fevnut's musings 2025/#33: Oldham, The Play-offs Battle for Places and Bradford

 

As we drove to Post Office Road for the match it was hard to feel optimistic. It was going to be a weakened Fev team with, yet again, having to draft a player in to the halves who wasn’t a specialist in that position and we were facing an Oldham side who have been able to considerably strengthen their squad in the last few weeks with three recruited from Salford and also Morgan Smith from Sheffield.

As we walked into the ground we got the teamsheet and were relieved to see that Ryan Brierley wasn’t playing. We were also glad to see that Paul Cooke had gone for Addy at halfback and left Aekins in his customary fullback position. A good move we thought as we had the players to cover in the pack for Addy but we would have struggled without Caleb organising the defence.

Having said that, we had been far from happy with Danny Addy’s showing in the halves earlier in the season, but, as often is the case, we were proved wrong, and he had a really good game with some deft passes and some very good kicks.

From the moment of kick-off it felt that the Fev lads knew they had a difficult task facing them but they showed real determination to make it work. Bailey O’Connor scored two good tries and we felt that Derrell Olpherts had his best game yet in a Fev shirt.

Clay Webb had another great game. We think he has been our most consistent player this year and unlike some others we could think of in recent years he seems to value wearing the Fev shirt and being a part of our wonderful club. We’re not saying he will win it but he must be a contender for player of the season.

Well done to all 17 players who sent the fans home happy! 

One round to go

We can-t remember when was the last time that we got to the last round of the Championship season with all the six places in the play-offs already confirmed.

Last week we said that it was likely that Fev would finish in 6th and sadly that still looks to be the case. We go into the match at Odsal with no recognised halfbacks and it is incredibly difficult to imagine beating a very strong Bradford side with a handicap like that. Let’s just hope that Doncaster get back to their best after their 56-0 thrashing by York and beat Halifax on Sunday.

Fev are 31 better off on points difference than Halifax so, if both lose, so long as the margins of the losses aren’t such that Halifax make that up with the scores on Sunday we will stay in 5th. The other way we could remain in 5th is if Halifax draw against Doncaster and we don’t lose to Bradford by 31. Still, miracles do happen.

The only final place that is mathematically certain now is that Oldham finish 4th. Their league season is now finished so they can’t catch any teams above them and nor can Fev or Halifax catch them.

Although York aren’t mathematically certain of top spot the scenario that would see them shifted is so unlikely that we would rate it as a million to one against it happening. For it to happen York would have to be thrashed by Batley and Toulouse would have to beat Hunslet by well over 100 points!

Bradford can only move up to second if they beat us AND Toulouse lose at Hunslet. They would then be above Toulouse on points difference.

Here’s one possible positive. Toulouse play on Saturday, so assuming that they beat Hunslet, Bradford would have nothing to play for on Sunday.

 

 

 

We know of a fair few friends who will not be travelling to Bradford on Sunday as a matter of principle. We loathe going to Odsal but after much reflection we have decided that we just don’t want to miss the last league match of the season.

Not only is the Odsal pitch unsuitable, in its dimensions, but the speedway track leaves most of the seats in the main (only) stand with loads of dust. But more important for us is that it is a horrendous ground for anyone with a physical disablement. It wasn’t so bad when we could stand along with most of the Fev fans but the days are gone when we could get up and down all those steps.

Our decision to go to the match was almost dashed when we discovered that the only parking available was so far from the main stand that we just wouldn’t have been able to cope. However, when we phoned about this the staff there were really helpful and they have arranged for us to park much closer to the main stand. A big thanks to those friendly staff who have made it possible to go to the match.

We just wish that the friendliness of the staff was replicated by their fans.

Sitting in the main stand is not a pleasurable experience but we have no choice. Last time we found it very intimidating. According to the fans around us every Fev pass was a forward pass, every time Fev played the ball fans were screaming for a penalty for offside. Every tackle was high.

They clearly see it as their role in life to intimidate match officials.

One of the things that attracted us to Rugby League when we came north after a childhood in London, was the friendliness of fans to one another, but it seems those days are gone now and maybe that is one of the issues causing problems with attendances.

Of course, not all Braford fans are like the ones we have described above but how we wish fans could behave like they used to and was demonstrated by the Oldham fans last Sunday.

We feel very conflicted about the process of selecting the clubs that will be in Super League in 2026. We don’t believe that Bradford deserve to be there and cannot see how Odsal can be judged to be a suitable venue. On the other hand, we would love to see a Fev fixture list next year which didn’t include a trip to Bradford!