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

Last Sunday was one of those incredibly rare occasions when Fev have won but the consequences of the match turner out to be a complete calamity!

For so much of the year we have had huge problems fielding a team with a pair of proper halfbacks who have had time to learn how best to play together. Then, we got Ben Reynolds and Ryan Hampshire who settled into roles quite quickly which brought about a big upturn in our performances.

We thought it was a bit of a disaster when Ryan broke his arm but at least we had Calum Turner to fill in although we had concerns about the lack of match time he had been given through the season. Nevertheless, he slotted in well and, although the Reynolds/Turner partnership was never going to reach the level we had seen with Reynolds/Hampshire, we were pleasantly surprised by how well Calum Turner was playing.

But then came the calamity against Sheffield with Calum limping off with what looked to be a serious injury and, with a minute to go, Reynolds being sent off. When will players learn that the only result of arguing with, or being abusive, to match officials never does anything but harm to the team?

So, we have the prospect of Calum being unfit to play and Ben getting a suspension. We have scoured the internet but failed to find any reference to disciplinary cases from last weekend’s matches other than for Super League clubs. If there is any substance in what the referee thought Ben said, then it is almost certain to lead to a ban.

Bans imposed on Super League players commence the week following the infringement but usually it is a week later with Championship players. That might mean that Ben is free to play against Oldham but likely to have a ban in place when we get to the Bradford match, play-offs and possibly into the beginning of next season.

And, if that wasn’t enough, James Glover, is rumoured to have a broken leg and even if it is not as bad as that, it looks extremely unlikely that he will play again this year. Since James came to Fev he has scored 10 tries in just 13 matches which is the highest strike rate of any of our current squad. As well as the loss of halfbacks, missing James will also be a huge blow.

Play-Offs: who will get there?

With two rounds to go in the Championship the play-off picture is becoming clearer.

Places one to four will definitely go to York, Toulouse, Bradford and Oldham, but their final positions are still to be determined.. None of the other clubs can now catch them. Oldham can theoretically catch Bradford on points but we can say with confidence that they won’t. Even if they were to draw level on points with Bradford that would mean Bradford losing to both London Broncos and Fev and Oldham are 120 behind Bradford on points difference. Not only would Bradford have to go down to London and Fev by large margins but Oldham would have to thrash Fev by a huge margin in their last remaining fixture. You can see why we are confident that Oldham will finish in fourth.

Again, theoretically, Bradford could still finish top but we are confident that they will end up in third. That prediction is based on the remaining fixtures for York and Toulouse who are both likely to win their last two games.

That leads us to believe that final finishing positions will be York 1st, Toulouse 2nd, Bradford 3rd and Oldham 4th.

Of the teams currently in fifth to eighth, and still in contention for the 5th and 6th places, Fev are the only team who still have to play both remaining matches against teams in the top 4.

Doncaster’s last two matches are at home but they are both against teams currently above them in the table.

Probably the most important match on Sunday is between Halifax (at home) and Widnes. If Halifax win that then it looks as if Widnes are unlikely to make the 6 as they have a far inferior points difference to Fev and Halifax.

It looks to us that the final outcome is likely to be Halifax in fifth and Fev in sixth filling the final two play-off positions even if Fev lose to both Oldham and Bradford.

But we need to remember that there are sometimes some very unexpected results in the end of the league season!

 

We lost against Oldham by just two points in the away Championship match in April and then produced our first really fine performance to beat them 40-14 on their ground in the 1895 cup. That was a match in which Reynolds and Hampshire really bossed the game.

Whilst Fev have been struggling both financially and with injuries to the squad, Oldham have found the resources to strengthen their squad in recent weeks.

Since July, they have signed Ryan Brierley (fullback), Matty Foster (second row), Jack Ormondroyd (prop) and Ethan Ryan (wing) from Salford, and Morgan Smith (stand-off) from Sheffield.

That means that whereas Fev will be struggling to find a full squad, Oldham have no such worries.

Occasionally, out of adversity comes miracles! You have to look no further than Salford’s win at Warrington last weekend.