Re: BATTLE FOR THE PLAYOFFS : Sun Oct 01, 2023 6:00 pm  

Well, London's licking of Sheffield AT Sheffield shows what a crazy Championship season it's been. Love to watch old Sourpuss's post match interview. What on earth can he moan about after that, surely not the ref?

Re: BATTLE FOR THE PLAYOFFS : Sun Oct 08, 2023 7:55 pm  

No great love for Featherstone, although it does seem slightly ridiculous that a team that completely dominates a league doesn't get promoted. League 1 top team automatic promotion and then a play off for second spot seems reasonable but I suppose you can't expect sense from the RFL. That said from a purely selfish point of view couldn't be more pleased with the 2 finalists - neither bring anything at all to the league with zero away support, so with Wakefield coming down the championship becomes a bit more viable next year. Will be very interesting to see how Campbell reacts at Fev - I think it may be carnage.

Re: BATTLE FOR THE PLAYOFFS : Sun Oct 08, 2023 8:04 pm  

Well done London. Couldn’t be happier that Fev chocked again. They thought they had it sown up all season. As stated above beauty club in the final bring anything to the game with away fans. I’m sure the RFL and IMG are love if the prospect of another French them or London back in SL so they donet have to make an excuse up giving them a licence for 2025.

Re: BATTLE FOR THE PLAYOFFS : Mon Oct 09, 2023 7:30 am  

Yep, well done London. Have to say I despise the RL equivalent of Millwall fans (fev "fans") so very pleased with the result. Let's also hope Toulouse get out of our league so we no longer have the absurd carry on of part time players having to trek abroad.

Re: BATTLE FOR THE PLAYOFFS : Mon Oct 09, 2023 7:38 am  

Fev not making the final does show the sport up a bit, they've been runaway leaders, but get little reward.

There's an argument that you could recruit a small, mid table squad, then if you look like you are heading for the playoffs, strengthen in the right areas and hit form at the right time and still make a real go at it

Re: BATTLE FOR THE PLAYOFFS : Mon Oct 09, 2023 8:10 am  

Brew wrote:

Fev not making the final does show the sport up a bit, they've been runaway leaders, but get little reward.

There's an argument that you could recruit a small, mid table squad, then if you look like you are heading for the playoffs, strengthen in the right areas and hit form at the right time and still make a real go at it

Why does just show up our sport, Football league has had playoffs for years now, same thing can happen. Its not that the rules are changed mid-season, we all know that reaching the play offs is the main task and then its knock out football. Leeds won the SL from 5th or 6th a few years back, you could see how they built momentum through the year. If teams knew it was "finish top of the league" then you might found they set up differently, or maybe too many would spend too much money trying to achieve that!

Whilst Fev won the league by a significant margin, there were plenty of signs that they were not always that convincing. Teams who compete with their pack and then move them around have a fair chance, we proved that against them twice, and looks like London did same to them yesterday.

Re: BATTLE FOR THE PLAYOFFS : Mon Oct 09, 2023 9:24 am  

Well, after being thoroughly disillusioned with the game these past couple of weeks this weekends results have really perked me up. Rugby League isn't the be all and end all in life but it can certainly be a big part of life for some folk. Well done Toulouse and London.

Re: BATTLE FOR THE PLAYOFFS : Mon Oct 09, 2023 9:33 am  

Agree, gizempo. Fev know how it works and they tried to do a Leigh with a massive strong squad but obviously not strong enough otherwise they would have beaten London. Sacking Sean Long despite being "runaway leaders" also seemed quite bizarre.

I notice a few Fev fans on TotalRL are saying they won't renew their season tickets. Fev appear to have already put their season tickets on sale before they knew which league they'd be in (arrogant or what?), and the match day admission increased to £25. Looks like they've dug themselves a deep hole!

Re: BATTLE FOR THE PLAYOFFS : Mon Oct 09, 2023 11:12 am  

Tony Fax wrote:

Agree, gizempo. Fev know how it works and they tried to do a Leigh with a massive strong squad but obviously not strong enough otherwise they would have beaten London. Sacking Sean Long despite being "runaway leaders" also seemed quite bizarre.

I notice a few Fev fans on TotalRL are saying they won't renew their season tickets. Fev appear to have already put their season tickets on sale before they knew which league they'd be in (arrogant or what?), and the match day admission increased to £25. Looks like they've dug themselves a deep hole!

Regarding season tickets. Fax did the same. At least Fev gave prices for both eventualities.

Re: BATTLE FOR THE PLAYOFFS : Mon Oct 09, 2023 11:44 am  

The funny thing about the Fev failure to me was a lot of their fans when they sacked Sean Long suddenly making out that Ford was the new messiah after a couple of decent wins against poor opposition when the reality was that it is so hard to change something mid season especially when their players were looking at the league table and probably thinking they were pretty comfortable. Its not really the same as a relegation threatened team bringing in a new coach and hoping to get that lift. I think the way they got rid of Long means a bit of karma for them.

Does make me wonder what could have been for us though as we were certainly one of the teams that had the style of play that suited beating them. As it is i'm really non plussed as to who goes up, if its London then its a one season only thing as they won't make the grade and even if its Toulouse then its still likely to be Wakefield just beating them. The reality for Fev though is that they have been confined to this division for the forseeable future just like the rest of us and you have to wonder what sort of financial strain this attempt has put them under.