Yes, I can go down on Saturday and if we don't win i won't be sickened like
after most losses. It's not like it's the CC Final after all. Don't get me wrong, i really want to see Fax win but getting to Wembley, albeit by this route, is the big thing for our club at this time. There are bigger finals ahead to aim for. Because of this i am sure i'll be able to relax and take in the game. All this said i do think we will take the spoils by a couple of scores and can't wait for the weekend. Enjoy. Up The Fax!

Craig Lingard was asked about the possibility of Keyes playing which he acknowledged and linked his absence to the problems Fax had been having in that area, but what does he know.



Many of us apparently overrate Keyes anyway in spite of the fact he was both players player and supporters player of the year in 2022 with the top tackler of the year being Brandon Moore despite his apparent lack of sizeicon_exclaim.gif

Keyes has been/is a great player and one that Fax can rebuild the team around over the next few years. Moore has been fantastic for fax, but with Tom Inman here i don't know where that leaves Brandon. If he does stay the first thing I would do is take the captain's armband away from him. He's not been the same player since he became the leader and might just have a new lease of life without that responsibility.

Does being a captain really carry so much responsibility? Their "official" duty seems to be able to question a referee's decision, but as far as trying to motivate his teammates, any player can do a bit of clapping and shouting. It's not like being a cricket captain, for example, which actually involves making on-field tactical decisions.

Confirmed by the club.
The 2023 AB Sundecks 1895 Cup Final between Batley Bulldogs and Halifax Panthers will be shown live, exclusive and completely free on the Our League web and app. (As has been rumoured, the game WILL NOT be shown on BBC Iplayer.

Who on here overrates/underrates Keyes? I don't think anyone has even said that losing Keyes didn't disrupt the team but what people have said is that we were not playing great before he got injured, he himself was not in great form, and him coming back won't be a magic solve everything fix. If you want to twist that in to everyone says that Keyes is rubbish then feel free but people are going to disagree.

As for Moore like has been said he has been a great player for us but the last couple of seasons we have seen a drop off in his performance. I know you made a big deal about him making 50 tackles a game, any decent hooker given minutes on the pitch will do that, they are in the middle of the park and they are most of the time the most mobile forward so its not exactly rocket science that they are going to make at least 1 or 2 tackles per set. What has always let Moore down, and there have been a lot of posts on this, is his distribution and you can see a big difference when Inman and AOB are on the field. I also don't think Grix using him like a mule to have him on the pitch for those extra minutes in the back row has helped Moore at all and to me he looks a shadow of his former self and looks worn down.

Could probably add more to the Moore thing because of the Inman and AOB dilema that Grix must have not to mention Moore been the captain. Its pretty obvious to anyone that Fairbank is our leader so the Moore choice was a little strange but just because a player isn't the most vocal on the team does not mean he can't be a good captain. The great thing that Inman offers is that when he is on we can move the ball so quick but then you do lose a tackler in the middle of the field and I agree with faxcar in that when our middles have been soft we really can't afford a weak tackler on the field in the middle. Then you have AOB who is an 80 minute hooker and on a different level to either of the other two and you can see when he is not on the field the whole team performance drops.

Looking at the facts Joe’s ability and value to the team can’t be seriously questioned.

The concern is his history with injuries, several commentators all said they were surprised for the most part he avoided them last season.

Building a team around him when he’s the organiser and having a large part in your plays when he’s missing from the spine has a big impact as can be seen at every level when other teams halves are out but how can a part time team with no reserves keep 3 decent half backs happy and playing when there all fit?

It’s still an if whether O’Brien stays but if he does and is fit then that leaves both Brandon and Tom to fight it out and since Adam’s arrival Moore has upped his game.

The point I was making, if it’s Brandon who becomes third choice it won’t be because of either a weakness in goal line defence or anywhere else on the pitch, there are plenty of valid arguments for Tom without having to make one up.

I think Keyes is an excellent player, I've never slagged him off, but I do think his absence is being over exaggerated. We appeared to cope without him against fev, for example.

Sorry that was a very difficult read, so the point you were trying to make is probably lost in there somewhere. Am I right?I'm......(Sorry Tony)



Good news though both Keyes and Sutcliffe included so what we think? Does either or both play and who misses out? If keyes plays then one of Jouffret, JWH, Pickersgill, or Moore misses out. If Sutcliffe plays then you would think one of Larroyer or McComb misses out. We are looking pretty close to full strength for this game and the business end so Grix has some big decisions to make.

Edit: Im presuming that Dan Fleming will also miss out. His reduced playing time Sunday was a little suspicious.

I don't think either will play until next week but being around the group will be beneficial.

I


I felt that way in 2016/23 Gav,but it all changes when the game gets underway-particularly at 1-0 with 10 mins left...i'm primed to winning at Wembley now,so hope there's no disappointment come Saturday.

1 More sleep........Team selection has been made........

Spill..

Well there on the road to a good cheering send off.

Time to start moving into “Wembley Weekend” mode.



Have a great day out and safe journey everyone.

No idea what decisions have been made, players are sworn to secrecy.

It's going to be a cracking day, I can feel it in my bones.

Yes, I’m very much looking forward to tomorrow. We’ll be down at The Shay nice and early! I’m sure we’ll more than give a good account of ourselves and it would be great to bring the cup home with us. I’d drop out Fleming and put Larroyer to the bench with Fairbank into the starting 13. Obviously Zack will come on for Crooks.

Morning all! Well, what's people's thoughts about yesterday? Personally I thought we out Batleyed Batley. It wasn't pretty to watch but we did what i said we needed to do to win the game, make the least mistakes. It was a great try for the Bulldogs at the end but it would have been an injustice if that final kick had hit the mark. Thankfully it didn't. Up The Fax!

Yep i think that was my take, we did a Batley on them....and they nearly outfaxed us at the end

A very long day in many respects and really happy for the team as I feel it’s just rewards for the club as a whole . Like huddshay said it was more of a grind them down performance with not many clean breaks from either side , not too dissimilar to the London away game in the semi final . We controlled large parts of the games but Batley as they do never went away and scored some great tries . The last five minutes was ridiculous in terms of nerves but in the end the luck pendulum swung our way . Regardless of opinions and of what happens for the rest of the season I feel it’s been a successful spell for Grix , two third place finishes, a challenge cup semi final, the 1895 cup and nominated for coach of the year two consecutive years . It’s the first time I’ve been to Wembley and thought the arenas atmosphere when I first arrived was brilliant, not gonna lie I was disappointed with the food and drinks side both in quality and price. Overall a great day and hopefully we can string a few results together which is still a tough run in for the playoffs.

A great defensive performance, we rightfully closed shop when we got 2 scores ahead (learning from the mistakes of not doing so at Sheffield) and ironically Batley got back into it when Lannon tried to keep the ball alive in our own half.

Hats off to Batley, they certainly live up to their nickname Bulldogs and have a fair amount of quality, James Meadows in particular.

We could have been out of sight in the first half ...... Kav DEFINITELY grounded the ball, the ref was about to give it but the touchie appeared to shake his head.

Anyway, well done Fax, excellent effort and agree with Joufret being the MOM.

We won. That’s all that matters. Sore head

Firstly i hope anyone who was involved in the crash on the m1 is ok. As for the day it was one hell of a long one, it took me just short of 7 hours to get there which in the grand scheme of things is not important but i was starting to think i was going to miss the kick off only to find out the Leigh Hull kr game had gone to golden point luckily for me. And like as been said it was a similar performance to the semi win, strong defence from both sides and concentrating on high completion rates. When it got to about the hour mark i thought we was going to pull clear but we got a bit over excited, Lannons offload without looking woody kicking out on the full and Louis going for a short kick on the last when in our own half gave a Batley a way back in which they are too good to not take advantage of, There last try was a belter but thankfully for us Hooley missed the kick. It was a good advertisement for the championship and a great day to be a Panthers fan.

Panthers TV full match coverage. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fsLg0waNNL8

Panthers TV full match coverage. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fsLg0waNNL8