Down to only 5 out then? most of whom have probably retired or left rovers anyway

No, it's just Barista's usual spin before every derby game. The clever betting is she will mention Rovers injuries at least a dozen times before the weekend and play down hull's chances at every opportunity



Big, Brutal, Experienced and Confident....and that's just Radford.

History tells you it Doesn't matter who's out injured , who's in form or who should win on paper ... The team that makes the least errors and plays the smartest rugby will win this , hopefully this will be us !!! Coyh

Thick, trolling and in the wrong place.....and that's just Structured.

Run at Kelly directly wherever he is on the pitch, for 2 tackles out of every set for the first 30 minutes. Campese is a good defender but this will ruin Kelly. Send the bomb up to Dixon every opportunity.

Looking just at Rovers pre-Derby form over the last few seasons, which only tells half the story of course, we have better form in the run-up to derbies we win than those we lose.

Tbh, it's surprisingly rare for us to go into the game on the back of either two wins [ior[/i two losses, but even so...

Excluding round 1 in 2011, Rovers are 17w-1d-18L in SL in the three games prior derbies we won, since 2008. Before derbies lost it is 9-2-16. I doubt it is statistically significant, but it'd be interesting (to me

) to see if something similar is reflected in Hull's pre-Derby form.

Been reading moneyball, innit?

Of course, it isn't strongly predictive of what will happen over 80 minutes, but I think dismissing form before these games could be one of those received wisdom things that doesn't necessarily stand up to scrutiny.

Correct. Mind you with 30+ leaving before the end of their contracts in recent years, it's hard to keep up. I forgot that Burke is back too. Crikey.

I don't know whether its been asked before, but have Rovers ever had anyone long enough to earn a testimonial.

Netherton. He was sacked off and came back IIRC but got one anyway.

Paul Rose got a testimonial

Gareth ellis got a testimonial for 2 years service with you didn't he?

Same thing for Hull (just can't help myself).

The odd cup fixture against SL opposition might have crept through - that scroll bar on the FC website results record was too fiddly for me to double check.

Before Derby wins - 14W, 1D, 12L
Before Derby defeats - 14W, 2D, 20L

So while there are plenty of exceptions, across a few years I think there is a trend that show form isn't quite as irrelevant as is sometimes assumed.

On testimonials, Kris Welham made his debut in 2006, I think - which'd make this his tenth season.

Got a 6 month one for service rugby league unlike King , Horney and Yeamo who got a 12 month testimonial for ten years service at one club

Was one of those reduced ones I think. Which I don't really agree with, devalues loyalty. Think we've had 3 full ones (Horne, Yeaman, Whiting) and two mini ones for Radford and Ellis recently. Guess Houghton will get a reduced one at Leeds in a couple of years if the stories are right.

Welham can't be far off for you, next year's his 11th at the club. Obviously his overall career achievements are materially less than Yeaman's but still, good effort, a few Derby tries and that.

And all three of them players were slagged off for the last three seasons they played at your club one of them still on a regular basis and regards form going into a derby I remember our 42-6 win you were on a long unbeaten run and we'd won one in eight or something similar

... 2 games, yes, a long unbeaten run.

I have no idea what your point is, but you've spelt Einstein wrong in your sig.

Yeah I know someone else told me I was answering L and I about testimonials for Horne and yeamo saying the hull fans slagged them off in the latter stages of there career ok

And that you can analyse form but it doesn't really mean anything we've got injuries in the pack your backs are slow it's all irrelevant at the end of the day

Clearly what matters is how the teams perform on the day and anything can happen over 80 minutes. But form isn't such a bad indicator of how they'll perform and doesn't always, or even typically 'go out the window', which seems to be the conventional thinking.

42-6 is a memorable and striking exception rather than being representative.

What our perceptions and fallible memories tell us isn't always very reliable. Especially around something emotionally charged.

Spot on

The only time I've been confident of winning a derby we got beat 36-6 so until we're winning by 20 with 5 minutes to go I will never be confident of winning

There's usually not much cause for confidence on either side, as there's usually not all that much between the teams.

To me, form looks like a weak indicator, especially for a one-off encounter, but an indicator nonetheless. so I'd pedantically take issue with l and i's claim that history has shown it to be irrelevant.

Where I'd completely agree with him is that the team that plays smart and minimises errors will have much the better chance. If your team has been playing dozy error-strewn rugby in recent weeks, then there's a more legitimate fear that you'll carry on in the same vein. If they've been disciplined and tactically astute, then there's greater cause for... Not confidence perhaps, but certainly optimism.

Hull certainly seem to be much improved from the rather toothless outfit Rovers beat earlier in the season.
I think we're doing okay. I worry about our middle and if you're struggling to control the ruck, you'll tend to give away penalties. But we are, [ugenerally[/u a bit smarter and mentally tougher than in recent years imo, so we've a chance, if we can stop them getting a roll on.

I'm betting on FC to win #lump

Reading this thread they have had 3 players that have had testimonials to our sort of 1 for netherton so it's game set and match