If Gaskell is fit I'd go with:


Clare
Caro
Neilsen
Purtell
Williams
Mullaney
Addy
Clough 
O'Brien 
Sidlow
Olbison 
Ferguson
Pitts

Gaskell
Crossley
Lauaki
Blythe

I think the team who played at Salford have earned the right to go again. Ease Gaskell back in after what seemed like an unpleasant injury by giving him a bench place. It would be interesting to see what impact an energetic Gaskell can make coming off the bench against a tiring team.

Early days yet but I'd go with this

Mullaney
Clare
Nielsen
Purtell
Williams
Gaskell
Addy
Clough
AoB
Sidlow
Olbison
Ferguson
Pitts

Crossley
Fleming/Lauaki
Ryan
Blythe

I still wouldn't be surprised to see Siejka. He was supposed to feature on Sunday but only dropped out late.

I fear this too! It really would bring Jimmy's decisions into question if he picked him after Sunday's performance unless of course both Gaskell and Mullaney are deemed unfit.

I'm similarly worried about the reappearance of Siejka and the fact he wasn't dropped but was injured.

I can't see Widnes losing to us and Wakey. They defend well and should have beaten HKR but for a howler under the posts. If Sunday's effort is repeated we stand a good chance but they're slight favourites for both games in my view.

Would be bonkers to include Siejka. I think Jimmy seems pretty set on Addy at HB, and I would imagine Gaskell being at 6 with Mullaney shifting to FB. But Jimmy obviously sees something the rest don't in Siejka an i'd expect him to be on the bench come the Widnes game.

No point predicting fixtures. All the sides are inconsistent (otherwise they wouldn't be in the middle 8's) So even though a team is playing well now, next week they could be woeful and vice versa.

We've just got to take each week as it comes. It's certainly in our hands now though.

Said all along this might come down to points difference. You finish at home to Fax & we (Wakey) are away at Sheff. Chance to get some points on the board?

BTW, feel that we may look back and see the Wakey win over Bulls as crucial and the difference between the two sides getting automatic or the £m game.

8 points are, IMO, the minimum needed for the million pound game. But that is also dependant on points for and against.
10 points are the minimum, again IMO, to get an automatic place.

Have to say, I'm not sure either Fax or Sheffield will pick up another point in the competiton as things stand unless Leigh or Salford have a meltdown (there have been rumours around both clubs of off-field troubles). Perhaps it might be worth a change in the point scoring system for next year and a return of the bonus point? I mean, the idea behind it when it was being used in the Championship was to balance out the table against the haves and have nots

There's no reason why we shouldn't be aiming at an automatic promotion spot now.

If you look at other club's forums their opinion on us seems to range between us being virtually guaranteed to finish 5th, through fighting it out with Leigh to play Widnes in the million pound game to not having a prayer of getting 5th spot.

A number of Wakefield fans think they're nailed on for 3rd. Conveniently forgetting that they are on the same number of competition points as us and as yet -unlike us - haven't beaten a Superleague team.

There is still time for upsets and I do not for one second think that we will be the only Championship club to take points off a Superleague side.

Games aren't played on spreadsheets. I'll stick my neck out and say I think Hull KR are more or less nailed on to finish in the top 5 minimum now by virute of them having 6 points. Everything else is still up in the air.

Fax will be fancying their chances in their home game against Leigh. With them losing to Sheffield I would say that is their best chance of picking up some points now, and no team will want to finish on zero.
A tough game for Leigh the week before we head across there would be ideal. Dare I say a few punch ups and suspensions wouldn't go amiss either?

The real Bulls probably sit somewhere between the Wakefield match and the Salford match.

I'm not letting myself get carried away at all, who knows which version of the Bulls will turn up against Widnes. I know if I start to believe we'll be promoted then it will go up in smoke. Jimmy needs a big couple of weeks to learn from both ends of our performance spectrum.

I don't think so at all. We have been as good as that, if not for maybe the full 80 minutes, over much of the season. For example, Blackpool Bash. The real difference is that this one was against SL opposition and that is what makes it shine line a beacon, but it was no aberration, it was the team proving that they can do it against better than Championship teams.

And nobody should understate the scale of that performance. Take both stand-off and scrum half out of ANY SL team and let's see how they would go. Are we getting enough credit for that? I don't think so. Bradford 41-Super League Salford 10. Without Gaskell. Where are the people who have been insisting that, even at Championship level, we were basically a one-man team, and without Gaskell, we are ordinary? I can't hear them.

The real Bulls would be that team PLUS Lee Gaskell.

I have a feeling the the fortnight gap may actually be beneficial, in as much as it allows the euphoria from the Salford game to dissipate and gives time for Jimmy to concentrate minds on the task ahead. We'll definitely need our 'business' heads on for the Widnes match.