Dovster

Some potentially good games this week. Cornwall by 4 Hunslet by 8 Cougars by 40 Crusaders by 8

It is good that Newcastle came back from the dead and I wish them well. Always found their fans to be friendly. I would probably expect some changes to our team. Its hard to keep everyone happy when they're not getting much game time as well as resting one or two who might be carrying knocks. We will need these players at some time due to injuries/poor form etc, so it is important for them to be ready to play. On the flip side, we did start the game slowly last week after missing the previous week with a bye. Unfortunately I don't think that I will be making the trip on Sunday, which is a disappointment. Does anyone know if there is any commentory on the radio?

Keighley Cougars retired the no6 shirt from 2016 in honour of Danny Jones. Something that is unanimously supported by the fans.

I think the squad seems to building nicely. Always hoped we would add some strength to our depth as the season progressed. Foster does have a good track record on signings in my view.

I agree we are not sharp enough on our right side attack. I've been putting this down to Thomas not being as clinical as Miller. Something I would think Foster will be working on. On the other hand our defense was outstanding. Crusaders had a lot of ball on our line for little reward. Regarding the crowd I did think the stand looked quite full yesterday which I thought must have accounted for the 1k attendance.

We definitely wasn't at our best today but some credit must go to the Crusaders for that. They made us work hard for the win especially in the first half and never gave up. I thought Bishop was outstanding today and deserved the POM. Although Walkley must have run him close and just seems to get better each week. Overall its another win and keeps us moving forward, still plenty to work on though.

OK I'll KO this week. Cougars by 20 Hunslet by 10 Oldham by 70 Hornets by 50 expecting a couple of big scores this week.

Oldham by 26 Crusaders by 30 Town by 4

What a great win/performance. Didn't see that scoreline coming. I thought we would win but only just. After a shaky start we really did play well.

Cougars by 6 Town by 14 Crusaders by 10 Oldham by 18

Looking forward to this one. Wish we were playing in the afternoon rather the evening though. Always a tough game at the South Leeds and with the added spice of many former players. Should be a close one. Hunslet had a good win last week and I would expect their confidence to be high, which could make it even trickier. However, so far this season our forwards have been immense and hopefully will be again. If we can match their desire, we should just about win.

I agree. We did play well and the result was never really in doubt. However this was far from a full strength Workington team, so difficult to judge our performance. Although we have scored over 100 points in two games, I also think our attack is still not quite firing. When we do get it right we are capeable of scoring some great trys. Our discipline wasn't good at times and needs to improve. Dan Parker was my MOM yesterday. Thought he had a brilliant game. Looking forward to the Hunslet game who also had a good win yesterday.

Crusaders by 8 Cougars by 10 Hurricanes by 8 Hornets by 6 Potentially some close games this week.

I am expecting much more of a test this week. As you say it's rare for it to be an easy game against Workington. Last week after a good start our performance then slipped. We can't afford that to happen this week. Overall i'm pleased with where we are but I don't think we are anywhere near our potential yet. I think so far this season we have shown that we can play well in all conditions, however hopefully the sun will shine.

I agree that yesterday we did seem to play well within what we are capeable of. Although overall we did more than enough. Some credit to Cornwall who never gave up and played some nice rugby at times. Our strength in depth does worry me and might be a problem as the season progresses. We will definitely have to improve for next week. I did think that Bishop looked promising. Overall I will give it a 7/10 performance.

Hunslet by 40 Cougars by 30 Hornets by 16 Oldham by 8

It does look as though this is the last season for automatic promotion. To be replaced by a middle eights play off competition. Presumably bottom four championship and top four League 1. Personally I'm not a fan. I think you should be rewarded for a successful season and penalised for a bad one. Each club would set their budget to which league they're playing in and shouldn't be asked to play teams from the league above to gain promotion. Only my opinion.

Given the restructuring plans, I can see those clubs that are able investing more to try and gain top spot. It is going to be more difficult than ever to gain promotion from the play offs.

My only ctitism is the 12th placed Championship team should be included into the League 1 play off competition at the expense of the 6th placed League 1 team. IMO this would make the final fairer. However at least we all know the rules before we start the season.

I agree 100%. I also cover the bottom right hand corner of the screen. TBF I dont miss the commentary.

A pretty comprehensive assessment. I have enjoyed the cup games. It's been a great test for our players and given them an opportunity to play competitively together so we can "hit the ground running" in the league. With respect to the lower ranked teams in our league, I do feel the standard drops quite significantly towards the bottom and this makes the games between the top sides even more important as I can't see too many "shock" results. To help with injuries / suspensions, Foster will have to be smart by giving game time to the younger players when he can and resting the more senior players for the bigger games. I would expect us to target certain matches. What will be interesting is to see is how teams develop as the season progresses - which teams have held some money back to strengthen where needed and which teams are duel reg (not a fan). All in all really looking forward to this season. Its great to get back to watching the rugby and forgetting about all the politics of the game for a while. I think the bookies have it about right, however on our day and with a fair wind, you just never know.

I thought we played very poorly at times today and this was fully exploited by a decent Fev side. With some 1st teamers missing it was a great opportunity for the fringe players to show what they could do. Unfortunately our strength in depth is not good enough for this level. Fortunately we won't be playing Fev again this season Thought Ioane was immense today and we had a few other good performances including Graham. However for the most part there was a big difference in standard. Hopefully we learned some lessons today and use this experience to improve. Bring on Cornwall.

I'm not sure how this years Fev team compares to last seasons but I agree That we are definitely second favourites. I think we showed last week that we were not intimidated by higher league opposition and for large parts competed well. Hopefully this week will be similar. We are still work in progress as most teams are at this stage and it appears our strength in depth will be tested this week. It should be a great opportunity for some players who have not started the season as first choice. We just need to build on last weeks performance and hopefully these games we have played against Championship opposition will put us in good stead for the league season ahead.

Although we lost, I was very happy with the overall performance and the team (and coaches) deserve a lot of credit for their efforts. I suppose the only question marks are surrounding our bench. We were second best when our forwards were interchanged. I'm not sure whether this was that the bulls improved when they made their interchanges or we dropped. Great crowd which should have helped the clubs finances. I have to credit the bulls fans, they do travel in numbers and help to create a good atmosphere. So overall very pleased.

Agreed. I am a little suprised that there has been no comms from the club regarding DFJ.