One word.

Dominant.

Great result.
I honestly believe that this team will get better still over the second half of the season.
Well done everyone at the club.

We were physically dominant across the park, and I don’t think there’s anything Featherstone can do about that. We wore them down and you could see how tired they were in the second half.

Fix a few discipline issues and I think we win even more easily.

Also want to say how proud I am of the noise our fans made today. The travelling Leythers were magnificent

Second half, yes. Pleased for everyone and especially Ipape & Beaumont (the latter of which noticeably took very much a back seat today).

National Anthem was embarassing! After that the day improved.

Did you manage to get a stream, Vanners?

Can we keep Ipappe??

I think we dominated yardage and territory in the first half, tiring Featherstone and reaped the rewards second half.

Big 2nd half display today. Becoming a bit of a recurring theme. Discipline still needs some work, put us under pressure in the first half, but once sorted we were dominant.
Am beginning to think that Ipape is unplayable when he is in the mood and would like to see us tie him down for next year. Still think Fev have more to give. They made lots of mistakes particularly second half which allowed us to build pressure, but in the round those evened out over the course of the game.
Am very optimistic for the rest of the season. We ultimately looked fairly comfortable and our defence was absolutely top notch again.
COYL

I found a very choppy feed that was so frustrating I gave up and listened to a stream of the radio commentary.
2-3 SL games per week and 4 NRL game per week are live here, but the two games today were not on


Ah well, such is life and we won, so today was a good day


The moment I heard Ipape announced I knew we had a game changer. He has not disappointed.
The combination of Ferguson and Aekins is also going to haunt many teams from here in.
Well done to everyone at the club and chuffed for Derek.
Up The Comics

The juggernaut Leigh pack outplayed Fev in every department and perfectly executed the game plan with a strong desire and tough physicality.

Much credit due to Derek for enabling such a strong squad and coaching staff.

With retention we have the start of a sustainable Superleague squad.

What was wrong with the National Anthem?

My few pennies worth:

Asiata wasn't his usual reliable rock, had quite a few handling errors, but again much like Inu last week, hopefully that's his one bad game out of the way.

Nene still looks a bit lazy in defence if people come on his inside but nothing will beat him otherwise.

While the ref can make questionable calls about height of tackles, lying on etc, you adapt to it, there is no excuse for giving up yards for dissent and something that needs to be cut out.

Otherwise the first half was two teams, nervous, feeling each other out, I'd give Fev a bit more credit for the first half. In the second we just we up through the gears and that purple 20 minutes or so was enough for the game.

McDermott now knows he either needs extra bigger, stronger props or he's going to have to get them on some major cardio training for the rest of the season.

Hall needs no more extra praise and I was nervous every time Kheirallah got the ball, its just a shame he made an error at the end because I don't think that ball was ever going to get across the line.

It is hard not to be confident after that performance but best not to get cocky and this is where I think having Lam and Chester comes into its own.

Nothing wrong with it for me, it was a pleasant change
to hear a woman end with “Queen” rather than screech of Qwiyn”.

Having now seen the BBC coverage of the game, I really do think that we now hold the stronger cards going into the second half of the season. Some opinions on the game and some player, but I want to say that the whole team stepped up to win that game.
Ben Reynolds - I have been a defender of him in the past and he always works his off, but I have also said that I wonder if he lacks the off the cuff factor that the best halfbacks have, and that he should take the line on more. There have been questions also on his positional kicking and his ability to step up in the big games. Well Saturday showed that he is the man for the job, with a brilliantly controlled display in attack and defence. Together with Mellor, he is one of, if not the best defensive half’s in the game and they are now balancing the duties very well. His kick for Inu’s first try was pin-point, his try was a fantastic show and go, with a change of speed that surprised the defence. Overall this was his best game so far.
Krishna Inu - A must have in the big games. He looks fit, fast, strong and very focused right now. He had his kicking boots on and his try was a thing of beauty. His desire to take the ball into contact, and the effort needed to stop him also stood out.
Adam Sidlow - leads from the front and long minutes in the game. A vital part of a very dominant pack. His last ditch diving tackle when Fev were at do or die time and had broken our line, secured us the win. He does need to control his emotions at times, but it is that emotion that also stands out in his desire and work rate.
Kai O’Donnell - I said when we announced him that he would be a strong addition to our pack, and he is now really showing his worth. He runs hard, tackles harder, and is always looking to back up the runner. He is another who works non-stop and will never back down.
Edwin Ipape - our game breaker and in my opinion the best hooker in the Championship. His engine is endless. He also has a great eye for a gap and the best change of pace and side step to get through it. When you watch him run he also has a massive stride for his height, and great upper body strength, that make him hard to tackle. Add to that his power in the tackle and his willingness to sprint in and make sure tackled players go to ground, then bounce up and be back in the line for the next runner. He has it all for a #9.
General points.
Our pack is the best in the league and we still have Green to come. It’s a long time since we had a pack that made so many meters and defended so well.
Our back line is huge, but fit, fast and mobile. Ferguson, Inu and MacDonald take some putting down and set a great foundation to start our sets. Aekins is also a beauty and a constant threat. His ball to Ferguson was fantastic and he comes up with those passes time and time again.
Adrian Lam knows his players, knows how to win games, and the team obviously enjoys playing for him. It is also obvious that Chris Chester rightly has Lam’s respect and an influence in how the team plays.
Overall, a long way to go and no chickens being counted, but I believe we have the measure of Fev in every area of the game right now but it is fine margins. Squad rotation will be key from here onwards and we now have the squad to do just that, and the coach to manage it.
More to come from Fev when Ford settles in, but more to come from us also I believe.
Well done to Derek for making this possible but we now need to push on, fix the small areas that showed occasionally today (discipline can still be improved and the odd gap appeared in the middle in the second half but mostly from broken play) and keep fine tuning.
Happy Leyther here

Totally agreed VL. I have just said a lot of the same things on the Ben Reynolds thread.

The only exception for me is your view of Ford. I simply do not rate the player. I am more then happy that Fev have signed him. For a big man he shirks the physicality required in a game. His defense is poor which is surprising given his size.

In attack he generally just ships the ball out, and sometimes he appears to do it to avoid being hit and tackled with the ball. The other thing as well, is that he did not cut it in Australia and has spent most of his career playing in France at sub-championship level where perhaps defensive weaknesses such as his are not so ruthlessly exploited. I simply do not think that he has the game to kill us in the games that count.

Ford is not the answer to Fev's prayers. I was quite happy to see them sign him. My view is that, if his signing is the height of their ambition, then we are going to finish above them this season. I don't think that he actually adds to what they already had in that position. Bad signing on their part.

The main embarrassing pathetic singing was from our own fans.Instead of behaving like sheep i wish our fans would turn on the instigators and kick em out

Do you think we would have beat Huddersfield ?.The winning difference was the pace the pies have which will always keep them in a game and proved decisive in the end

The main game had some terrible kicking and poor attacking play. wingers seem happy to fling the ball inside or kick it instead of going for the corner

No

No, for me as well, even with my cherry and white flat cap on. From what i saw of Huddersfield at first hand on Saturday i was quite impressed by the way that they played. They looked like a good rugby team moving the ball nicely through their half backs and at pace and, i have to be honest, are some way better then Leigh - for the moment. The pace of the main game was some way quicker than ours. But, as we all know on this site, Leigh are a work in progress and are getting slowly better.

Will we be as good as the likes of Huddersfield by the end of this season - no, we will not but, the gap will have closed more of that i am certain.

Anyway, let's not get ahead of ourselves. We are at present a championship side and we just have to be the best in our division come the final game of this season. The likes of Huddersfield can wait.

As Bongser was not there SM, please elaborate.

From the below article, Mac seems more concerned than Lam: https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/fe ... -14-teams/

From the below article, Mac seems more concerned than Lam: https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/fe ... -14-teams/

Agreed 100% on Ford.
He will improve them a little in the organizational areas on the field, but I would not take him over Ben or Joe, (or our various options for cover in the squad for that matter as they are all very capable and flexible). I was and still am, very happy we did not sign him. He will improve them in my opinion but we have so much improvement to come, that his factor is limited.
I also agree with what you say on the Ben thread about the Fev side looking older and less energetic. I noted that Ferres and Lockwood were really struggling with the pace and power of our pack after a few minutes in.
Anything could still happen between now and then but I am quietly confident right now.

I think we have the future potential to beat Huddersfield but on Saturday, I don’t think we would. We didn’t play our best rugby at times, and Hudds would have made a couple of our mistakes/pens count. They would also have not have run out of steam like Fev did.

Quote ="Bent&Bongser"From the below article, Mac seems more concerned than Lam: https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/fe ... -14-teams/'" It's hard to disagree with both coaches here. What good will making the Elite competition smaller do? We have to realise that the player pool is dying because of the top clubs and it needs to be fixed. Why shouldn't Leigh and Featherstone go up when they have money to spend to improve the competition? Blocking Leigh from having an academy is an example- which sport blocks the 11th best English club from having an academy? The sport over here is shooting itself in the foot and I think going to two 10s will be shooting itself in the foot again. Derek and Mark are both ploughing money into their clubs and entertaining players are joining their clubs. How is this bad for the game over here and for Super League? I'll tell you why, because the top clubs look after themselves, it's been this way for years.

Quote ="Bent&Bongser"From the below article, Mac seems more concerned than Lam: https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/fe ... -14-teams/'" It's hard to disagree with both coaches here. What good will making the Elite competition smaller do? We have to realise that the player pool is dying because of the top clubs and it needs to be fixed. Why shouldn't Leigh and Featherstone go up when they have money to spend to improve the competition? Blocking Leigh from having an academy is an example- which sport blocks the 11th best English club from having an academy? The sport over here is shooting itself in the foot and I think going to two 10s will be shooting itself in the foot again. Derek and Mark are both ploughing money into their clubs and entertaining players are joining their clubs. How is this bad for the game over here and for Super League? I'll tell you why, because the top clubs look after themselves, it's been this way for years.

May be so.I think the pace of the game in the first half was good we moved up real quick and bashed em which is one reason they ran out of steam late on. we did make a couple of mistakes when hall scored and wildie knocked on.I think we would have pressurised hudds and who knows
We still need some competition at half back which would improve us. lets hope everyone stays fit and we can rotate the team to maintain a peak