Based off our starting 17 being fit throughout the majority of the season you would have to expect a a minimum of 4th
That’s the issue but it’s not exactly just an issue for us all teams suffer with injuries throughout the season
York have recruited well but our spine is still superior on paper imo
Even London’s squad I’m not that convinced over, they just bullied us at our place last season rolling over our middle which I wouldn’t expect this season, but they have the ‘supposed’ benefit of FT
Tolouse, Fev, London, Widnes, York, Bradford
Based off our starting 17 being fit throughout the majority of the season you would have to expect a a minimum of 4th That’s the issue but it’s not exactly just an issue for us all teams suffer with injuries throughout the season York have recruited well but our spine is still superior on paper imo Even London’s squad I’m not that convinced over, they just bullied us at our place last season rolling over our middle which I wouldn’t expect this season, but they have the ‘supposed’ benefit of FT Tolouse, Fev, London, Widnes, York, Bradford
I agree that top 6 is certainly plausible with our 17, beyond our 17 is a different matter.
Based off our starting 17 being fit throughout the majority of the season you would have to expect a a minimum of 4th That’s the issue but it’s not exactly just an issue for us all teams suffer with injuries throughout the season York have recruited well but our spine is still superior on paper imo Even London’s squad I’m not that convinced over, they just bullied us at our place last season rolling over our middle which I wouldn’t expect this season, but they have the ‘supposed’ benefit of FT Tolouse, Fev, London, Widnes, York, Bradford
not sure why fev are up there ? They have no Leeds dr this time around so it will be a watching brief on them, agree Toulouse and London, york depending on how they gel. The rest are about our standard or less
Was just off a quick look at their squad. All personal opinion isn’t it
Craig Hall - experienced can still do a job at FB
Chisholm - decent is either boom or bust in terms of dorm
Holmes - good at champ level
Forwards- Ferres, Ferguson, Harrison & Lockwood all decent at this level.
Yes there are some decent players in their squad I agree, but still only on par with us - time will tell.
Really looking forward to the championship, hope crowds are allowed. I still think Toulouse may struggle away from home
Got get fit, and stay fit! Have we signed a fitness guru?
Got get fit, and stay fit! Have we signed a fitness guru?
well you fooled me on this one
Based off our starting 17 being fit throughout the majority of the season you would have to expect a a minimum of 4th That’s the issue but it’s not exactly just an issue for us all teams suffer with injuries throughout the season York have recruited well but our spine is still superior on paper imo Even London’s squad I’m not that convinced over, they just bullied us at our place last season rolling over our middle which I wouldn’t expect this season, but they have the ‘supposed’ benefit of FT Tolouse, Fev, London, Widnes, York, Bradford
not sure why fev are up there ? They have no Leeds dr this time around so it will be a watching brief on them, agree Toulouse and London, york depending on how they gel. The rest are about our standard or less
As a Fev fan I see this again and again on forums etc and this belief that Fev are totally dependent on DR still seems bizarrely prevalent.
First in terms of history - Fev have been one of the dominant teams in the Championship for over ten years now along with Leigh regardless of DR. We topped the league four years in a row before we started using DR, and we were one of the last teams to start using it. We undoubtedly had a better relationship with our DR partners (Leeds) than any other team achieved, and as a result fans of other teams used it as a stick to beat us with, but the idea that we wouldn't have been a strong team without DR doesn't stand up.
In the last couple of years the two players we used heavily on DR were Alex Sutcliffe and Callum McLelland. Sutcliffe has been replaced by Kris Welham in the 2020 squad and McLelland by a combination of Nu Brown and Tom Holmes. Holmes is very much a like-for-like replacement and was outstanding in both his previous spells for Fev whilst Brown, though he has 37 NRL appearances, is more of an unknown quantity.
It remains to be seen how we will go in 2020, but the DR-reliance thing is overdone - personally I was more disappointed that Covid meant we lost the services of Alec Susino rather than our DR players. If you want to put a question mark against us, perhaps it should be over our coach, as James Webster's win/loss career record as a head coach isn't great, but on paper the squad, which currently stands at 30 players, is probably the best or second-best (behind Toulouse) in the division.
If you want to find a weak squad amongst the supposed frontrunners, have a look at London's, especially their back division (though they are supposed to be announcing two signings today). At present, they look a mid-table team at best, though there is still time for them to strengthen.
Seeing Webster as Agar's bag carrier is a bit of a turn off when you are a supposed to be a separate club tbh. Leaves a taste of interference and support (maybe paying most of Webbo's wages, say!) Shades of Wigan players signed up with RU clubs, paid for but never playing. More than one way of killing a cat!
I hope that nothing like that would take place but it stretches hope to think that Webster 'coaches' Leeds free, gratis and for nothing!
On the field will take care of itself but chicanery takes place unseen.
We topped the league four years in a rowYes, I remember.Around 2008/12.It was awkward and a little embarrassing for Widnes when Rovers came here as league leaders in the final league game of 2012 after we had already been awarded a SL place, and wiped the floor with us. Incidentally, Widnes have never topped the 'second division'.Not once in all our years in it between 96/ 2020.The season we were promoted under Neil Kelly we finished second.
In like fashion we were dropped after finishing second to bottom, to let in Catalans!
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Seeing Webster as Agar’s bag carrier is a bit of a turn off when you are a supposed to be a separate club tbh. Leaves a taste of interference and support (maybe paying most of Webbo’s wages, say!) Shades of Wigan players signed up with RU clubs, paid for but never playing. More than one way of killing a cat! I hope that nothing like that would take place but it stretches hope to think that Webster ‘coaches’ Leeds free, gratis and for nothing! On the field will take care of itself but chicanery takes place unseen.
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Yes, this is exactly the sort of thing I was talking about - people making unproven accusations to do a bit of cheap pointscoring.
Webster helping out at Leeds hardly conferred any advantage on Fev, and in any case he's back at Fev now.
We topped the league four years in a rowYes, I remember.Around 2008/12.It was awkward and a little embarrassing for Widnes when Rovers came here as league leaders in the final league game of 2012 after we had already been awarded a SL place, and wiped the floor with us. Incidentally, Widnes have never topped the ‘second division’.Not once in all our years in it between 96/ 2020.The season we were promoted under Neil Kelly we finished second.
Yes but that wasn't Widnes' fault. From memory I think Fev fans felt more aggrieved that the RFL refused to present the league leaders' shield after the game, hence Fev fans bringing their own replicas.
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Seeing Webster as Agar’s bag carrier is a bit of a turn off when you are a supposed to be a separate club tbh. Leaves a taste of interference and support (maybe paying most of Webbo’s wages, say!) Shades of Wigan players signed up with RU clubs, paid for but never playing. More than one way of killing a cat! I hope that nothing like that would take place but it stretches hope to think that Webster ‘coaches’ Leeds free, gratis and for nothing! On the field will take care of itself but chicanery takes place unseen.
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Yes, this is exactly the sort of thing I was talking about – people making unproven accusations to do a bit of cheap pointscoring.Webster helping out at Leeds hardly conferred any advantage on Fev, and in any case he’s back at Fev now.
So you presumably know who paid his wages, or whether they were met totally by Leeds? Any saving would benefit Fev. I'm not accusing but just pointing out that from operations like that you can give out mixed messages.
Ok LL but you did have the benefit throughout the season of 5 SL dr players which would have helped
with regard to the playoff game we had a player who was going to fev next season, played for us in the game and was nowhere to be seen, his name escapes me