Also we could beat Warrington as it is the week after the QF and the week before the Semis. Also if Wigan beat Warrington and progress to te Final then our game against Wigan is the week before Final. Also beating Saints is a possibility as they will have half the team playing for England or Exiles.

And if my auntie had balls she'd be my uncle.

One match at a time, I suggest!

problem with that is any of teams youve mentioned could put out a weakened team and still be a big challenge for us unless we improve rapidly.

I watched the Bulls players after the game. They were clearly sickened to lose, but the togetherness and spirit was there for anyone to see.

I thought L'Estrange was MOM by miles, but Langley was outstanding on his return. Jeffires made a big difference. he and l'Estrange moved the Bulls around the park better than at any time this season.

Mistakes were cut down, sets were finished better and there was a real hunger to take the ball up and close the gaps.

On that showing, and with plenty of players to come back, the Bulls should make the 8.

I reckon, looking at past seasons, and the position and fixtures of the teams around us, we need 16 points from 13 games to make the 8. However, we have to start to make a serious charge SOMEWHERE and as it happens, our next 2 games represent our last chance saloon, Salford at home, and Quins away. We 100% definitely need to win both. And we have no clue whether good Bulls or bad Bulls will turn up.

If we lose either of those then the task is in my view too great.

If we speculate that these two wins did in fact materialise, then the outlook would seem different. We would be left needing 12 points from 11 games. Now THAT is do-able, and we could conceivably sneak in with a point or so less.

Of course the reality is that we will win all our remaining games, but I mention the above just for completeness

Right I have been hard at work all day looking at our remaining fixtures and I think that 25 points would be just about enough to claim 7th/8th.

To reach that target we need to win eight of the last thirteen games.

So if we throw away the games against:

St Helens (H)
Huddersfield (H)
Warrington (A)
Wigan (A)

That means we can only afford to lose one more game and the following games I would say are far from easy:

Hull FC (H)
Leeds (A)
Castleford (A)
Catalans (H)

I still think we'll fall about three/four points short but we'll finish with more points than we did last year.

Meaning Potter has improved the team

Sunday is a cup final. Momentum is everything in these situations and if we can scratch any kind of victory against Salford, double up in the capital then we stand as good a chance as 4 or 5 other clubs aiming for the 8th spot. The home games against Hull, HullKR and Cas are also must win games as they will be figuring in a win at Bradford as a good bet right now. Langley simply has to stay fit and we have to really raise the roof for the lads on Sunday as it could scarecly be more important. Biggest game of the season.

We won't make the 8, but I'd settle for more of what we saw on Sunday as indication we're improving!

Sunday is huge, and I don't have a good feeling about our ability to back up last week - Really, genuinely hope I'm wrong!

You're away to Cas.

a couple of weeks ago I would have agreed with you, when I said that we needed to beat KR twice. But that was based on our abysmal performances against top half teams whereas the performance against Wigan has made me think that we could pull off a surprise against one of the top sides which could compensate for losing a must-win. plus we are getting more players back, so I am confident of a stronger second half of the season partly because of the players confidence from Wigan.

That's pretty fair comment. When you look a how results have gone this season, not just ours but results in general, it seems to have been a season full of surprises. If we can spring an odd one (to make up for the 'must win' game we'll almost certainly lose along the way) we can still do it, because the clubs around or just above us are likely to be up and down too. Guess it's a fingers crossed job!

If (if, if, if) we were to make the play-offs, who'll miss out?

Cru
Wakey
Salford
Hull KR
Quins
Cas?

To come 8th we need six teams to outdo. Are those the six most likely?