Nothing to be ashamed of at all, and with more time to gel your many new players I'm sure you'll improve even more. I see you as a definite contender for the Top 4 on today's showing

As for us, well, it was workmanlike rather than spectacular. Some promising moments, but a few dumb moments as well - doesn't seem we learned much from last year in that regard.

Like everyone else, I've got to comment on Lauaki. So much for him being in the T&A going on about how he's much fitter after a pre-season - didn't see much evidence today! By my reckoning it was 11 minutes - punctuated by half time! Simply not good enough. With Kavanagh crocked after 10 minutes it simply isn't acceptable to have a bench prop that does so little. By the ned of the game Sidlow and Walker could barely get back into the line they were so tired!

What the hell Lowes sees in Lauaki I don't know...

You have to hope that when Crossley, Clark and Clough are all fit Lauaki won't get a look in. Might have to put up with him a bit longer if Kavanagh is now injured.

I was pleased with the performance. Reminded me a lot of the home game against Whitehaven last season. Conditions really not suitable for free flowing attacking rugby. Featherstone look to be a much better side than last year and were definitely up for the game so to get the 2 points and look in control for most of the match was a good way to start the season.

Welham impressed me a lot. I think he looks a much better player than Nielsen did. Defensively solid and offers a lot in attack too. Much better than the players we used in that position earlier last year aswell such as Henry.

I liked the look of all the other signings and think Mathers will prove to be very useful once he is up to speed fitness wise.

We've retained all the best/dependable players from last year and added better players to replace the ones we let go.

We looked very solid defensively and scored some nice trys.

Lots of reasons to be positive. We lost our first game last year and also lost to Fev at home so already a 100% improvement.

Also well done Batley!

Chris Ulugia with two tries and the break to set Ainscough up for the winning try.
I'm telling you, we let that guy go too early!!

This game proves to me that the T&A report a load of crap, Lauaki on for a total of 15mins. even less than last season and he is supposed to be even fitter. (crap) If Jimmy persists in only playing him for 15 mins then it will take a tole on other players later in the season, maybe we should ask Jimmy to explain his thought proses!

Also No big screen, No music for each player when the team is read out, No Bulllets!!!

Think those bagging Lauaki are missing the point. Its Lowes who chooses to only play him 11 minutes. Matty Blythe only played 15 before being subbed again. I'm not defending Lauaki as he's way down the pecking order in terms of quality props, but he played some decent minutes in the friendlies so Lowes could leave him out longer but isn't. Its Lowes use of the bench I have a bigger issue with.

Any news on Ben Kavanagh?

this. Mathers had made the tackle that lead to the kick, covering for Welham and Caro who were no where to be seen. If anyone was at fault for the try it was Ferguson who was caught ball watching and should have collected the kick.

I wasnt impressed with mMathers signing but he did little if anything wrong today. It was to be expected that he wouldn't be upto speed fitness wise as hes had no pre-season. The match fitness will come with time. I'd hope that Thomas will get a chance in at least one of the next two games while Mathers works on his fitness ready for Leigh game.

Lauaki didn't do much wrong whilst on the pitch it was just the short duration that was a big issue, especially when we were already a prop down due to Kavanagh's injury. If thats all he can manage then we need to have 3 props on the bench to accomodate him. Far from convinced what he adds on the pitch warrants that. Once Clough and Kavanagh are fit Lauakis going to have a real struggle on his hands retaining the fourth prop spot as Walker already offers more and would imagine Clark will too.

You recall correctly. He made a good tackle but unfortunately Fev exploited the lack of FB as he was trying to get back into position.

Hopefully Lowes intends to give Oscar Thomas plenty of opportunities to prove he is a capable pair of hands at FB. We've also got Campbell to come back into contention so players will have to be on their toes.

I thought both teams played well given the conditions. Far less errors than I expected .Fev look a well drilled side - some nice moves which will lead to points against many teams. I was impressed with our defence, Fev's second try excepted.
The new players did not disappoint.Mathers was sound in defence and organising others. Welham will prove to be one of the best centres in the Championship- his partnership with Caro looks promising. Kavanagh looked very steady before his injury- hope it's not as serious as it appeared. And Haggerty and Walker were more than adequate
As regards the use of subs, I do agree with the criticism of Luauki. With Kavanagh's injury we were already reduced to 16 and Luauki's ridiculously short spell effectively made that 15.5. Which placed a big burden on Sidlow ( who was superb) and to some extent Walker.
Five minutes into the second half Fev forced a goal line drop out. I watched Luauki walk to the goal line and lean against the post with his back to the opposition. At first I thought he'd been injured but then I saw him trot off and be subbed- never to be seen again. He is simply not fit.I would have much preferred to see Mellor on the bench. Of those forwards in the full squad who are not injured surely Fleming and Walshaw could have made a better fist of it.

A steady if un-spectacular performance yesterday. Most disappointing thing for me was the metres made by the Fev forwards after the initial collision.

I thought that too. Our line speed was slow and their big lads dominated ours (apart from Sidlow). We were lucky they didn’t seem to have a pacey dummy half. Somebody like Mickey Higham would make mincemeat out of that kind of defending.

While Sidlow was immense I wasn’t so sure about our other props. It’d be harsh to judge Kavanagh given his injury but Lauaki wasn’t on for long enough (down to Lowes or down to Lauaki’s lack of fitness?) so a lot fell onto Walker who offloaded well a couple of times but seems to run a bit too laterally and was outsized by the Fev pack.

In the backrow we were outmuscled a bit at times. Olbison got absolutely mullered on a few occasions and we often got picked up and carried back to where we started. Bringing Ferguson on helped us sort that out a bit thankfully.

I know the modern technique is to stop the offload but a few times we could’ve done with a defender going lower to stop the momentum after the initial collision. We allowed a lot of offloads. Luckily we scrambled really well and defensively we looked solid on our line. Our backs were well on top even if our forwards weren’t.

With Kavanagh probably out for the Whitehaven game Lauaki surely has to do more minutes? How long is Crossley out for?

As a Fev fan, fair play to Bradford fans for their honest assessments of both sides on this thread. Am sure you'll travel in numbers for the return fixture like last year, and hopefully it will be a closer game this year!

Pretty much spot on Bullseye. Losing Kavanagh was a big blow as he's impressed me in the friendlies. Walker certainly put himself about more and made more of an impact than Lauaki or Crossley ever did last year. Probably ended up doing more minutes than he should. I'm not too alarmed about us losing the forward battle as we effectively played with 15 men yesterday and had two props. Throw Clough, Clark and Kavanagh back into the mix and we're a different animal. I'd like to see us use Clough, Sidlow, Walker, Clark, and Kavanagh all in the same game with one going in at loose. If Clough and Sidlow end up doing 65+ minutes again when everyone is fit then Lowes will have learnt nothing and we'll suffer same fate as last year.

I thought our backs were excellent, particularly defensively.

I thought Mathers had a great game, he was constantly talking to the line, letting people know where to go. Exactly what he said he would do in his interview which was refreshing. Some good try savers too. I would sooner see a defensive fullback, look what happened last year when we had an attacking one (Shaw) couldn't tackle a meat pie and it cost us a fair few tries.

Welham was outstanding in defence, he held off well when he needed too and read the game well. In my opinion one of the signings of the year, just needs to hold the ball more. Kavanagh is a very good prop, shame to see him injured. Hope he's back soonish. Lauaki is fitter, anyone at the Cas game saw he played pretty much a full half. Caro took his tries very well and his defensive work was also solid!

Nice to see everyone in at the end when Briggs punched Addy though, especially Walker. It is about time we had a bit of k**b in the pack, haven't had it since Elima.

Credit to Featherstone though. They came with a very very good side and their pack was good. I was impressed by the Number 17 (Ormanroyd i htink). Put himself about a bit. If they can keep that side fit I would say they could get into the top 4 regardless of the 4 fulltime teams. Good win to start the season.

Can't see Thomas playing much this season in all honesty. Mathers will more than likely need to get injured.

If Gaskell gets injured then Purtell goes to six, if Addy gets injured the Purtell will go to seven.

No disrespect to Cas, but it was their kids. If Lauaki couldn't impose himself on that game then he should just hang up his boots now.

10 minutes that breaks down as 5 minutes both sides of half time is not acceptable especially as we were down a prop. Hell, Mathers managed the full 80 and he's had no pre-season and hasn't played in 6 months. Lauaki is stealing money from the club.

It will be interesting to see if Jimmy keeps his word and uses the full squad available to him.
Hopefully Crossley is back for the weekend, but I'd like to see Fleming, Walshaw and Mellor all get some game time as well. Maybe even have one of Halafihi/Lumb as a bench hooker so that we can spell O'Brien if we manage to get some breathing space between us and Whitehaven.

Think the Whitehaven game will be tough. It will be bitterly cold on Saturday night and i will just be happy getting the win and our of there.

The week after agains Swinton I'd like to see some rotation before our big game against Leigh.

Don't know what to think about Whitehaven - I think they got mullered yesterday, for whatever reason, so they're not actually going well. I agree though, the long trip to places like Whitehaven, always feel very daunting.

I saw

Lauaki only playing 10 mins either side of half time, just like last year.

O’Brien playing the whole game without a rest, just like last year.

The forwards of a part time team boss the middle of the field with more aggression and enthusiasm than us, just like last year.

Far too much ball given away early in the tackle count trying to score from every set of six in their half, just like last year.

Sidlow was head and shoulders above everyone else yesterday - Welham was defensively sound but his ball carrying was suspicious at times. We got completely bullied in the forwards but came out with a good win in terrible conditions. Our back line was terrific. I felt that Gaskell had a quiet game by his standards, though he scored one and created another, some of his touches were wayward.

Well done lads. Good start!

Haven't seen much mention of this, but I thought Kurt Haggerty played very well.

He ran the ball in hard, tackled well and took no nonsense when there was a bit of niggle. He also (I think) did the full 80 minutes when all the other second rowers did spells.

Good signing

I have to admit that I was disappointed with his signing because I had him down as a filthy c**t - but hey, he has done well thus far so opinions can easily change.

Just seen mathers tackle again on the highlights.....saved a certain try which would have put us 12 behind.
Sidlow was awesome.
Our use of the bench wasn't.

Just seen a video on Twitter of him putting Chase into the middle of next week. Two tries and set one up. Not a bad debut. TBF I think our backline is pretty strong, would have been nice to keep him to develop but I don't think he would have displaced any of the ones who played on Sunday. Seeing him though, bit annoying he didn't get more of an opportunity last year. But that's was the story for us last year. Anyway, him playing for Batley Sunday benefited us more than him just being on our bench