Eye on the Championship #3 – Calm vs Kamikaze

Welcome to the third Eye on the Championship blog! This weekend we saw something highly rare, the lowest ranking side in a play-off series making the final.

For the third week in a row, Featherstone dispatched of their higher-ranked, more-fancied opposition with relative ease. Toulouse had a great home record in the regular season, so on paper Featherstone's task seemed difficult, especially given they had two tough away games in the last two weeks.

Featherstone were once again brilliant, their start especially so. They played a calm and smart game. Watching on TV, it was apparent that the in-goal areas at the Stade Ernest Angeles were approaching the maximum permitted length.

Featherstone adopted their tactics accordingly. They knew that grubber kicks to the in goal did not require as high of a level of accuracy to be dangerous and scored two early tries through John Davies using this tactic.

Watching Toulouse play as a neutral is a joy, as most of the time it must be for a fan. But in games like this, it must be incredibly frustrating. You could select one of several incidences of kamikaze play.

One example was in the 38^th minute. Toulouse were trailing by 12 points and had a set on the Featherstone line courtesy of a penalty. They tried an all-or-nothing kick play on the second tackle. They were fortunate that the kick ricocheted back to them.

There was no attempt to build pressure. Toulouse simply tried to score on every play, ignoring the basics of the sport. At best it was naïve. At worst, it was disrespectful to the ability of their opposition.

As Toulouse imploded, Featherstone stood taller and taller. An eventual winning margin of 24 points was entirely reflective of their dominance.

And what of the Featherstone fans? Credit to those who travelled at such short notice and no doubt great expense. What an incredible commitment. They clearly enjoyed every minute. And so they should.

Whatever happens in the Million Pound Game on Saturday, what a season! At the start of pre-season, Featherstone had 9 players. Now they are one win from Super League. Fans have now started debating about whether Featherstone are ready and how they can prepare for a potential Super League berth.

If you haven’t seen it, this thread on Total Rugby League forums is worth a read.

The reality is they will probably not be prepared, because this could not have been foreseen. And in a strange way, that’s great. It’s why we love sport. What is unexpected at one point can become reality in a matter of weeks. That is the crazy, unpredictable ride that is fanatically following a sports team.

Without turning this into a comment about licencing, this is where promotion and relegation appeals. The glass ceiling has been removed by reinstating automatic promotion. Fans are allowed to dream again. Your fate is determined by your performance on the field. Not by how much money you have. Not by your stadium. Not by how many boxes you can tick on a list of arbitrary criteria. Not by the stroke of a pen of an administrator at Red Hall. And that’s how it should be!

Can Featherstone finish the job on Saturday? Who knows! What we can say for certain is that there isn’t a Featherstone fan in the world that isn't counting the minutes until Saturday!

Meanwhile in League 1, Newcastle defeated Doncaster to make the play-off final against Oldham. Newcastle turned around their previous two home defeats to Doncaster in 2019 and delivered when it mattered.

They did so with a comfortable victory too. Doncaster beat Newcastle in week 1 of the play-offs, arguably giving Doncaster a tougher route to promotion, which is perverse. The other side of the argument that Newcastle earned their advantage by virtue of a higher placed finish over the regular season.

Sunday’s promotion final presents an opportunity for Newcastle to get to the Championship for the first time under this guise.

As for Oldham, they now have an opportunity to return to the Championship after a two-season absence. As awful as it seems, there are a number of ambitious club that will seek to get out of League 1 before the current TV deal expires and the future of the competition is plunged into uncertainty.

That is probably a debate for another day. Today is for focusing on the positives, the ambition of clubs. The opportunity that this weekend presents for Toronto, Featherstone, Oldham and Newcastle. The only question remaining is who will take it?