This game is being played at Chester Rugby Union club.

Table: Number in brackets is maximum achievable points
1. Dews 16, 29, +388 (33)
2. Huns 15, 24, +245 (30)
3. Dons 14, 22, +126 (30)
4. Work 15, 20, +165 (26)
5. Oldh 14, 19, +208 (27)
6. N Wal 16, 10, +35 (14)
7. Roch 14, 10, -120 (1icon_cool.gif
8. Corn 15, 8, -349 (14)
Team one is promoted automatically. Teams two to six are in the play-offs.

Remaining games:

6th August:
Cornwall v Oldham, N Wales v Dons, Dewsbury v Workington (Dewsbury are champions if they win), Rochdale v Hunslet
11th August:
London v Dons
20th August:
Dons v Cornwall, Hunslet v London, Rochdale v Oldham
27th August:
Cornwall v Rochdale, N Wales v London, Dons v Dewsbury, Oldham v Midlands, Workington v Hunslet

To Be Arranged: Oldham v Workington and Rochdale v London

Play-off schedule:

Realistically the only match that should be "troublesome" is Dewsbury at home - Cornwall and London (Greatest respect to them) are opportunities to address our points difference, there is a chance to finish 2nd still but it means no more slip-ups and really getting those points for up.

We are capable of going there and getting the result, what the final score will be could be anyone's guess. The points difference column is something that we have spoken about frequently, when a side amasses a 60 point cushion against the bottom team then stupidly ships 30 points in the last quarter then it speaks volumes and this is what happens hoping we can close the points difference at this late stage.



We are capable of cementing third spot and giving Hunslet a proper game at theirs unlike the poo show from two weeks ago that's if Hunslet win at Rochdale and Workington (not as easy at it looks IMO) all to play for, intriguing run in.

I can't find any details for the play-off dates. There are two games that need to re-arranged (Oldham v Workington and Rochdale v London). Both are proving difficult to sort. I wonder if they will play on the weekend after the last official round with the play-offs beginning the following weekend?

Thinking about it, I don't think this would be fair as team two doesn't play in the first round of play-offs. With an extra week off, they'd be three weeks without a game.

Isn't it a poor state of affairs when fans can't even plan for the play-offs?

I would not be surprised if they made them play in midweeek DM, probably the week when Workington are at home to Hunslet on the last regular Sunday. It is a poor effort and typical of the RL and its attitude to teams outside the top two Divisions.

I think the problem is lack of stadium availability, Wilf. This makes the midweeks difficult.

It's crazy when you think about it, we have 97 blank weekends during a season and then end up with a fixture crisis trying to fit in 18 games a year!



Look on the bright side, there's plenty for IMG to work on!

If they don't get it right it could end up as OMG

I like it!

I've spent some time spinning through the RFLs Operational rules for the 2023 season.

* I can't find any reference to play-off dates.

* The 'end of season transfer deadline' is Friday 4th August.

* The play-off structure for 2023 is the same as last season.

I was trying to find out if loan players can play in the play-offs but could only find a reference that said Dual Reg players must have played at least four games before the 'transfer deadline' to qualify.

RFL rules Section C: 1: 2: 7 says: "For the avoidance of doubt, once a loan has expired or been terminated it cannot be reinstated after the end of season deadline irrespective of whether the player has played for his parent club."

On this basis, it looks like we must officially sign Albert Vete until the end of the season before Friday 4th August or else he won't be eligible to play for us afterwards. I'm still not totally sure what the 'play off rules' are for loan players.

Talking about points difference....
Horne has said on at least two occasions that he doesn't give the lads a points target...I mean against lesser sides, obviously a win is what matters against better sides.
But I think that is a poor attitude when points difference is crucial.
But if I was the coach I would look at the average points scored against those sides and conceded and that would be my absolute minimum of acceptance...in fact I would want a dollop more.
So I would set a target...alright it is not always gonna be achieved...but if you don't set targets you get underperformance.
Another reason why he is crap and too laid back.

Spot on, S/O. In this league winning alone isn't enough. We've talked all season about Points Diff being vital. It could most certainly make the difference between coming second or third, with second having a huge advantage over third.

We're 119 points behind Hunslet with a game in hand. Let's guess at the Hunslet scores in their last three games...

Rochdale v Hunslet +10 to Hunslet. Hunslet v London +30 to Hunslet. Workington v Hunslet +6 to Hunslet. That's 46 points to the good for Hunslet giving them +165 altogether. They may do better than I've suggested but it provides an approximate target.

Where do we recoup those 165 points? N Wales +40, London +50, Cornwall +50, Dewsbury +25?

Looks like a tall order to me... all due to not being Points Diff savvy in our other matches throughout the season.

Yep...we can pretty much forget points difference now ....

Squad:

[urlhttps://www.doncasterrugbyleague.co.uk/article/1487/news-|-21-man-squad-named-for-visit-to-north-wales-crusaders[/url

Bet365 ...

Crusaders +12 10/11
Dons -12 10/11
Handicap Draw 16/1

A Dons win is 1/4.

For anyone travelling to Chester, it may be worth noting that there is also Horse Racing at Chester Racecourse today (first race 2.00pm). As such, there could be additional traffic heading in the general direction around lunchtime / early afternoon.

Even though we won at Workington last week, I'm not totally convinced we're over our 'blip'. Whilst giving N Wales a 16 point start ought to be within our scope, it's another one of those games where any score - good or bad - wouldn't be too surprising.

It's very hard to call the Dons games at the moment.

I wouldn't like to bet on the outcome of this. Should be an away win but by how many is anyone's guess.

Result:
Cornwall 4 Oldham 56

HT Crusaders 18 Dons 4

FT Crusaders 28 Dons 22

Ouch... the 'blip' isn't over yet.

I'll add the latest table after the other games have finished.

FT Dewsbury 38 Workington 8

Dewsbury Rams - 2023 League One Champions and promoted to the Championship.

FT Rochdale 22 Hunslet 35

Hunslet four points clear of the Dons who have a game in hand.

Oldham who won earlier are one point behind the Dons (both have 3 games remaining).

Weekend Results:
Cornwall 4, Oldham 56 – an upturn in form for Oldham with Mike Ford in charge
Dewsbury 38, Workington 8 – Dewsbury are promoted as champions
Rochdale 22, Hunslet 35 – got close at 22-24 at one stage
N Wales 28, Dons 22
Table:
1. Dews 17, 31, Up
2. Huns 16, 26, +258 (30)
3. Dons 15, 22, +120 (2icon_cool.gif
4. Oldh 15, 21, +260 (27)
5. Work 16, 20, +135 (24)
6. N Wal 17, 12, +41 (14)
7. Roch 15, 10, -133 (16)
Fixtures:
11th August: London v Dons
20th August: Dons v Cornwall, Hunslet v London, Rochdale v Oldham
27th August: Cornwall v Rochdale, N Wales v London, Dons v Dewsbury, Oldham v Midlands, Workington v Hunslet
To be arranged: Oldham v Workington and Rochdale v London

Assuming we can beat London and Cornwall, then lose to Dewsbury, our final points tally would be 26. If Oldham win their final three games they'd be on 27 points. We'd have to lose to London or Cornwall for Workington to have a chance of catching us.

For us to possibly catch Hunslet, they'd have to lose to both London and Workington. They ain't gonna lose to Skolars.

I've got a feeling Oldham are going to win their last three and beat us for third place...



In which case, we'd be away at Oldham in the play-offs.

Have we been riding our luck throughout the season - winning plenty of close games early on - suggesting we were never as good as we thought we were?

With Connor Robinson's place kicking, we really tied down sides but even when getting everything right, we've never really been able to dominate sides.

Now we're not managing games as effectively, we're being exposed by teams that we should be beating relatively easily.

I thought our forwards had been better this season but they seem to have regressed in recent weeks.

Losing to Midlands and N Wales has exposed our vulnerabilities big time. It's going to take a major turnaround in our fortunes for us to get anywhere near our peak again and threaten the likes of Oldham and Hunslet.

The news of the new signings has at least given some hope but that's what we seem to be living on at the moment, 'hope'.

We need to win by very significant margins against London and Cornwall, then put in a spirited performance against Dewsbury to build back some confidence. If we can't do that, an early play-off exit is likely.

Why so many changes after the Workington game ?
A good early try, then all down hill from there ,p!ss poor attack and shocking defence.

Cooper,Kenga and Roberts are not up to the job , what happened to James and Knowles who have been our most direct forwards this year?

If this was supposed to be test run to find our best squad going into the play offs then heaven help us, as most of the players looked like they would rather have been sat in the sun having a few beers.

Our halves look devoid of ideas hopefully we get a reaction next week but on that showing we could become London's first victory.
Simply not good enough.