New Featherstone Rovers boss admits he is “miserable” despite securing top spot

The pinnacle of British rugby league is playing against Leeds Rhinos, Wigan Warriors, Warrington Wolves, Hull FC and of course Super League and World Champions St Helens.

This is why there is so much focus on the Championship and why leaders Featherstone Rovers shockingly parted company with Sean Long despite being top.

This is because the changes to the sport being introduced soon by IMG in 2024 will put an end to normal promotion making this the last chance to use the direct route to Super League.

Featherstone took a step closer to that dream by securing top spot by defeating Bradford Bulls 16-8 at Odsal under new coach and former York RLFC boss James Ford.

Speaking on the club’s social media channel, Ford reacted this saying that they have a lot to change and admitting he is miserable despite the win because he is determined to make the Rovers better and getting them into Super League.

Speaking after the game at Odsal, James Ford said:

“Congratulations to the players. They’re the champions of the league, they’ve won it with four games to go.

“It was 2013 since we last finished top so I hope that the the supporters who came in great numbers today and got behind us tremendously well, I hope they enjoy the victory and enjoy us being league champions.

“Regarding the performance I don’t think we dealt well with the field. We trained on a pitch that size all week and too often we tried to play around them, and came up with some really loose decisions and to be fair some poor execution of skill.

“So I’m a little bit deflated but I suppose I’m just a naturally miserable bloke aren’t I?

“The exciting thing for me is that every single bloke in that dressing room is on board with the idea that we’re chasing improvements. We know we can be a lot better than that.

“I know they’re better players than that, I’ve coached against them, and we’ll have a good look at it, do lots of learning and go after those improvement areas for the playoffs.”