Just had a quick study of the league table and other clubs fixture and I am all of a sudden starting to believe finishing in the top 4 really is possible if we can get some players back and maintain our home form.

Current situation

3. Saints 28 Points (game in hand)
4. Us 28 Points
5. Leeds 25 points (game in hand)
6. Hudds 23 points (game in hand)
7. Rovers 23 points

Remaining fixtures

Saints ( Quins Home - Win, Wake Away - Win, Wire Away - Loss, Brad Home - Win, Crus Away - Win, Cas home - Win) 10 Points

Us ( Wigan Home - Win, Quins Away - Win, Crus Home - Win, Wire Away - Loss, Leeds Home - Win) 8 points

Leeds (Hudds Home - Win, Sal Away - Win, Wigan Home - Loss, Cas Away - Win, Cats Home - Win, Us Away - Loss) 8 points

Hudds ( Leeds Away - Loss, Quins Home - Win, Wake Home - Win, Wigan Away - Loss, Sal Home - Win, Cats Away - Win) 8 Points

Rovers (Brad Home - Win, Cas Home - Win, Sal Away - Win, Wigan Home - Loss, Crus Away - Win) 8 Points

How I think it will finish

3. Saints 38 Points
4. Us 36 Points
5. Leeds 33 Points
6. Hudds 31 Points
7. Rovers 31 Points

Obviousley they is some 50/50 games there which could still shake it up but I think if we are serious about a top four finish then we need to up the intensity and look to win those games I have predicted we will win. The Wigan game is huge for us next week, a win really could give us that extra confidence boost to cement a top four place.

Too optimistic.

We'll be back to being pants against Wigan next week.

Who knows...Wigan will be battered tonight, hopefully

Thought we were only pants against the bottom sides?

I probably am being too optimistic but if we take the same level of enthuasism and commitment to the cause as we showed last night then we won't be far off IMO.

Us against Leeds last game of the season to determine 4th/5th.

It'll be quite scarey when that head floats out from under the boat

Its the way I see it at the moment, however we know how we can turn just like that. Even though I have predicted we'll win the next two games it wouldn't surprise me if we lost them both as well.

We are finishing 5th at worst I reckon.

I don't think we'll beat Wigan and we'll struggle against Leeds. We'll finish on 32 or 34, I reckon.

All comes down to your game with Leeds there, which in turn will depend to a large extent on whether they make the CC final. One game at a time and see where it takes you. Hull were really good last night, but, like Rovers, they rely more on intensity rather than quality to get results and that is draining (relative to Wigan, Saints and Leeds). You should be good for 4th/5th now and despite the second chance that 4th gives you, after what happened to us last year there isn't that much in it IMO.

A tad optimistic! All 5 teams that we face have beaten us this season. If we have the intensity of last night then we have a chance in each game but if it drops off even just a few % then we could equally lose them all. Before last nights performance I had us finishing 7th. Now , well it will at least be interesting and I'm massively more hopeful.

If Leeds play in the CC final the week before it will tip the balance in our favour IMO especially if its a straight shoot out for 4th at that point.

I'm confident with our home form that we can win all our remaining home games. It won't be easy but we just somehow this season are finding a way to win at home. The game which worries me the most is quins away, mainly due to our record down there and the fact they seem to be gaining in a lot of confidence recentley.

I also think it's optimisitc but that win last night will be a huge filip for team morale. We have the best home record in =#0000FFSL - only lost against Wire and we had a much depleted team that wasn't that far off (a couple of different bounces of the ball etc). Am I also right in saying that Fitz and Ogre are likely to be back for next week? ...and we have an extra day's rest which is important at this stage in the season.

Huddersfield turning Leeds over would do us.

Maybe. That being the case, we'll probably finish on 34.

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viewtopic.php?f=34&t=457829

I'm sure I'll be forgiven for not going back 4 pages to check if they was a simular type of thread.

Leeds have quite an easy run in it would appear and we haven't managed to muster a decent performance against Leeds for a while unfortunately, could be a cracker of a game though if we're both level in points although out of interest out of 4th or 5th which position is most likely to yield a beatable opponent in the play-offs do we think?

Leeds too have shown they can trip up against the, so called, lesser clubs this year though.

Good post with valid points.

Particularly agree with your point about intensity. This is a trait common throughout that middle cluster of teams (us, you, hudds, Bradford, Cas, Wakey). When the intensity level is high almost at borderline aggressive those teams look capable of a top four spot. i.e. Us last night, rovers last friday. The problems arise when that intensity dips, as it will for any side as no-one plays at 100% week in week out. As you say, those sides lack the quality to dig themselves out of tight situations in those games.

Also, as you point out above, does anyone else think that 4th could be a poisoned chalice. There is a possibility that our fixtures in September could read Leeds (h) / Wigan (a) / Leeds (h). That raises the scenario of having to face Leeds a week after a possible battering at Wigan. This was rovers problem 12 months ago when the defeat at Headingley left them with a depleted tank when facing Wigan at home the following week.

Either way, I think some of us could be getting a little ahead of ourselves here. If the last 6 days have taught us anything, then trying to predict how Fc will play from one week to the next is a somewhat complicated exercise. Just because we have played well one week doesn't automatically follow that it will continue the next week. Keeps life interesting anyways.

back in the day you would have when you modded

ah those were the days

Ha ha shame on you , but I am with ya on that one!!!
Lets hope they rip each other to bits tonight!!

from this weekend is where it all gets tasty now and folk are thinking of the trip to wembley etc, we could finish third you know!!