The current league standings areWakefield ...Home

Leigh.........Home: Widnes; Bradford; Wakefield; Sheffield.....Away: Hull KR; Salford; Halifax
Bradford....Home: Hull KR; Salford; Sheffield; Halifax.............Away: Widnes; Leigh; Wakefield
Sheffield....Home: Widnes; Wakefield; Halifax.......................Away: Hull KR; Leigh; Bradford; Salford
Halifax.......Home: Hull KR; Leigh; Salford..............................Away: Widnes; Bradford; Wakefield; Sheffield


The only thing I'd prefer is for Widnes at home. The rest I'm ok with.

Its cup one off rugby and T B H anything can and probably will happen. Home games are vital and the club must promote the fixture and dare I say it offer some kind of offer to get the place packed. The away games are all winnable but Leigh will be a tough encounter and I think the most composed team will win it. The pack will need to be on top form. Leigh will be in the usual bash em form.

Home games are vital but three games in Lancashire will be tough ... Widnes's pitch, unpredictable at Leigh and Salford will improve with Tim sheens

Fully agree with this.

Sheens at Salford will ensure that they will stay in SL, which leaves us "hunting" Widnes, even if it's on their plastic pitch and we have to beat the Championship clubs, no if's no but's, we have to beat them and they will all be tough fixtures.

The 4 Championship clubs will be busting a gut to gain promotion and the 4 SL clubs fighting for survival, especially Wakefield.

Our home fixtures look ok but the away ties all look tricky.

So realistically, how many are we going to have to win in order to stay up? Like you say, the home games look ok, but those away games could be very difficult.

Personally I think the Championship 3 and 4 won't win any games (apart from the one against each other)
I think Leigh will knock off at least 2 Super League teams (and could do them all)
That means that we'll have to win 5 from 7 to get that 3rd spot, and I think even then we may be split on points difference with 4th, which puts you in the play off game.
We'll have to win at least 3 to make sure we are not automatically down.

I think Salford are a target for us.
They have us and Leigh at home. Both tough games. If we beat them, and Leigh do too which is highly likely, they will be having to win all their away games, which is a tough task
Whereas we play Hull KR, Bradford at home, and tough as Hull KR can be, we have beaten them and beating both is very possible. With Halifax at home and Sheffield away, that would be 5 wins for us.

Salford away is a big game

But of course it is all just Maths at this stage. Need to actually find our best team and get them playing well for 80 minutes.

I suppose winning 5 from 7 if it is that amount shouldn't be beyond us, but it is gonna be tough no doubt about it, like you say, hopefully BS will have some idea of the team he thinks is best capable after the next two.

Like us, I think that Salford are a totally different beast with Tim Sheens at the helm, especially bearing in mind some of the quality they have in their squad.

We need to look at Widnes and whichever Hull club it is that fails to make the top 8.
Hopefully, the Hull club will be on a downer at missing out on the top 8 and they may be vulnerable

If HKR, they also have a semi final to think about. Losing that and missing the 8 whilst also been without Campese, could put them in a tricky situation.

Having said that, We are still conceding too many points per game, so unless that gets sorted there is no point looking at everyone else.

After tonight's game it could be favourable to play Hull FC in the 8. Looks like Ellis and Price are out for season!

I Suppose by keeping Webster well past he sell by date we should be in the strongest position in the middle 8's. We knew our fate many weeks ago so have been able to rotate the squad without risking harm to our league position. I am sure Smith will have worked on the players mental side because failure in the the middle 8's will mean relegation. The other three super league teams will have prepared to stay in super league and have only a limited time to adjust to what awaits them.
We should go into the next stage with rested players maybe a little down on confidence but with a coach who can install real belief.

The game against Cas and Shuds means very little. They are trial games, yes we want solid displays and an improvement in defence but it's more of an who can do what . One off games will spring a surprise or two and it's important we stay very focused and do not get drawn in to spats. Leigh will play the same kind of game they always have , in your face and niggle. H k r tend to show signs of frustration if things are not sticking. Widnes with home advantage will be difficult but even with that if we tough it out in the pack the points are for the taking. Salfords the team who can score plenty but leak some keep the half backs under control and it's another game for the taking. I hope Widnes and Salford knock seven bells out of each other next week but I don't think they will. We have already played Fax and I would expect another win. The problem with expecting awin you quite often get a shock. Sheffield away could be tricky they have never oven wake much respect in the past.
In short it's one off rugby and the team that prepares the best and does its homework should come out on top
Come on Mr Smith let's show em what we can do and sicken a few in the bargain.

Now that Hull KR lost their post in the S8s it comes down to the last game to decide the order in the middle 8.

I assume Hull KR will not beat Sts away so one of Widnes or Salford will go above them as they play each other.
That means we get the winner at home, along with Bradford and Halifax.
A draw puts Widnes in 9th as they have the better points difference.


I'd rather have Widnes at home personally.