murray and having Langtree available have made a big difference to our pack but we've had a few false dawn's in recent seasons so we won't get carried away.  Tbh I doubt any Widnes fan thinks we're anything special but so far they are playing for each other, putting in the effort and grinding out the results. Two more vital points in our relegation battle.

Yeah all fair points. Six points on the board as it currently stands. You may as well stack them early as they say. Lots of teams would swap you places right now. Anyway all the best until we visit Naughton Park!

[JonM]

1 hour ago, SUPERSTUD said:

These lot will be wanting Coleman out in a few weeks if it starts going busters up”!  

Plenty who already wanted him out a couple of months ago. 

We've played three teams who I think most people would have as likely bottom four possibles. Halifax at home next, who also failed to make the playoffs last season, so again the kind of game we need to win to stay out of relegation contention. We've not really had any bother with injuries so far, hence being able to send people out on loan.

Pleasing thing for me has been the defence - averaging one point something try conceded per game so far.

[SUPERSTUD]

16 minutes ago, JonM said:

Plenty who already wanted him out a couple of months ago. 

We've played three teams who I think most people would have as likely bottom four possibles. Halifax at home next, who also failed to make the playoffs last season, so again the kind of game we need to win to stay out of relegation contention. We've not really had any bother with injuries so far, hence being able to send people out on loan.

Pleasing thing for me has been the defence - averaging one point something try conceded per game so far.

Hi sports fans can be a fickle bunch. It’s a good start and I tip you to beat Halifax at home next week.

[kiggy]

On 07/04/2024 at 14:22, oiseau said:

Yes sorry Brochon. He looks a good player and useful wherever he is played.

I think he has matured this season. He had a family calamity last season but he was determined to play through it and he seems to have grown into a stronger player. Fullback seems to be his preferred position but he can also play along side Shorrocks as a half.  (by the way, there is no money for Zac Santo as a 3rd fullback)

For me, he should have played in the final against Broncos (along with with Mathieu Laguerre), playing Shorrocks (hadn't played for 5 weeks) and Jussaume (was only fit enough for 10 mins) was the wrong decision.

[Simon Hall]

On 08/04/2024 at 19:21, The Phantom Horseman said:

Worth remembering it's still very early days in the Championship. Last year Widnes won 3 of their first 4 including a mauling of Halifax in their 4th game and looked lively playoff contenders.

They then lost their 5th game to Sheffield who at that point had won 4 of their first 5.

Sheffield and Widnes went on to lose 25 league games between them that season.

Worth remembering that some people were also discussing London as relegation fodder in June.

[The Phantom Horseman]

4 minutes ago, Simon Hall said:

Worth remembering that some people were also discussing London as relegation fodder in June.

Well I'll stick my neck out in April this time and predict them to be back in the Championship next season...

To be fair, they had lost 9 league games by mid-June, and didn't look anything like top 6 candidates at the time, let alone promotion possibles.

[oiseau]

2 hours ago, kiggy said:

I think he has matured this season. He had a family calamity last season but he was determined to play through it and he seems to have grown into a stronger player. Fullback seems to be his preferred position but he can also play along side Shorrocks as a half.  (by the way, there is no money for Zac Santo as a 3rd fullback)

For me, he should have played in the final against Broncos (along with with Mathieu Laguerre), playing Shorrocks (hadn't played for 5 weeks) and Jussaume (was only fit enough for 10 mins) was the wrong decision.

Agree 100%. Playing Shorrocks was pivotal in the defeat. I asked Brochon last year his preferred position and said ‘probably at fullback’. Yes, very tough for him last season but he has a great attitude. I will be very surprised if he stays at TO .

[Gav Wilson]

27 minutes ago, oiseau said:

Agree 100%. Playing Shorrocks was pivotal in the defeat. I asked Brochon last year his preferred position and said ‘probably at fullback’. Yes, very tough for him last season but he has a great attitude. I will be very surprised if he stays at TO .

Is Olly Ashall-Bott injured?

[oiseau]

11 hours ago, Gav Wilson said:

Is Olly Ashall-Bott injured?

Assume so as he was at the game.