Its no secret as to how we generate money, dont forget its our ground as are all the bars and food outlets. Just to give you an example our clubhouse on its own took 13k at the cas game and the Blue lagoon £1500. There are another 3 bars plus loads of food outlets, the Rovers board are fantastic at the moment

That depends on what you call entertaining and whatever floats your boat, i watched that on the telly at home with my dad and we both loved it, blood and snot game

a hard fought game.

Fev were miles better on the night and for some reason seemed to want it more!

We made way too many errors and due to that our attack never really got the chance to flow.

i thought when it was 4-18 and Thacks kicked through (poor kick) for them to go to half way (and then score) we were for the 1st time in the game getting on top, we had a roll on, thiangs such as this swing games. RL is all about momentum, and we had 2 mins/80.

i am not loosing faith just yet!

Bring on Sheffield!

As a coach, Harrison is great at getting a side organised, fit, and playing to a rigid structure. However, he's no plan B whatsoever. When a game is drifting away, he hasn't got the ability to wrestle things back with a change in tactics and gameplan. He proved this last season with Batley and during his time at Salford. In terms of Paul Handforth, I've got to say he was great for us and nobody can argue with that. However, EVERYTHING we did on attack went through him, so he was bound to get a huge proportion of the limelight. He doesn't seem to be responding well to playing a slightly higher profile environment, similar to how he didn't fare well at Featherstone. At Batley, we'd been starved of decent halfbacks until his arrival. Therefore he was given a lofty pedestal, and mistakes were forgiven and balanced out with positives.

Even the commentators said it was a dour game. Both sides kept dropping the ball and Fax played one man rugby. One man rugby is boring. I said similar last week when we won. The wingers rarely get the ball unless from kicks or scoots. The intensity was not there between the sides as Fev was way better in all departments.

Couldn't make it to the game last night but i'm glad we have got through a tricky tie. I've always said that if Fax get on a roll you're unstoppable and bloody good to watch.It sounds like last night we had you wrapped up and that is a good effort from our team.
This wrestling nonsense is a smokescreen. Most of it takes place before the taclke is complete and is perfectly legal. If it slows the attack down then why not use it?
I know you've not been firing on all cylinders recently but you are still up there and the season certainly isn't over by a long way.

Spot on!

There is no problem with the ones before the tackle is complete, its the ones on the ground that wind up the fans. Fev held down from tackle one, it gave them time to get back into line and ready for coming back on the play of the ball. Fair play though, it was obviously a coached ploy and if the ref let's the team get away with it then its effective.

Part of the game Bob. It's a skill as you rightly say that, if coached well allows your line time to set.
Get it right and it effectively slows down the opposition.
All teams do it. Just that last night Fev did it better than Fax did! You could argue that given the amount of penalties conceded we didn't do it that well like but ya gets the drift.

Let's keep a sense of perspective on this. Featherstone were excellent and we were not on this occasion. It is disappointing but really not the end of the world.

Have we all forgotten how we played at POR when roles were reversed? Featherstone have reacted to their poor performance since then and we will do the same.

We started the season well - someone said somewhere better than expected in view of personnel changes - and I'd agree with that. However, we are playing average at the moment, which is still good enough to deal with a lot of teams. Featherstone were on top of their game tonight. Remember, it is how you end the season that counts.

Have faith in Karl.

I think you are spot on ! But to be fair I think KH went a bit far in his comments but I spose he is passionate bout fax and its easy to get carried away.

Can anyone post what he said, for those of us who don't have PS.

Basically it was the effect of shoving a mic under the nose of a frustrated an angry coach right after the hooter before he'd had time to calm, make more considered assessments and informed comment.
What you got was a gut knee jerk reaction, nowt more.
Karl complained of the use of wrestling in the tackle/holding down etc. He got outcoached last night and his frustrations boiled over. He sounded daft but it's not the fall of Rome.

Didn't watch the game - Virgin Media - but Fev have played the same way every time I have seen them with Powell in charge. They are prepared to give away penalties to slow the game down when defending, and hit the deck quickly to get a QPTB when attacking. Class at 6/7/9 then takes over.
Guess what ........... it works ....... because 1) the refs are poor and allow it 2) they are well coached in how to do it.
Praying for a Lancashire SL ref for next Thursday.

Last nights loss is by no means the end of the world!

Championship teams pick themselves up and focus on the next game. Which happens to be a semi final!!!

After next Friday we will see where our season is heading. I dont think that Rhino will have to say too much to the lads to fire them up for Friday!

What do we need to do in the halfbacks then? I don't think neither player is bad but for some reason they just really aren't clicking at the moment and we really do need something new.

What's all this whining & whinging about wrestling & slowing us down, our speccies were at it at Dewsbury last week as well. If a ref isn't penalising for it why aren't our players smart, determined, aggressive or strong enough to do it ? Get some reality into it all, Fev lost twice cos they conceded 60 points shortly after playing SL opposition in the cup.
We haven't played well for weeks now, i disagree with some positional selections by our coaching team in recent games, I'm not carried away with the half backs and I hate losing when we haven't competed, I hated it as a player and as a coach and those are the times when you can do something about it but as a speccie who pays money to support a team I expect more fire.
If i was constantly getting knocked around & wrestled I'd do something about it, anything, just to put them off their game. Sometimes, a game is short of a good old punch up & i reckon that might have been the thing to do last night, you've gotta try everything & anything, you've gotta be desperate to win. To only be able to score four points in a home game is disgraceful and I for one am not enjoying watching Halifax play this season. I refused to travel to the Keighley away game on the back of us handing the game to Batley the previous week.
We just aren't good enough.

Worth mentioning that the 60-40 defeat to Sheffield was the week [ibefore[/i Fev beat Cas in the cup.

Yeah, absolutely worth pointing out my slight error Matt. My point remains the same about the distractions of the task in front, the phrase "take one game at a time". This division is very tight & competetive and mostly unpredictable, i think Fev were +2 or scratch prior to the game last night.

MM. I agree with a lot of what you have mentioned and much of the same can be seen in and amongst my own posts.

The only thing I do not agree with and please don't think I am being critical or having a go,it's just my own view is the reference to having a good old punch up.

Not that I am averse to it as my own playing career shows that if it came down to that I was in with the first of them and had more sendings off for that than any of my team mates.

However in the context of last nights game there was no reason to start a fight, no real nasty fowl play, yes a couple of high shots by the odd player from both sides that happen in every game.

That being the case it would mean that a punch was deliberately being started for no justifiable reason simply because that was the only way we may have got a better result.

To be honest mate if that's what it takes then we don't deserve to win games or even be on the field.

There is a valid argument that we should have matched Fev's fair aggression,comittment and desire to win, meet fire with fire no problem.
There is not and can never be a valid argument to say teams should have a punch up routine in their game plan.

If every side did this, which to meet fire with fire they would have to do what would happen to the game both on and off the field in a very short time???

On a more positive note there is a saying that you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear and another that says you can only play the cards your dealt with.

At Halifax there are some good quality indvidual players, on paper at least as good as anything the opposition has.

Of course "on paper" means nothing but the point I am trying to make is KH has not got a sows ear or a bad hand of cards to work with.
In time with a few comings and goings to see who fits in and who doesn't for the TEAM and not as individuals things will really start to happen on the field.
That is his job and he will be judged as a coach on his abilty to do this and get the results, I think he's up for it big time.

Finally,taking the emotion of 1 game out of it with all the changes that have happened before the season started I think we are at least as advanced as we thought we would be and probably a bit further, the rest of the season will reveal all.

Was only mentioning it!

Your point is still valid to a certain extent anyway as, by chance, I happened to attend the Fev-Sheffield game and there was no doubt at all they had one eye on the Cas game.

I would say that Fev are the kings of the ruck, which is why their line speed is so quick and the opposition struggle so much to get off their own line. I would also add that Fev were uncharacteristically wasteful at times in front of the line last night, though their second try pretty much summed them up, absorbing a few minutes of 'Fax pressure and then jumping straight upfield and scoring.

Good post, when Karl came he said building a team was a three year job , it`s all right posters saying why did we get rid of Brannigan or the other Aussies ? Its simple our club can`t afford them , with Karl came a new era for our club , we pay what we can afford and they are on record as saying they slashed the playing budget by picking mainly local lads .We are in transition ,whereas Daryl Powell has had several years at Fev to get his team sorted .

Looking at some of these posts you would think that you were a poor team Halifax as a team have some very very quality players for this league Last night wasn't your evening just like ours wasn't when you hammered us Although Karl's comments weren't very nice towards a team that out played his i still think he will do well with you and has every chance of winning silverware this year You are still at the top end of the league in the semi final of a cup and if you do win it and get to Blackpool last nights match will be gone the players will be great again and all will be ok.

Good luck next week

I have always said that I didnt expect us to win anything this year as its a rebuilding one. But its the little things that for me is not right. I try to look at more than just one game because its easy to have an off day. What concerns me are a couple of things like:

DEFENCE-Against Dewsbury, Fev etc we had no linespeed or aggression or enthuiasm. Both Dewsbury and Fev showed far more of that than our players did. Why? Why did we not slow down Fev and Dewsbury like they did to us?

TACTICS-Why are we playing one man Rugby and our halfbacks not getting involved and getting the backs the ball? Worrincy, White look low on confidence because they are giving no ball. They do nothing wrong but in comes Reittie who is slow as and for me has done nothing to earn a place over White for example last night. The centres also look lost when the ball does get to them. The backs are just rarely being used and in the right way. The way Fax are playing is boring and predictable and we are no closer to ending Fevs dominance than under Calland.

MOANING-Karl is moaning about the slow PTB. But thats part of the game and teams know Fax want the quick PTB as we have little else to offer in attack. I would rather Karl say nothing and work on with his team on having an option where we are not reliant on quick PTB. Many of our faults are of our own making. Problems with the Halfbacks, lack of use with the Backs, one man Rugby, no enthuiasm in defence etc

Your right mate and there's more besides.
All we can do is give it time,I'm sure it will come good.

Just thinking and I haven't done a count but how many competative games discounting friendlies have we played with the current coaching and playing squad, not too many.

Also how many times have we been able to field the same team, there has been a lot of disruption right from the start of the season up untill now.

We are part time as well.

Sam, Mikali and Divo missed the start, Rob wasn't getting a game, Micky Nanyn got injured in training before the real season started. Morro played about twice, then Ben Heaton and Steve Tyrer followed soon after, now Divo and Ben again etc etc.

All these injuries affecting so many players, and a couple of suspensions thrown in will have a significant bearing.

No wonder there is a rapour and understanding problem between the players sometimes when so many inviduals keep coming in and out of the side I think it is a factor affecting both the attack and defence at the moment and why things look so disjointed at times.

Same for all clubs I know but it's even harder when a new side is being rebuilt like Fax who are still in their infancy currently speaking.

Anyway iv'ed convinced myself and feel much better, in view of the above "Well played Fax" you did well to even score 4 points last night



We'll still be there anyway mate, there's nowhere else to go or would want to go, so heads up