fevnut's blog

    Fev and Whitehaven have both published their squads for Sunday although Whitehaven have only named 20 players..  We find it quite difficult to see the potential shape of the teams in the form in which the clubs publish the squads so we choose to use guesswork based on last week’s teams to set them out in the traditional manner running from fullback to loose forward and then subs . n.b. Whitehaven have included George Hill and Bailey Dawson who are both Castleford players so we assume they have signed them on loan although we can't find any reference to that on the internet.  

  

  Head Coach:  Allan Coleman   Allan Coleman joined Swinton as assistant coach in 2019 having previously coached Leigh Miners Rangers in the3 National Conference League and the English Community Lions. In July 2021 he was made caretaker head coach following the departure of Stuart Littler and, just a month later, was confirmed as head coach. Last season he guided Swinton Lions to second place in League One and promotion to the Championship after beating Doncaster 16-10 in the play-off final. We have no record of Allan Coleman having played in the professional ranks.   Captain: Rhodri Lloyd   Rhodri Lloyd began his professional career with South Wales Scorpions in 2011 (on loan from Crusaders RL) and then in 2012 he was signed by Wigan but during his 4 years there he only played 7 games spending most of his time on loan or dual reg with South Wales (2012 and 2013), Leigh (2013), London Broncos (2013), Whitehaven (2014) Workington (2015) and Swinton (2015). He then signed for Swinton d

  Half-Backs There can be absolutely no doubt, with the loss of Riley Dean and the injuries that Johnathon Ford has suffered, that we were in desperate need of adding to out half back options. So far this year we have used seven different players in the half back positions (Caleb Aekins, Riley Dean, Johnathon Ford, Craig Hall, Thomas Lacans, Elijah Taylor and Matty Wildie). Half back is a position that requires specialist expertise and only three of that list are specialists. The other four were very much filling in, out of their more usual positions. Although those who have been asked to fill in tried hard to provide what was needed, we have seen several recent matches in which the biggest problem has been a distinct lack of leadership and creativity. Every team needs a half back who is capable of leading the team around the field and creating opportunities that make the best of the rest of the team. As we have said before, we really like Thomas Lacans but he is young, lacks experienc

    n.b. Because the above match was played on Wednesday of this week we do not have the attendance, penalty count or Men of the Match. Head Coach: Jonty Gorley   Jonty Gorley became the head coach of Whitehaven last year. He succeeded Gary Charlton. Gorley had previously been assistant coach to Charlton at both Whitehaven and Workington Town. He played for Workington Town as a hooker between 1993 and 1997. Captain: Karl Dixon Karl Dixon was signed by Whitehaven from amateur side Wath Brow Hornets for the 2020 season and he was appointed as Whitehaven captain last year. He usually plays at stand-off but can also fill in at centre.   Loans and Dual Reg   Whitehaven have had several players on loan during 2023 but there don’t appear to be any currently. As far as we know, they haven’t signed a dual-reg agreement for 2023.     The Fev connection Primarily for geographical reasons, there are comparatively few players who have played for both Fev and Whitehaven. W