Match thread. Challenge Cup 2nd Round. Waterhead Warriors v Featherstone Rovers @ Post Office Road. 25 January 2025. 2.00pm

[marklaspalmas]

After a match and a half of warms against League 1 clubs the official season now begins this weekend v a Conference club, Waterhead.

The start of the road to Wembley. Winning this game will give us a home 4th round tie in two weeks, also against Conference opposition to be decided.

What will our line up be?

Ford could go with what he believes to be his strongest XVII, or continue to vary the line up giving all the squad game time before the Championship starts.

Edited January 26 by marklaspalmas

[sentoffagain2]

   Waterhead forwards looked well on top in the first half but after the break Leigh Miners forwards had the best of it.Waterhead were more creative and the scrum half has plenty of pace,Their left centre is not very big but put in a couple of crunching tackles on his opposite number.Waterhead did kick to the corner a few times probably a tactic they will use against our defence.Turf a bit heavy but not much worse than ours.Fev should be able to win by 30+ points.Thought the Leigh Miners number 9 had a very good game a real grafter.

[POR]

23 minutes ago, sentoffagain2 said:

.Turf a bit heavy but not much worse than ours.

Waterhead coach said our game couldn't be played on their pitch because it's in a public park so going to move it. Hoping  to get Boundary park

[Normy_Rover]

56 minutes ago, POR said:

Waterhead coach said our game couldn't be played on their pitch because it's in a public park so going to move it. Hoping  to get Boundary park

I was at the game yesterday and was told it's being held at Post Office Road

[Fevrover]

27 minutes ago, Normy_Rover said:

I was at the game yesterday and was told it's being held at Post Office Road

I heard that as well.

[The Phantom Horseman]

The commentator on yesterday's video said he had been told there was a meeting of officials scheduled for today (Sunday) to discuss where the game would be played.

[Fevrover]

31 minutes ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

The commentator on yesterday's video said he had been told there was a meeting of officials scheduled for today (Sunday) to discuss where the game would be played.

Be a bigger crowd at Fev i would imagine, with a 2pm ko - just in case lol.

[The Phantom Horseman]

I don't think we learned a huge amount from the first two games and it will probably be a similar story this weekend, we might learn a bit more from the Huddersfield Giants friendly, though pre-season games against SL opposition can be notoriously unreliable as the Championship team tend to be more "up" for it than the SL team.

Waterhead are an interesting team because in 2022 they were in division 3 of the NCL (ie the fourth tier) but they have been promoted in three successive years and have only lost 5 games over the last two years. However, they don't yet have the pedigree of the top amateur teams like Siddall and Hunslet ARLFC and apart from York Acorn winning at Cornwall the amateur teams were routinely outclassed against semi-pro opposition in the CC last year.

I think how we will fare in the league this season is very hard to predict, we'll probably learn a little against Huddersfield, a  fair bit more in the season opener against Doncaster, and then we should really get an idea of whether we are, say, realistic top four challengers when we face Sheffield in round 3.

 

Edited January 20 by The Phantom Horseman

[Fevrover]

20 minutes ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

I don't think we learned a huge amount from the first two games and it will probably be a similar story this weekend, we might learn a bit more from the Huddersfield Giants friendly, though pre-season games against SL opposition can be notoriously unreliable as the Championship team tend to be more "up" for it than the SL team.

Waterhead are an interesting team because in 2022 they were in division 3 of the NCL (ie the fourth tier) but they have been promoted in three successive years and have only lost 5 games over the last two years. However, they don't yet have the pedigree of the top amateur teams like Siddall and Hunslet ARLFC and apart from York Acorn winning at Cornwall the amateur teams were routinely outclassed against semi-pro opposition in the CC last year.

I think how we will fare in the league this season is very hard to predict, we'll probably learn a little against Huddersfield, a  fair bit more in the season opener against Doncaster, and then we should really get an idea of whether we are, say, realistic top four challengers when we face Sheffield in round 3.

 

Anything been said if it's still at Waterhead or changed to Featherstone?

[The Phantom Horseman]

6 minutes ago, Fevrover said:

Anything been said if it's still at Waterhead or changed to Featherstone?

Not yet that I've seen, perhaps there will be an announcement later today.

[Fevrover]

10 hours ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

Not yet that I've seen, perhaps there will be an announcement later today.

Decision being made Tuesday afternoon. 

[The Phantom Horseman]

45 minutes ago, Fevrover said:

Decision being made Tuesday afternoon. 

Wakefield AFC have tweeted that their scheduled fixture at POR on Saturday has been postponed due to Fev having a game that day. You'd think Waterhead as an amateur team would have opted for Saturday over Sunday.

[The Phantom Horseman]

Kick off confirmed for 2pm Post Office Road on Saturday via FB & Instagram. Takes the floodlights out of the equation, anyway.

It's interesting that the club's social media posts are now referring to the stadium consistently as Post Office Road, so the Millennium era as far as stadium naming rights are concerned looks to be over.

Edited January 21 by The Phantom Horseman

[sentoffagain2]

8 minutes ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

Kick off confirmed for 2pm Post Office Road on Saturday via FB & Instagram. Takes the floodlights out of the equation, anyway.

It's interesting that the club's social media posts are now referring to the stadium consistently as Post Office Road, so the Millennium era as far as stadium naming rights are concerned looks to be over.

    Steven Clough resigned from the board last September so an agreement may have been reached regarding the stadium naming rights.I have no problem with the 2 pm kick off Sat as Waterhead play their home games at that time and they were drawn out at home.

[The Phantom Horseman]

31 minutes ago, sentoffagain2 said:

    Steven Clough resigned from the board last September so an agreement may have been reached regarding the stadium naming rights.

Yes, Millennium are still the main jersey sponsors on the away kit so hopefully there is still some involvement there.
There was talk of a new stadium sponsor at a fans forum in the middle of 2024 but haven't heard anything more about that.

31 minutes ago, sentoffagain2 said:

I have no problem with the 2 pm kick off Sat as Waterhead play their home games at that time and they were drawn out at home.

Indeed, it's their home tie and no surprise if they wanted to play on a Saturday. I'm sure we were happy to be flexible if they agreed to let us host the game.

Edited January 21 by The Phantom Horseman

[lingaro]

Another I can't attend

[Fevrover]

14 hours ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

Wakefield AFC have tweeted that their scheduled fixture at POR on Saturday has been postponed due to Fev having a game that day. You'd think Waterhead as an amateur team would have opted for Saturday over Sunday.

They have opted for Saturday by looks of it .

[Fevrover]

6 minutes ago, lingaro said:

Another I can't attend

Better for me,swings and roundabouts i 'am afraid. 

[Monkeymagic22]

Maybe this day fitted better with Waterhead.

[POR]

Now the dust has settled over the venue the interesting thing for me is how the 17 who play Saturday corresponds to 1 to 17  from the squad announcement on Friday 

 

[jamescolin]

Is the match against Waterhead now to be played this Saturday at 2pm? Just want confirmation that it is at Featherstone Rovers.

[The Phantom Horseman]

6 minutes ago, jamescolin said:

Is the match against Waterhead now to be played this Saturday at 2pm? Just want confirmation that it is at Featherstone Rovers.

Yes, 2pm kick off on Saturday at Post Office Road. Waterhead's ground is in a public park and not really suitable for this level of Challenge Cup contest so they have agreed to switch the game to Featherstone.

 

[Rovers fev]

I think it’ll be quite a rotated squad, can trialists play In cup ?

[fevnut]

T’Other Side:  Waterhead Warriors

fevnut has posted ‘T’Other Side:  Waterhead Warriors’, our guide to our next opponents.

Access the page by clicking on the attachment below.

https://bit.ly/40HJM4m

[The Phantom Horseman]

2 minutes ago, Rovers fev said:

I think it’ll be quite a rotated squad, can trialists play In cup ?

Problem is we're back to a 17-man squad so there's limited scope for rotation, presumably Fordy will want to at least start with a strong squad and get the game won.