fevnut's blog

   Fev and Barrow have not published their squads for Sunday. However, the squads are on the RFL Match Centre which is not the most reliable so we will check when we see an official release from the clubs themselves and make any amendments, if necessary. 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 just have to use guesswork, along with the squads in their last match, to set them out in the traditional manner running from fullback to loose forward and then subs.

    In the days leading up to last weekend’s game against Batley we were wondering just what sort of attitude the coaching staff and players would take to this fixture. Obviously, we don’t want any more injuries before Wembley, but on the other hand we really do need to build up our Championship points. We thought they got it just about right. Blitz them in the first half and then be more relaxed in the second and take off any players that need to be cosseted. So, it was no surprise, after building a virtually unassailable half-time lead, to see first Ben Reynolds and then Ryan Hampshire being rested. What we saw both against Oldham and Batley was a vastly improved spine with Caleb at fullback, Ben and Ryan at halfback and Will and Connor at hooker. Earlier on in the season we had doubts about the value of having signed Will, but he seems to get better with each game and against Batley he made some good carries from dummy half. We never doubted his value in defence, but ...

  With the opportunity of Fev adding to the trophies we have won since we became a professional club in 1921 we thought we would devote this week's quiz questions to the topic of Trophies. Question 1) There are a number of trophies that the RFL awards either for outstanding performance over a whole season or for the Man of the Match in a competition final. On 9 occasions these have come to Featherstone Rovers. How many of the 9 recipients can you name? Question 2) What was the first trophy won by Featherstone Rovers and in which season was that? Question 3) A few years ago Fev won a trophy in a match at Post Office Road (or whatever the stadium was called then!) and we still remain the holders of it. What was that trophy? N.B. Please do not write the answers in by using 'reply' on facebook or 'quote' on Fev Fans page of TotalRL.com. We have been told by some readers that doing so spoils enjoyment of working them out for themselves. We will provide you all with the a...

       This referee began taking professional matches in 2023 when he was doing League One games. Since 2024 he has been a regular Championship referee and it is his third Fev match this year. He tends to give more than the average penalties in each match.   

We gave you two lists of Featherstone Rovers players. In each case the question was to work out what qualifies these players to be in each of the charts. The questions were related to our triumph in the 1895 Cup Final which sent Fev back to Wembley for the seventh time. 1) These are all the players who have appeared for Fev at Wembley. n.b. Keith Bridges and Charlie Stone also played in the 1983 Challenge Cup final .... but they were playing for Hull against Fev! 2) These are all the players who have scored tries for Fev at Wembley.

 

  With the opportunity coming next week to add to  the haul of trophies won by Fev we thought that we would take 'Trophies' as a topic for this week's quiz questions. Question 1) The Rugby League has a number of trophies that are (or have been) awarded to individuals either for their achievements during a particular season or as Man of the Match in a competition final.  On 9 occasions these trophies have been awarded to someone at Featherstone. How many of these 9 can you name? Question 2)  What trophy was won by Featherstone Rovers several years ago and we are still the holders of that trophy? N.B. Please do not write the answers in by using 'reply' on facebook or 'quote' on Fev Fans page of TotalRL.com. We have been told by some readers that doing so spoils enjoyment of working them out for themselves. We will provide you all with the answers next week! If you wish to submit an answer before we reveal them officially you can do so via Facebook 'privat...

  Fev and Batley have both published their squads for Sunday. However, the Batley squad comes from the RFL Match Centre which is not the most reliable so we will check when we see an official release from Batley themselves and make any amendments, if necessary. 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 just have to use guesswork, along with the squads in their last match, to set them out in the traditional manner running from fullback to loose forward and then subs.

    This was the heading on TotalRL’s report of the game and then League Express had a picture of Gadwin Springer on the front cover. It was our hundredth game against Oldham. What a day! What a performance! In our opinion that was, by some way, our best team performance in 2025 and we doubt whether there had ever been a better team performance against Oldham in the previous ninety-nine games. Not even the two 68-0 wins (which we remember well) in 2012 and 2021. Those two were much more down to abject Oldham teams than the brilliance of the Fev teams. What was clear this time was that we had a well thought out game plan, developed by the coaching staff, brilliantly executed by the team and that the they played with discipline conceding only two penalties, having no-one sin-binned or sent off, and as high a completion rate as we can remember. Here’s hoping that it will be a similar story at Wembley. One thing that is very clear to us is that the coaching staff need to have in p...