Current Tableshockingly bad at times, but we're unlucky that our bad year has coincided with the most competitive league in a long time. I think this could be a wake up call for all teams in the future, that no team is safe in this league. Poor off-season recruitment, a bad choice of coach or even an alarming injury crisis could send a team down.
Remaining FixturesBold - Win
Red - Bonus Point
Barrow v
Widnes
Sheffield v
Halifax
Leigh v Toulouse
Doncaster v
Featherstone
Whitehaven v Batley
Leigh v Halifax
Toulouse v Doncaster
Widnes v
Whitehaven
Batley v
Halifax
Featherstone v
Barrow
Gateshead v Leigh
Sheffield v
Featherstone
Barrow v Gateshead
Halifax v Toulouse
Doncaster v
Gateshead
Featherstone v Batley
Leigh v Whitehaven
Sheffield v
Barrow
I think Batley could beat Halifax at home, especially as 'Fax play us during the week before, although Halifax are chasing top spot and they might do us a favour. I can't see them winning at 'Haven (although anything is possible in this division) but they may be able to pick up at least a bonus point at Fev.
I've presumed Gateshead will beat Doncaster but I can't see them getting much from a trip to Barrow.
I haven't predicted Leigh's results for obvious reasons.
Which leaves the table as this:
Barrow 46
Featherstone 43
Halifax 41* + game vs Leigh
Widnes 40
Whitehaven 40* + game vs Leigh
Sheffield 40
Toulouse 30* + game vs Leigh
Batley 28
Gateshead 26* + game vs Leigh
Leigh 24* + 4 games
Doncaster 8
If Gateshead beat us at the Thunderdome (which I think they will), that leaves us needing 5 points from our 3 games against Halifax, Toulouse and Whitehaven. We're basically looking at two wins to stay up!
With Toulouse, it's impossible to predict which team will turn up. They seem to turn up one week and vanish the next, which doesn't bode well considering Gateshead thumped them last night
. I certainly think we're capable of winning this one provided the team show some fight, similar to the games against Sheffield and Widnes.
Then we have Halifax at home in a midweek game. Obviously Halifax chasing top spot doesn't do us any favours and on paper this should be no contest. But 'Fax have been abit wobbly of late and with it being a midweek game, Leigh have to be looking to take something from this game.
Next up is Gateshead and I can't see a Leigh win here for the life of me. They've hit form impressively over the last couple of months and they look like a far more capable team than we do. Time may run out for Gateshead yet, as they left temselves with an awful lot to do, but they're, currently, a much better team than we are, and I don't think the midweek game against Halifax will do us any favours. Obviously, if I'm wrong about this one then that would make life a hell of a lot easier for ourselves.
Finally it's the Whitehaven game. Again 'Haven could yet be chasing top spot which wouldn't do us any favours but we have already beaten them at home this season, so it's possible that we could do it again. If the lads need any belief going into this game, then surely the coaching staff can point to that?
Can we do it? Well it doesn't look good, but as I said earlier, anything seems to be possible in this league. If we see the same shower that we saw at Barrow, Toulouse, and at home to Gateshead then we're screwed! If the players' heads have gone now then we're in deep trouble.
However, I still think that there could be another big performance left in the team yet. The team that got embarrassed by Barrow, Toulouse, Halifax and Gateshead is still the same team that's beaten Widnes, Sheffield, Whitehaven and could so easily have taken something from a number of other games. I think there's still reason to remain positive and get behind the lads from now to the end of the season. Everything is still to play for.