fevnut's musings 2024/#24: Whitehaven, Brad Day and a Wild Idea

   

Whitehaven

As we got in the car last Sunday for the short drive to Post Office Road, like probably all Fev supporters, we were desperately hoping that we could break our sequence of losing matches. We would even have been happy with a single point win!

We expect that we would get that win although we were aware of the fact that they had given us a tough match when we beat 28-24 them up at their place in April.

What unfolded was beyond our wildest dreams. It was far and away our best performance since we knocked Wakefield out of the Challenge Cup. A match which remains as Wakefield’s only defeat in 2024. Dec Patton really controlled the game. What a relief to have a halfback taking control, as well as scoring a try himself and kicking 11 goals from 11 attempts. In addition, he had an excellent all-round kicking game, creating several tries and then there was that 40/20. League Express chose him as their man of the match and we wouldn’t disagree even though Brad Day scored a great hat trick.

And all that was achieved despite losing Paul Turner part way into the match. Will our halfback problems never end?

An apprehensive journey to the ground and a very happy one returning home.

 

Brad Day

Brad Day seems to be back to his best and we all know that his best is very, very good. He has been running some great lines and for a second row he showed remarkable sprinting speed and strength for his hat trick try.

We were pretty sure it was his first hat trick for Rovers but when we got home, we checked to see whether he had ever scored a hat trick before. The answer is YES. He scored one playing for York City Knights away at Oxford in a Championship One fixture in 2014. At the time he was a Castleford player and was at York on dual reg. We then looked at the details of that match and saw that he was playing at centre and maybe, if and when necessary, we could use him in that role. We’ve never tried that. In his 77 games, so far, for Fev, 74 have been in the second row, 2 as a sub and 1 at loose forward.

That hat trick takes him up to 11 tries (9 in Championship matches) in 2024 and that puts him joint 8th in top try scorers in Championship fixtures this year. Only two other forwards get into the top twenty, the other two being Connor Jones and Wakefield’s Josh Griffin.

When we saw the details of the match in which he scored his first hat trick, we were amused to see who his centre partner was and also who was playing at stand-off and named by League Express as man of the match. Take a look!

Business Rates

League Express runs weekly readers polls. This week the question was ‘Last week the country elected a new government. What would you most like to see the government do in relation to Rugby League?’

One of the options they gave was ‘Give Rugby League and other sports clubs exemption from paying business rates.’

At first glance we thought that was a cracking idea but then we thought about more and we realised that it would be an absurdity to exempt sports clubs owned by multi-millionaire/billionaire people such an exemption. Our mind turned to the likes of Manchester United and City, the M.C.C. and other such clubs.

There could be no reasonable basis for granting them such an exemption.

But there is a kernel of an idea there. It would undoubtedly be a big help towards stabilising the finances of many Championship and League One clubs.

So maybe a formula could be found for sports clubs with small turnovers and who have a proven track record of providing educational health and social benefits in their communities.

Here’s a wild idea. At Fev we are proud of the fact that the club actually owns its stadium and the land around. But it has not always been the case. During and after the 1984/85 miner’s strike the effect on our local community put Fev’s finances into deep trouble. Wakefield MDC recognised that the club was of huge cultural importance to the community and came in with assistance in the form of taking the over the ownership off the ground and providing the grounds maintenance until Rovers were back into a stable situation.

 

 

We are very proud indeed of the work that our Foundation does in the community. Being a Registered Charity, the Foundation does have exemption from various taxes. Maybe, the ownership of the ground could be handed over to the Foundation and then leased back to the club!!!