Yes.... notwithstanding 2010 final, fev were way and
above the best team in the league back then.
The championship has improved at lot in ten years.
I'd say this team is better than the 2010 cohort but have in Toronto two years ago and toulouse this year, some formidable opponents who so far were/are even better.
Some twists to come yet

Agree as always about JWH. I think some of the players have taken their foot off the gas knowing that they were already in the play offs. Thankfully McComb, Saltonstall, Worthington and Woodburn Hall are continuing their good form. As for the forwards the question still stands as to whether they are able to switch it on for a play off game. Still beggars belief regarding Gadwin

As expected Fev were bigger stronger and faster all over the pitch.Annoying and frustrating that we have a squad that is so restricted at the business end of the season.Forget any revenge in a later playoff we were embarrassing at times and the try we conceded straight after our first try was the worst I can ever remember conceding.

It was a complete duck up that try.... then popping the ball up straight from the kick off in the second half..... that just put the game out of fax's reach.
They were the only daft tries this aft either. The whole game was flashes of brilliance breaking the tedium of long periods of ineptitude.
In the end we had way too much up front.

I hope grix has reflected on his mistake with allowing Springerto go , in that sometimes in life to achieve you have to work with people who are not your best mate.

Tough game to watch at times and certainly highlighted the gap between the top two and the rest . As regards springer it wouldn’t be so hard to swallow if he had been replaced with someone equally as good . If you actually break down the new look panthers it’s not that much different, springer, borough Hewitt gone , Robinson and rawsthorne injured for half the season , worthingtons all round game is good but 1 try all season isn’t enough . On the plus side McComb as played well and looks a threat , Liam Harris as played well at times and Murray is steady but we really need some oomph in our forwards .

I think Grix was unwise to have both Borough and Hewitt in the starting 17 at the start of the year with the threat of them being recalled always being there. I do wonder what 'really' is has been the turning point for Fev to be so much better than us on the field. There is a considerable gap. They had the season a couple of years back when they lost to Toronto with the rent-a-squad farce but the gulf is certainly wider. With Leigh coming down, - might be more of the same running big, quality squads that no one can realistically compete with. If we then revert to the 2 x 10 for superleague then it's anyone's guess.

Not sure if Eliott would have made a difference today but certainly we need another 2 props and another big second-rower as neither Garside of Kavanagh are of that ilk. Not much to be made of it this season but would actually love to hear about where both Rawsthorne and Jones are. Absolute zero comms about either of them. Perhaps the lads doing the media stream can ask Grxy at some point!

What you see on the pitch is often an extension from off the pitch.
The facts are Fev are a stronger club than us in this area as well.
Bigger home support.
Owning their ground.
Revenues from their own clubhouse and bar.
MC and co with their financial input and support.
All these areas add up to bigger and better input and output streams.
Wether we like to think so or not they are the bigger club.

Even with Springer still onboard it wouldn’t have altered Fev’s dominance in the middle.
Seems to me Fax are going with what they have for this year and concentrating on signing players for next season.

Sadly completely agree with this - end result being we're competing against a better quality squad at Featherstone and even more important at this time of the season 9ne 50% bigger than ours allowing them to rotate players and drop those not performing - Fax on the other hand are now having to go with what's left each week - knackered or not. I still believe a fully fit Fax first 17 would be competitive - even against Fev - admittedly I'm including Borough and Hewitt in this - we just don't have the depth of squad the top 2 have to remain a genuine contender for promotion.

Yes you’re right however when fax played Toulouse/ fev earlier in the season we had springer Hewitt bourouh all of borderline of super league ilk and we were more competitive . Both the springer and the bourouh one irritate me the most , I have no problem with Grix letting springer go but I think there should of been a replacement already waiting or they would agree he could go at the end of the season, our pack is light and a few more injuries or covid related problems and we’ ll really struggle . Bourouh as played about 40 mins for Wigan since he’s gone and not been in the last two squads , the loan agreement is supposed to benefit both clubs and the player , if lamm is picking shorrocks ahead of him he clearly doesn’t trust or rate him would have made more sense to see his time out with us before a move to Salford .

As regards yesterday’s game regardless who we are playing silly penalties and dropping the ball as got to stop its not Grix it’s the players who’ve got to up their game , perfect day for rugby and constant handling errors is not acceptable.

For next season to be competitive at the highest level we need a couple of props a quality loose forward and a winger to replace McGrath/ rawsthorne who aren’t good enough, and that’s at least .

There were a lot of fans who wanted to attribute Fev's success in 2019 and indeed in previous years almost solely to DR but a few of us said repeatedly that was a red herring, it did mean that we didn't have to bother running with such a big squad but we weren't really bringing in players who were much better than the ones we had.

I do think the overall standards in the division have slipped a little since Covid though.

There were a lot of fans who were spot on!

Exactly my point about concentrating on next season because even with the likes of Springer, Hewitt and Borough the current squad were still not good enough.
This equates to being 6 or 7 (maybe even more) good quality players short to really compete this year and we are not going to get them in before the playoffs to make up the difference.
I do think we will strengthen somewhat for next year but I can't see us having the financial clout to fill all the gaps in one go so it will still be work in progress.
That's the down side should we finish third, anything less that that next year will be seen as a step backwards.

Even thou not completely unexpected that result is still hard to take and even harder to have watched. Like as already been said fev looked a far bigger side than us even in the warm up i mentioned this to a fev fan in front of me and he just laughed he must of know what was coming. To be fair despite a lot of errors we looked like we could trouble fev with the ball and scored some well taken tries. Woodburnhall, salty, mcomb, and worthington can all take credit for there performances in defeat. Moores when he came on was a handful and only worthington down that side looked like he could tackle him. I thought grix had a shocker not dealing with 2 restarts that both led to tries and throwing a shocking pass along the floor which went straight to gale who went 90 meters to score. And as been said we lack fire power up front and this as become more of a issue as the season as gone along and not been addressed. I wonder what simon thought watching springer setting up 2 tries carrying the ball strongly and strong in defence yes he gave away 1 penaltie but i would take that any day of the week for what you get in return the type of punch that we are lacking and he did longer minutes too. He is good enough for fev who are far better then us but not good enough for us work that one out. We will have our hands full at Whitehaven next week lets just hope we can find a way to win.

Too right. It was borderline farcical. It was a mockery but its history and hope the system of DR never rears again.

Having just watched the highlights, I know the old saying of 'giving em tries' is overused but Jesus, I counted at LEAST 5 tries that were comical/lucky/farcical or a combination of the three. Granted they all needed to be scored and players have to be in position but that was abject:

1. Robinson knock-on
2. Grix knock-on
3. That toe prod that could have gone anywhere for the third try
3. The penultimate try from Ferres where Robinson wilted like wet spinach
5. Grix horrific pass for Gale to scoop up

Wouldn't have changed the result but I don't remember seeing so many gimmes's in one game.

Really, you think they were spot on in attributing Fev's success in 2019 solely to DR?

2019 regular season 17 wins and 10 defeats
2021 regular season 18 wins and 1 defeat

Think again.

Eggsbloodyzactly.
I hate dual reg and the ridiculous pizz taking with the loan arrangement

I don't need to think again. There's none so blind as those that will not see.

But your statement was flat out wrong. It's one thing to be anti DR - which I know you have been implacably since it began, and fair play for that.

But trying to suggest to Fev's success in 2019 and in previous years was "almost solely down to DR" is a patently ridiculous claim for all sorts of reasons, not least that Fev have been one of the dominant teams in the division since 2010, many years before we used DR, and have compiled an 18-1 record in the league since it was abolished, despite numerous people in forumland suggesting we would struggle without it.


But as you say, there's none so blind as those that will not see

It wasn't about the success give or take - It was the comical abuse of a system that degraded the credibility of the league and placed it as no more as a training ground for super league clubs for fringe players, essentially pushing it towards the feeder club system in existence in Oz.

But it's all gone for now (hopefully). No one is begrudging your village's success. See you next season.

Personally I have no issue with historic Fev actions on how to maintain a compettitive side.
It's ourselves,Widnes ,Bradford and London that need to answer how we've let our standards slip so alarmingly to the point that we are now virtually in the third tier of rugby league.

....but I didn't say owt about pre DR did i? Fev have been used, albeit willingly, by Leeds as a feeder team even down to your coach being sat on the bench at Headingley proudly displaying his Rhinos badge. That not only belittles your club but brings the game as a whole into disrepute, doesn't it? As has been said though that is history, although the one week loan malarkey is an extension of the taking, let's hope we get back to some sort of normality next season.

In this thread the comment was entirely aimed at the success. If it had just been a general critical comment about DR most Fev fans would agree with it.
Fair play for the splendid passive aggressive ending though.

Sure. If DR is gone for good, great. But that's not what was being discussed.