Featherstone Rovers: Bitter-sweet feeling as Fev miss out on Qualifiers but topple Toronto

Rovers finished fifth, missing out on a place in the Qualifiers by one point, despite a stunning 30-12 win at leaders Toronto Wolfpack last weekend.

They will now go into the Championship Shield, along with the seven teams who finished below them and Duffy admitted it is a case of what might have been.

“We were a point away from getting into the top-four,” he reflected. “There were a couple of games this season – London at home and Halifax at the Summer Bash – when we were in control of until the last few minutes and we just made a couple of errors.

“You just can’t have a minute off in this division and that’s what cost us. It is a massive learning curve for me and all the players.

“We were one win off second or third and it’s really disappointing, but we’ve got to learn from it.”

The win in Canada will send Rovers into the Shield in confident mood. Duffy said: “Our fans were unbelievable. About 100 of them went out there which is a fantastic effort and I want to thank them.

“We went with 16 players – we only had 15 and young Dakota Whylie joined us from Leeds at the last minute – and to go over there where they’d never lost before and get the win was a great result.”