Agreed, I keep switching from feeling confident of us turning over Hull KR and Salford and making top 3 to being convinced we are going to blow it, lose to Fax/Sheffield and miss out on the million pound game.

Think the optimism of the last 2 years as a Leigh fan is battling against the many disappointments of the previous 22 years

1. Widnes
2. Hull KR
(I think Hull KR are probably the best team in it but Widnes have big home advantage, had Widnes only had 3 home games instead of 4 I'd swap those two around)
3. Leigh
(Play to our full potential for full 80 min every game & defend as well as we can instead of taking the "We'll just score more than you" attitude we seem to have had at times and I'm fairly confident of automatic promotion. Think it's a big advantage playing Bradford & Wakefield at LSV especially considering we haven't lost at home for 2 seasons now.)
4. Salford
5. Bradford
(Two odd ones, both been a bit inconsistent, Bradford play some very good attacking rugby though & will definitely be challenging. Depends on how Salford go with their off field issues, if Salford decide "Right this is it now, last chance shape up!" they should do well, if they struggle 1st few games though heads could just as easily go and they could collapse.)
6. Wakefield
(Been poor all season, not sure a brand new temporary team just for the Super 8s will really help. Yes they pushed us close in the Challenge cup but once we stopped handing them the ball at half way on the 3rd tackle every set we ran away with it in the 2nd half)
7. Sheffield
8. Halifax
(Both will play some good rugby and both will cause a few scares might even be the odd upset but think this is where full time V part time will show. Not sure being full time has given us a particularly big advantage up to now but it's definitely going to be essential to getting enough recovery when playing against full time teams every week)

Leigh don't know how to play any other way.

Even the likes of metre-monster props Moimoi and Emmit have learnt how to offload and pass too.

You make a very good point here, as we have seen in games in Fax's case and in some of Sheffield's games that the players are not unfitter than a lot of their full time counter parts but the extra recovery time is going to make a massive difference in how these two teams do. I must admit I was a little disappointed when the fixtures came out to see Leigh playing Sheffield the week before they come to the Shay though but it looks like the fixtures have bvee staged to favour teams finishing higher in the league and we cant really complain about that.

Im obviously biased but I would be amazed if we finished below Sheffield as for me Fax at this point are easily the 3rd best team in the league but time will tell. I wouldnt be surprised if either Sheffield or Bradford are the teams that concede the most points in a game in the middle 8's.

I was at that match and Leigh didn't do anything right in the first half. Any team would have put points on us. We were almost giddy.

Have Wakefield improved enough though? Bottom of the league all season takes its toll.

I watched the game and while I can't remember it that well, I do remember thinking that once you'd scored in the second half, the momentum would swing in your favour and Wakefield would collapse, as they did. Once you got your act together and held onto the ball you tore through them. Hadn't Wakefield lost 10 matches in a row in the league going into the game or something crazy?

And have Wakefield improved enough? I'm not sure. We play them in round 2 and I can't wait for it. I'm not sure about their recruitment. They've got some good players but do they care about the club's survival? You can tell that the Leigh and Bradford players really want to get into SL and are driven to do so - they want it for the fans too. Do Wakefield have the same kind of characters in their team?

Hull KR, Widnes, Salford and Wakefield.

I think 5 wins out of 7 should see a team safely through, will Leigh be able to pick off two of the SL clubs?

I can't wait for your game against us in the last round of fixtures, especially if one or both of us need a win.

Good luck in the 8's

Its been a while since Widnes won 5 out of 7 games!

....and let's pray and hope their magnificent recent record against us continues

Obviously deciding that a dozen new players before the 8's wasn't enough, Wakey have now got Simon Grix on loan until the end of the season.

I know he has been injured for a while but if they get him up to speed that is a hell of a signing.

One of the most under rated players in SL IMO. A bit like Goulden for us, he gets through a tonne of the graft that goes unnoticed and never seems to have a bad game.

Actually, can anyone confirm this? It is being reported on Twitter and also on the Wire forum but I thought there was a deadline for signings (loans included) that started last Friday? Hmmmm https://twitter.com/the18thmanuk/status ... 9383450624

Actually, can anyone confirm this? It is being reported on Twitter and also on the Wire forum but I thought there was a deadline for signings (loans included) that started last Friday? Hmmmm https://twitter.com/the18thmanuk/status ... 9383450624