A points difference of only 2 between us and Sheffield following today's routing of Barrow. We're going to have to up our game considerably next week to maintain top spot. On the first half showings against both Batley and Toulouse we just can't afford to give away all those penalties and only play in the last 20 minutes.

I look at it from a different way, I think Sheffield will have to play very well to beat us. We are no easy team to score against and even not playing well we score points. I see it being close for a while then our power will see us win. Physically Sheffield can't live with our forwards.

The main thing is we come out of the game without injuries or failed HIAs. The bigger game is the semi, the week after. I have never seen my team play at Wembley!

Exactly, Toulouse are full time and one of their two try’s came from a Franco error. Most of the try’s conceded have been due to our own errors or discipline and we have seldom been broken down by good plays.

We do have to respect Sheffield. You don’t get to be joint top without something about your team afterall. That said we have potential to be better and are still unbeaten. The match vs Sheffield is the game to bring it and go out to smash them. They are the form team other than us and we need to put them down and show we are the best team in the comp.

Looking forward to this one.

Going to be fun getting to this game
1 Northern Rail Industrial action all this week.
2 Barnsly playing Bolton on Friday evening if using public transport.
3 M1 chocker with roadworks and 50mph speed limit Jusst after the Tankersley turn off.
4 not much parking at the ground by the looks of things.

Can doi the train for 4 at £38.40 which is pretty good down to Meadowhall then about a 40 minute walk.

Anybody got any better plans or suggestions of routes etc. it looks like a set off early affair!

Going to be fun getting to this game
1 Northern Rail Industrial action all this week.
2 Barnsly playing Bolton on Friday evening if using public transport.
3 M1 chocker with roadworks and 50mph speed limit Jusst after the Tankersley turn off.
4 not much parking at the ground by the looks of things.

Can doi the train for 4 at £38.40 which is pretty good down to Meadowhall then about a 40 minute walk.

Anybody got any better plans or suggestions of routes etc. it looks like a set off early affair!

Well....
1. No train strikes this week - its next week.....


2. Those Bolton inbreds - if they come via Dirty Leeds they will get off in Barnsley and most will travel via Manc/Sheff.


3. Take the A61 from M1, J36 Tankersley to Sheffield via Grenoside/Hillsborough. Or Leave at J35 to to go to J34 - Meadowhall or J33 Sheffield Parkway via Thorpe Hesley.


4. No idea!


Follow me for more Travel Tips soon......

Industrial action by ASLEF from today until 4th May on Northern Services strike action on the 9th

Overtime ban starts on the 6th May. https://news.sky.com/story/train-strike ... sf-twitter

Overtime ban starts on the 6th May. https://news.sky.com/story/train-strike ... sf-twitter

https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/travel/strikes

https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/travel/strikes

The road works on the M1 will make little difference to your journey, there are still 3 lanes open from tankersley to Meadowhall, there is plenty of parking at the ground but if it’s busy it will be chaos getting out of the car park, there is an industrial estate round the back off and around Allende Way with plenty of on street parking 5-10 minute walk, don’t go anywhere near the A61 it will be an absolute nightmare

Been announced that there are less than 200 tickets left for the game on Friday

You might want to consider getting the Tram from Meadowhall Interchange to the OLP, it's about 5 minutes walk from the Tram stop to the ground, on the way back make sure you get a Meadowhall tram, not the Rotherham Tram Train which does not go to the Interchange.

Match Officials

Sheffield Eagles v Wakefield Trinity
03rd May, KO: 19:30
Referee: B. Thaler
Reserve Referee: D. Geddes
Touch Judge 1: M. Lynn
Touch Judge 2: T. Jones
Time Keeper: P. Crashley

Trinity 21 man squad https://wakefieldtrinity.com/trinity-sq ... sheffield/

Trinity 21 man squad https://wakefieldtrinity.com/trinity-sq ... sheffield/

Eagles 21 man squad https://www.sheffieldeagles.com/Eagles- ... d-trinity/

Eagles 21 man squad https://www.sheffieldeagles.com/Eagles- ... d-trinity/

I'd go with the same as last week, my only decision is whether we go with Franco or Olpherts.

I’d go for the yardage carries and quicker plays from Olpherts. Franco’s error kicking the ball that led to a try was a similar one to what Olpherts got blasted for at Batley too.

Think Olpherts offers a lot more impact and without McGillvray we need that. The ball rarely gets to the right winger in a clear position to score anyway (if at all).

That said, I would be tempted to go with Croft on the right wing. Later a few times there and done a solid job.
Otherwise I think it’s as you were.

Best of a bad option. Franco looks totally clueless to me. Olipherts has issues but is much better. Also as others have said, I would play croft on the wing ahead of Franco.

However !!!! what about Liam Kaye. I think he'd do a better job than all of them. Plus we can manage in the pack without him.

Id play kay on wing and bring cozza in too,if it a shout between olpharts and franco it would be olpharts cos of yardage he can get,,really dont see anything in franco

Good shout for Kaye. He’s much better than the other two and can cover elsewhere if needed.

Agree, Kay to wing is an option and Cozza on bench to 13 interchange with Pitts. I’d be fine with Olpherts too though for the yardage and he lands on his front. If Kay hasn’t trained there though do we take the risk to tinker. Though I’m sure it’s like riding a bike for him. I think Dawson Jones is the winger opposite who’s no slouch so need to make sure it’s someone who will defend well.

Need a strong defensive performance (like we have been) and the middles to earn the right to pull in defence and execute edge plays. Though the forwards have been good I feel that we sent out wide plays too early in sets vs Batley and Toulouse when we should have gone down middle more/ for an extra tackle before sending it out.

I’d Probably go with

Jowitt
Olpherts
Thornley
Pratt
Walmsley
Gale
Lino
Atoni
Hood
Bowden
Ashurst
Griffin
Pitts

Doyle
Rodwell
Uele
Cozza

Quite a few familiar faces in that squad with BJB, Eddie Battye, Aaron Murphy, Kyle Wood and Titus Gwaze, all of whom have worn a Trinity jersey in recent years.

Some experienced players in there too. Certainly built a good outfit have Sheffield. I’m confident we can do the job and should be a cracking game.

I'm a little nervous over this one, TH. There again I think I've been a bit nervous about them all so far.

I think it’s the more unknown. Us fans aren’t used to playing these teams or squads and other than a few players we don’t know much about them. To a degree I suppose it’s natural to be confident but wary of what you don’t know.

With Sheffield there’s some experienced heads I recognise through the team so it’s no surprise they’re doing well. Team appears to have good balance though I don’t know much about their pivots and a couple of forwards.

They’ve not come up against an outfit like us yet though. Although we haven’t really fired we are consistently running plays at a tempo higher than the teams we’ve been facing to date. It’s important we keep that going and build even more on that.

Forwards need to do the damage and the backs need to work smart off of that. I hope we are a bit more direct down the middle early plays because when we started to be more direct Toulouse struggled to contain us. It’s sometimes about taking energy out of the opposition tanks to pay out later in the game.

We are sat in the stands and very much looking forward to this. The players will no doubt want to be the only club left unvested come Friday night about 9.30pm. Sleeves up again.