Featherstone 13th April.

[jroyales]

The interesting aside to this game is the draw for the semi-finals, with both us and Featherstone in the draw, being made BEFORE the game.

Hope they bring a few so creating a great atmosphere with the possibility of opening up another stand. Should be a cracker!

[wroteforluck87]

Am I right in thinking that Fev are normally competing at the top end of the Champ? 

If so they are not having the best of seasons this year obviously there are no easy games in the champ but I'm confident for another good after of Rugby League in a sun soaked JRS on Sunday.

[wroteforluck87]

Stratch the sun soaked JRS part.. just seen the weather for Sunday

[Enk27]

1 hour ago, wroteforluck87 said:

Stratch the sun soaked JRS part.. just seen the weather for Sunday

You may have the soaked part right...

BTW does anyone else think that they built the JRS roof too high? Honestly it seems to offer no protection at all from the rain.

[Oldham Valderama]

12 minutes ago, Enk27 said:

You may have the soaked part right...

BTW does anyone else think that they built the JRS roof too high? Honestly it seems to offer no protection at all from the rain.

Not sure about the height of the roof but i think the main issue with the JR stand is the fact that its open to the elements at both corners and acts like a wind tunnel. Even on Sunday when it was a warm day there was a definite wind chill flowing through that stand. Also when it rains the wind which is always blowing at BP will force it back into the stand resulting in everyone getting wet. 

Boundary Park certainly lives up to its nickname of "Ice Station Zebra" 

[The Phantom Horseman]

13 hours ago, wroteforluck87 said:

Am I right in thinking that Fev are normally competing at the top end of the Champ? 

If so they are not having the best of seasons this year obviously there are no easy games in the champ but I'm confident for another good after of Rugby League in a sun soaked JRS on Sunday.

Yes, we (Fev) have been consistently at the top end of the Championship for almost all of the last 15 years, but for various reasons we have struggled mightily this year. In fact I'd say on the evidence of late February and March, this might be the worst Fev team over a sustained period (ie more than the odd game) in that 15-year period.

Some of the poor performances were down to having no half backs - we lost Ben Reynolds to injury and our other two halves were allowed to go back to France & Australia respectively on compassionate grounds. We did perform a bit better against a very ordinary London team last week with two proper halves for the first time in 5 weeks, but we are a million miles away from our high-flying teams of 2022 and 2023.

Indeed, Oldham's current team is like watching a rerun of 2023 from a Fev perspective - from Long as coach, the likes of Wildie, Dean and Taylor, and then the five or six high-profile recruits from SL - heck, you've even got George Riley who was working as our in-house commentator during those years.

So we're in a big dip at the moment, hoping we can make a game of it but having been roundly trounced by the likes of Halifax and Bradford, it's hard to be confident.

[Jimmy DoNut]

Not lulling us into a false sense of security there are you Phantom? 

[Bert Street]

3 hours ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

Yes, we (Fev) have been consistently at the top end of the Championship for almost all of the last 15 years, but for various reasons we have struggled mightily this year. In fact I'd say on the evidence of late February and March, this might be the worst Fev team over a sustained period (ie more than the odd game) in that 15-year period.

Some of the poor performances were down to having no half backs - we lost Ben Reynolds to injury and our other two halves were allowed to go back to France & Australia respectively on compassionate grounds. We did perform a bit better against a very ordinary London team last week with two proper halves for the first time in 5 weeks, but we are a million miles away from our high-flying teams of 2022 and 2023.

Indeed, Oldham's current team is like watching a rerun of 2023 from a Fev perspective - from Long as coach, the likes of Wildie, Dean and Taylor, and then the five or six high-profile recruits from SL - heck, you've even got George Riley who was working as our in-house commentator during those years.

So we're in a big dip at the moment, hoping we can make a game of it but having been roundly trounced by the likes of Halifax and Bradford, it's hard to be confident.

Be good to host a side that brings some support.

[The Phantom Horseman]

Just now, Jimmy DoNut said:

Not lulling us into a false sense of security there are you Phantom? 

Not at all. A couple of years ago I pretty much expected us to win every game we played (against Championship opposition) because we were the most talented team in the league (though we produced a couple of shockers, notably in the play-offs when it counted). Oldham have a very similar composition in terms of your current squad to our 2023 team, and I'd expect the Fev team to put 50+ past the current squad without fuss.

Financially, we put everything into a SL challenge that year because we knew the door was being slammed in our faces from the following year, and as a result we've operating on around half the budget subsequently. We weren't a particularly good team last year and were a bit lucky to scrape into the play-offs, and the performances against London (away), Sheffield, Halifax and Bradford this year were collectively worse than any run of games I can remember in the last 15 years.

That said, we did look a bit better last week with Reynolds and Hampshire at half back compared with a couple of makeshift options in previous weeks, but defensively we've looked shakey for weeks, I think we conceded 25 tries in 3 games prior to last week.

The funny thing is it has taken the bookies ages to cotton on, we actually were favourites at Halifax yet I don't know any Fev fans who expected us even to be competitive against them.

 

[The Phantom Horseman]

8 minutes ago, Bert Street said:

Be good to host a side that brings some support.

In normal years we would definitely bring a decent following but as with all clubs the recent struggles have had an impact on attendances, I've just read on one of the FB pages that one of the intended buses that regularly goes to away games has been cancelled as a lot of people seem to be away this weekend, so I doubt we will be travelling in anything like our numbers of previous years.

[Bert Street]

57 minutes ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

In normal years we would definitely bring a decent following but as with all clubs the recent struggles have had an impact on attendances, I've just read on one of the FB pages that one of the intended buses that regularly goes to away games has been cancelled as a lot of people seem to be away this weekend, so I doubt we will be travelling in anything like our numbers of previous years.

Not good news.

[shrewsbury roughyed]

3 hours ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

In normal years we would definitely bring a decent following but as with all clubs the recent struggles have had an impact on attendances, I've just read on one of the FB pages that one of the intended buses that regularly goes to away games has been cancelled as a lot of people seem to be away this weekend, so I doubt we will be travelling in anything like our numbers of previous years.

I have a lot of respect for Fev. Always a real hot bed of the sport. As have all but the so-called ‘top clubs’ you’ve been treated beyond shabbily by the powers that be. I hope you get back to former glories as soon as - though behind Oldham, obv. Always had a soft spot for a banner I saw paraded through Castleford during Maurice Lindsay’s proposed merger days: ‘Fev is Fev; Cas is Cas - stick your merger up your ***.’

 

[Tim G]

Got tickets now for Sunday. Five of us going.  

[sheddingswasus]

4 minutes ago, Tim G said:

Got tickets now for Sunday. Five of us going.  

Tim, did you check your messages.?

Edited April 10 by sheddingswasus

[Tim G]

13 minutes ago, sheddingswasus said:

Tim, did you check your messages.?

Check messages why? 

[sheddingswasus]

1 hour ago, Tim G said:

Check messages why? 

I have sent you one about attendances etc. 

[The Phantom Horseman]

On 09/04/2025 at 18:25, shrewsbury roughyed said:

I have a lot of respect for Fev. Always a real hot bed of the sport. As have all but the so-called ‘top clubs’ you’ve been treated beyond shabbily by the powers that be. I hope you get back to former glories as soon as - though behind Oldham, obv. Always had a soft spot for a banner I saw paraded through Castleford during Maurice Lindsay’s proposed merger days: ‘Fev is Fev; Cas is Cas - stick your merger up your ***.’

 

Certainly back in 1994-95 we got the rough end of the stick (along with one or two other clubs it has to be said), I can vividly remember the Fev v Cas game in April 1995 after it had become clear what the plans were in terms of mergers etc. This was in the days before most people had internet and it was a remarkable sight given the usual hostility between fans of Fev and Cas to see fans from both clubs enter the playing field side by side at half time and launch a (peaceful) demonstration with banners such as the one you mentioned above ("we are bought and sold for Murdoch's gold" is another I remember).

We had our chance at SL a couple of years ago and couldn't take it so we're some way away from being candidates again, but then most Championship clubs will be in a similar position soon as the incumbency bias which favours clubs currently in the top flight will become stronger each year.

Edited April 11 by The Phantom Horseman

[Bedford Roughyed]

 

[Stevos Barber]

3 hours ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

Certainly back in 1994-95 we got the rough end of the stick (along with one or two other clubs it has to be said), I can vividly remember the Fev v Cas game in April 1995 after it had become clear what the plans were in terms of mergers etc. This was in the days before most people had internet and it was a remarkable sight given the usual hostility between fans of Fev and Cas to see fans from both clubs enter the playing field side by side at half time and launch a (peaceful) demonstration with banners such as the one you mentioned above ("we are bought and sold for Murdoch's gold" is another I remember).

We had our chance at SL a couple of years ago and couldn't take it so we're some way away from being candidates again, but then most Championship clubs will be in a similar position soon as the incumbency bias which favours clubs currently in the top flight will become stronger each year.

Interesting that the current bottom two in Super League have the worst IMG ratings 

[m brooksy]

Reckon this might be a cracking game. I know Fev haven't won a huge amount of games but that still looks like a good team to me especially with Reynolds back in the halves.

Watching the game back against Barrow I know the score was close for 60 mins but we were the dominant team and 3 of their 4 tries were quality from kicks that we almost couldn't stop. 

 I'd go: PLT, Johnson, Thornley, Turner, McDonald, Dean, Drinkwater, Dudson, Wildie, T Chapelhow, Forster, Hirst, Moran. subs:Craven, J Chapelhow, Farnworth, Lawton.

Think it would be tough for some of our older players to back again just 5 days later with us playing Good Friday in a very tough away game at Widnes so I'd rest a couple and keep them fresh but I've no idea really. Backs take care of themselves really as they all played well. Like Craven in the 17 for the versatility he offers us but wouldn't be surprised to see Aldridge on the bench either.

Oldham by 6.

[sheddingswasus]

I think it will be similar to your team  other than Milner rather than Forster 

Edited April 11 by sheddingswasus

[ChampagneCharlieReturns]

Anyone go to the fev away game when leatherbarrow missed from almost infront of sticks that would of tied game up at 8 all?

[Bert Street]

6 hours ago, m brooksy said:

Reckon this might be a cracking game. I know Fev haven't won a huge amount of games but that still looks like a good team to me especially with Reynolds back in the halves.

Watching the game back against Barrow I know the score was close for 60 mins but we were the dominant team and 3 of their 4 tries were quality from kicks that we almost couldn't stop. 

 I'd go: PLT, Johnson, Thornley, Turner, McDonald, Dean, Drinkwater, Dudson, Wildie, T Chapelhow, Forster, Hirst, Moran. subs:Craven, J Chapelhow, Farnworth, Lawton.

Think it would be tough for some of our older players to back again just 5 days later with us playing Good Friday in a very tough away game at Widnes so I'd rest a couple and keep them fresh but I've no idea really. Backs take care of themselves really as they all played well. Like Craven in the 17 for the versatility he offers us but wouldn't be surprised to see Aldridge on the bench either.

Oldham by 6.

Always go for the strongest you can in home games. Milner?

[The Phantom Horseman]

14 hours ago, ChampagneCharlieReturns said:

Anyone go to the fev away game when leatherbarrow missed from almost infront of sticks that would of tied game up at 8 all?

Absolute mudbath that game.

 

[The Phantom Horseman]

19 hours ago, m brooksy said:

Reckon this might be a cracking game. I know Fev haven't won a huge amount of games but that still looks like a good team to me especially with Reynolds back in the halves.

 

On paper this isn't a bad Fev team and we did get Reynolds, Hampshire and Springer back last week, which helped, but Brad Day joined Carlos Tuimavave on the long-term injury list and more worryingly our defence has been like swiss cheese over the last few weeks, Halifax and Bradford absolutely diced us, hoping we can turn it around as we have looked like a relegation team for much of the season.