it will be a test, lets not get carried away by beating two teams we was expected to beat. big test but you never know. i think most people will be happy with a competitive display and at least be in the game for 80 mins
Fev have had some injuries and struggled past an inconsistent Halifax side the other day. I would expect them to win but I still think we can nick it.
As a Fev fan I would see it this way but a lot will depend on how many, if any of our injured contingent can return.
Against Halifax we were missing James Harrison, Dale Ferguson, Luke Cooper, Brett Ferres, Jack Bussey, Kris Welham, Josh Hardcastle, plus Ben Blackmore (who is suspended anyway), all of whom would usually be in our 17. With five of those being forwards we had to play Beckett, Field and McConnell, who are all youngsters who would normally be nowhere near our starting 17, and they were each just given one 15-20 minute spell to give the senior forwards a rest, whilst Junior Moors put his hand up to play despite not really being fit.
Also Dane Chisholm was carried off and has been wearing a boot subsequently so his fitness this week has to be in doubt.
If we get two or three of our first 17 forwards back I'd be reasonably confident, we have been difficult to handle playing at a fast tempo up the middle this year when we have had a proper bench rather than the starters knowing they were going to have to play over an hour as was the case on Sunday at Halifax.
I know this is exactly the same scenario that Widnes faced earlier this season when you had your own injury issues ie a lack of quality beyond the starting 13, I watched your game against Oldham and it clearly made a big difference having two or three good players coming off the bench.
It will be interesting to see if you play Smith as a middle/loose forward on Sunday, it will be a bold shout if you ask him to do big minutes defensively in the middle against our pack.
I think fans of both sides will see Fev as favourites but as has been said it's a one-off cup game, I'd want to see the line-ups before making any predictions anyway.
Very generous of you LL.What we don't want is a one sided game,it's no good for either set of fans.We need to produce a performance against a good team whatever the result.
Unless Fev have a shocker we won’t win that one. Getting better but nowhere near that level yet
With a “fair wind” and even-handed refereeing I believe we can win both of these games by a few points. Us vs Swinton at Wembley would be brilliant.
You’ve had too much sun Sunny! You’re delirious!
When we beat Leigh it was under very different circumstances. If you can recall the players made a point of doing it for the fans and played their game of the season, as we realised at the final! Was a great semi though! 👍🏼
This time though, we are just finding our feet and players are just getting used to each other following injuries and playing out of position. I can’t see any outcome being a Widnes win realistically and I just hope we can play a good game without injuries and not let this result set them back in any way.
Que sera sera and all that
Looking at the Fev injury list whoever is funding them must have deep.pockets!!
Looking at the Fev injury list whoever is funding them must have deep.pockets!!
Well we have a lot of income streams at Fev - we own our own ground which provides a lot of revenue opportunites (though less over the last 15 months obviously), havea thriving superstore at the ground, we lease the ground out to Wakefield football club too (soccer), and the club has done very well in terms of sponsorship in recent years as well. There has also been a good take up to the club's Squadbuilder project which is probably bringing in about £3,000 per month.
There's no doubt that Mark Campbell has put plenty in from his own pocket over the years too but he himself has stated that the club is close to being self sufficient now.
It's interesting to read the comments about deep pockets though after all the comments over the last couple of years about how Fev were totally dependent on Dual Registration and would be lost without it!
Looking at the Fev injury list whoever is funding them must have deep.pockets!!
Well we have a lot of income streams at Fev – we own our own ground which provides a lot of revenue opportunites (though less over the last 15 months obviously), havea thriving superstore at the ground, we lease the ground out to Wakefield football club too (soccer), and the club has done very well in terms of sponsorship in recent years as well. There has also been a good take up to the club’s Squadbuilder project which is probably bringing in about £3,000 per month. There’s no doubt that Mark Campbell has put plenty in from his own pocket over the years too but he himself has stated that the club is close to being self sufficient now. It’s interesting to read the comments about deep pockets though after all the comments over the last couple of years about how Fev were totally dependent on Dual Registration and would be lost without it!
POR (or whatever it's called these days) is really smart now, and a credit to you.
I'm a Lion, and our record there is awful. Just one win in 40+ years, and that was the play-off game on our way to the final back in 2006.
Nowt personal, but I'm glad we've not gotta come to your gaff this season! LOL.
Your hit-ups against Toulouse should sort out who'll be replacing (prob) Leythers at the top table next year.
Spelly.
POR (or whatever it’s called these days) is really smart now, and a credit to you. I’m a Lion, and our record there is awful. Just one win in 40+ years, and that was the play-off game on our way to the final back in 2006. Nowt personal, but I’m glad we’ve not gotta come to your gaff this season! LOL. Your hit-ups against Toulouse should sort out who’ll be replacing (prob) Leythers at the top table next year. Spelly.
Yes Toulouse look extremely strong. I thought before the season started they looked stronger than Leigh and I think they'd have a very good chance of beating Leigh if the two teams met right now. So that's a measure of what we, and other clubs with promotion aspirations, are up against. I mean, there are several teams in SL who would love to be able to have Casty and Garbutt as their main middles at the moment yet they're playing in the Championship.
Still, London beat Toronto in the 2018 final and we led Toronto after almost an hour in 2019, so anything is possible.