So, we are now 2 games behind everyone else but only 4 points behind the leaders. We come into this game (hopefully) with 13 days rest and more than likely, 17 players wanting to get their hands on the ball. Bradford are playing well in patches this year, but have struggled so far to put any sort of run together. They arent looking bad, but I think they are just missing something. What it is, I cant tell you, but its stopping them being a good team at the moment.

Leeds on the other hand, come off of a good win against Wigan. Our defence, once again won us the game, as it did against St Helens, but I have a feeling things might click in attack for this one. If it does, we could win by a big margin. If we continue to make errors though it could be a close one. I expect us to win though either way, and after 13 days off I would be disappointed if we didnt come out firing.

Leeds by 14

Heard from a couple of different folk today that Zac might be back for this one.

He's still got another week according to his twitter

Long range forecast for Thursday isn't pleasant

We have under soil heating so the ground staff can work on the surrounding areas more.

Let's just cross our fingers. I want to see a game!

We've not had it as comfortable against Bradford in the the last few few seasons as the league table might suggest, it's been closer than some of the games when they were part of the 'Big 4'. If we were at Odsal I might expect a tricky game but at home with the extra rest think we should be ok.

Wouldn't be suprised to see a close scoreline at half-time but judging by their game against Catalans we might pull a few scores clear in the final 20 mins.

Leeds by around 16 pts

If we have to arrange another game for later in the season we'll be properly f**ked!

Some light sleet or snow showers during the week, but daytime temperatures above freezing so there should be some thawing over the week.

Pitch, stadium and surrounding areas should be fine for Thursday

Only problem now is Bradford getting back from Spain/France in time lol



Leeds not only run the RFL and the match officials department, but ATC at LBA now

Some of the tweets related to today's postponement have been classic, @RLmeltdown has had me laughing all day.

On the game, hopefully the weather won't play into it much but I still see us winning by 10-18

And it's not just the Bradford fans, some Cas fans think it's a conspiracy by Wakey with the two due to meet this week as well.

Somebody in power must also have a soft spot for Bradford,they knew summat was up when they bought Odsal just to help them out before the balloon went up again

Typical cas fans really, always claiming the rfl/literally everyone else hates them

Apart from the Bateman/Whitehead combo, I'm not expecting too many problems. Leeds by 12.

That sort of attitude/opinion will cause us problems if the players believe that.
We need to be wary of Sammut & Kearney.
Sammut can be brilliant & awful, both in the same game. A real maverick.

I fail to see what the fuss is about Bateman. I dont rate him at all. How he gets in that side each week is beyond me. Should be left to play in the 19s this season then shipped out to somewhere like Oulton Raiders - permanently.

Most over rated player I know

Are you having a laugh? Im assuming he bullied you as a kid. He's the best young second rower I have seen! Whitehead is the overrated one. His defence is average and he has no impact in the tackle.

Don't forget, he did also say that Clarkson and McShane were not good enough to make the Hunslet team the other week.

Just because they're paranoid it doesn't mean they are wrong

Oh dear.

As for what we are missing this season, it's probably due to the fact Gale hasn't played all season and we sometimes lack direction in attack near the opposition line. And I don't think Whitehead is overrated, he's good going forward, but he does miss a lot of tackles.

This is a bit misleading. I think he does miss tackles [iwhen he is a 2nd row man playing rt centre[/i. His defence is much better when he is playing rt side 2nd row.

Lol. I didn't quite say that, although you may have taken it that way. I said they won't be playing against Wigan (which I was correct). Then I said they won't be playing for Hunslet either as Barry Eaton said they would not get a game.

Whitehead's defence is a problem but he's alright going forwards. Hopefully we'll have Blythe and Lulia back in the centres as we looked a bit brittle on the fringes vs Catalans. If we get Langley back up front that'll be a big help too as we've missed his marker defence and go forward.

Bateman is great for his age, far from the finished article but still the best second row of his age in SL.

Sammut is key for us, if he has a good day. It's penthouse or ehouse with him. Without Gale all our direction comes from Sammut and two non specialist hafbacks in Kearney and Addy.

I've got a feeling this Derby match might be one of the better ones we've had in a while.

It's got the makings of a cracker anyway.