T'Other Side: Halifax Panthers

  

In addition to the 'new' signings Halifax have now brought back Ed Barber who last played for them in 2022.

Head Coach: Liam Finn

 

Unless you are pretty young, there are probably no current head coaches that need less introduction to Fev fans than Daryl Powell and Liam Finn who were at the heart of the Fev team that won the Championship four years in a row from 2010 to 2013.

Liam became head coach of Halifax for this year after being head coach of Dewsbury in 2022 and 2023 and leading them to promotion to the Championship after becoming League One champions. Having achieved that it was a bit of surprise to some people when he accepted the offer of the Halifax job, but understandable because Liam is a Halifax lad and started his playing career there in 2002.

He then spent 2004 and 2005 at Wakefield but only played two games in their first team and spent the latter half of 2005 on loan at Fev. From 2006 to 2009 he was at Dewsbury before Daryl signed him for Fev in 2010. He started 2010 at hooker but soon moved to scrumhalf and became the core of that golden period for Rovers. After his time at Fev he played for Castleford (with Daryl as head coach), Wakefield and Widnes (on loan). He began 2019 at Newcastle but played only three games there before moving back to Dewsbury. Liam waws also an Irish international.

Liam’s record at Fev was: Played 139, 71 tries, kicked 597 goals and scored 6 drop goals. A total of 1,484 points. In 2012 he set two Fev records (which still stand) with 183 goals and 436 points in a season. That year he also set a world record by kicking 41 successive goals. Since then, it has been equalled three times by Jamie Ellis, Rhyse Martin and Stefan Ratchford but the record has never yet been broken.

 

Co-Captains: Joe Keyes and Adam O’Brien

London born Joe Keyes came through the London Broncos Academy and made his first team début for the Broncos in 2014. In 2016 he played a game on dual reg for London Skolars and then joined Bradford at the end of June. In 2020 he became a Hull KR player where first team opportunities were limited to 6 appearances in two years, but he did have loan spells with York and Bradford in 2021. He joined Halifax in 2022. Back in 2014 Joe played for the England Academy team but since 2015 he has been a regular in the full Ireland international squad. He was on the Ireland subs bench for their three games in the European Championship. He did get to play in those games but his path to being a starting scrumhalf was blocked by … Liam Finn!

Adam O’Brien is a hooker who also played for the England Academy team. In his case it was in 2010 while he was a member of the Bradford Bulls Academy. He made his first team début for Bradford in 2011. During his six seasons in the Bradford first team squad, he had an extended loan spell with Dewsbury in 2013. He was then at Huddersfield from 2017 until 2023. During his time at Huddersfield, he went on loan to Halifax in 2017 and then again last season. He joined Halifax for the start of this season.

 

Dual Registration and Loans

This year Halifax have a dual reg agreement with Leeds Rhinos which has seen Kieran Hudson (prop), Riley Lumb (back/fullback) and Jack Smith (back) play for them. There have been no loans either in or out so far in 2024.

 

 

The Fev Connection 

Amongst the 80 players we know of who have played for both clubs are Albert Fearnley, Norman Hockley and Martin Pearson.

Albert Fearnley’s first team career started with Oldham (1949-51). He was at Halifax from 1951 until 1956, during which time he played in the famous Challenge Cup Final replay against Warrington in front of the world record crowd of 102,575 at Odsal.

He transferred to Fev at the beginning of the 1956-57 season making his début in a Fev 22-9 home win, ironically against Halifax. For Fev he played games at prop, second row and loose forward. In his two seasons at Rovers, he made 67 appearances and scored 18 tries. After his time at Fev he finished his career with one season playing for Batley. Fearnley then went into coaching and amongst the several teams he coached was Halifax, notable because, in 1965, he led them to winning the Championship Final with a 15-7 victory over St. Helens.

Norman Hockley started out at Hull. After three seasons there he was signed by Fev at the start of the 1956-57 season. He stayed at Rovers until the beginning of December 1962 after which he returned to Hull. For Fev he played a total of 171 games at either prop or second row. There were several matches in which Fev’s second row pairing was Hockley together with Fearnley (see above). Norman Hockley qualifies for this section because in 1953 he went on loan from Hull to Halifax.

Martin Pearson made his Fev début at the age of 17 in 1989 and went on to play 166 matches for Rovers, scoring 101 tries, 464 goals and 6 drop goals for a total of 1,338 points. When he left Fev he went onto play for Halifax, Sheffield and Wakefield as well as playing rugby union for Pau in France. Martin still holds the record for the highest points total in a match for Fev when in 1995 he scored 40 (4 tries and 12 goals) when we beat Whitehaven 60-10.

There is one match in Martin Pearson’s career which most Fax fans would probably prefer to forget. It came in the 1991-92 Regal Trophy. Halifax were drawn to play at Featherstone in the second round. After 50 minutes Halifax were leading 18-16 and Fev had had a player sent off in the first half. Despite that, during the final 30 minutes Fev, unbelievably scored 48 points for a 64-18 victory with 4 tries for Pearson who had a magnificent game.

If you haven’t seen it, you can find it in the ‘Gold’ section of RoversTV. No Fev fan should miss the opportunity to see that!