Challenge cup round 3 Halifax v Whitehaven : Wed Feb 07, 2024 4:22 pm  

Looking forward to our first home game this season in the cup. Whitehaven have some ex Fax players in their ranks and will be looking to spoil our homecoming. Whoever wins will face amateur opposition in the next round so plenty to play for both sides. Selection wise i would like some more size on the bench Ben hursey maybe or if Calcott is fit that would help. Score wise i will go for 36-12 to the Panthers.

Re: Challenge cup round 3 Halifax v Whitehaven : Wed Feb 07, 2024 4:58 pm  

This is a must win game, don't care if we do it by a point or by 40, Haven are never an easy side to beat and will likely have a decent sized pack, And we know what danger Maizen can be.

Re: Challenge cup round 3 Halifax v Whitehaven : Wed Feb 07, 2024 5:29 pm  

Agreed with it being a must win. It's a game that actually means something and would hopefully lead to a win against the amateurs and a path through to a game against a SL side which would at least create some interest and keep our season alive. What a thing to say at this stage of the season, but that's what IMG have brought to the game and what our club have voted for. 28 v 10 to Fax!

Re: Challenge cup round 3 Halifax v Whitehaven : Sat Feb 10, 2024 12:51 pm  

Hope the apathy about tomorrows game doesn't translate into a poor crowd. Obviously the Oldham result was disappointing but you'd hope that the first home game of the season, including in all probability the home debut of Widdop will help boost support tomorrow. No idea if Calcott is fit, if he is sure he'll start Haven't seen a game yet this year so unfair of me to judge, but from the bits I've seen would like Olly Davies and Salty in - would think Widdop likely to start on the bench again. As for Whitehaven they look to have some decent players - disappointed that Maizen wasn't retained and that it didn't work out for King, sure both will look to have big games. Personally really looking forward to seeing Eden, who from the highlights looks as though he'll be great at this level.

Re: Challenge cup round 3 Halifax v Whitehaven : Sat Feb 10, 2024 1:00 pm  

I’m coming up from Colchester

Re: Challenge cup round 3 Halifax v Whitehaven : Sun Feb 11, 2024 1:43 pm  

Faxlore wrote:

I’m coming up from Colchester

I am coming up from Elland

Re: Challenge cup round 3 Halifax v Whitehaven : Sun Feb 11, 2024 7:35 pm  

First 20/25 minutes some of the best rugby I've seen from Fax for a while - then decent defence but very frustrating with ball in hand for next 35 minutes. Keyes looked back to his very best in that first 20 minutes but then faded - thought Crookes head and shoulders above anyone else on the field - definite MOM for me. Inman has some zip out of dummy half but some of his distribution is dire - the team look a LOT better with O'brien on rhe field. Eden maybe not as involved as much as I'd hoped but did some lovely stuff in attack - think him and Crookes will make an excellent combination. Widdop set up a good try brilliantly finished by Salty, but team looked better balanced with its original spine. Wasn't a fan of Davies but he worked his socks off hitting hard in defence and running really strongly, only slight reservation still is his lack of size. Plenty of cause for optimism throughout the team; particularly when you think of the quality of players not selected today.

Re: Challenge cup round 3 Halifax v Whitehaven : Sun Feb 11, 2024 10:12 pm  

Totally agree. Crooks MOM by a country mile a week after I wondered how he made the squad. O'Brien does everything just right. Eden showed his class , a top recruit and well done to the board. Sloppy for the middle sixty with the ball but defence strong through out. Calcott just gets better every game. Super kick from Widdop and a quality finish by Salty. Every forward put in a good stint too. Cut out some errors and we will have a team that can challenge the top three.

Re: Challenge cup round 3 Halifax v Whitehaven : Mon Feb 12, 2024 8:48 am  

Similar story to last week, set off at pace playing some great rugby, then seemed to lose our direction with less punch, when we changed our starting props and hooker. Was very difficult for Widdop to get into the game in the 2nd half due to the stop / start nature of it. I still expect that once he's fully fit that will be the back line up, other than JWH might move to centre in pace of Mcomb/Tibbs

Re: Challenge cup round 3 Halifax v Whitehaven : Mon Feb 12, 2024 12:09 pm  

Agree with pretty much everything above. We played well for 25 minutes or so overall, the rest was dire and drab. I'm surprised Inman is splitting game time with AOB but that might just be because its early season but like has been said above we are far better with AOB on the pitch. Crooks was the best player on the pitch and his partnership with Eden is going to be fun to watch this season, between them they will score a lot of tries and you can tell they both have that SL class about them. I had started to think that it may be time for a change away from Salty but with him back in the team you can see he is still a class above any other option that we have in that spot.

We are going to need a lot of luck with injuries if we are to make an impact this season but again we will be better once Douglas is back in and hopefully we can get a centre and a couple of good forwards from Leeds as the season goes on. If we do that we can get ourselves in to the play off mix again.