After 2 big loses by Bradford and London have affected our statistics but we are still the 3rd best team
our offence is 5th at an average of 22.85 and defence is 3rd average of 17.07

Average Point Difference per game (Point Difference / games played)
1 Leigh 26
2 Bradford 21
3 Sheffield 6
4 Halifax 5
5 Dewsbury 3
6 London 2
7 Featherstone 1.5

Good News in our next 5 games we are playing teams from the bottom 5 four times the other game away to leigh who may play a weakened side because the are playing Warrington the following saturday however our next two games are to be played on a friday night which is not ideal for a part time club Hunslet are playing well this season and Batley were superb losing by just 4 points away to widnes and again played well in defeat to local rivals Dewsbury at the weekend we will need to get 4 wins in this matches to give us a cushion because our last 4 matches are A Halifax H Bradford H Featherstone A London 4 tough matches

I have looked at our rivals end of regular season schedules
Featherstone similar to us 4 of their next 5 games against bottom 5 still have to play bradford leigh and us away from home
London next two games home to bradford and leigh but after that the next 6 games 5 will be against the bottom 5
Dewsbury Tough Schedule still need to play Bradford Leigh and Fev away from home and home Halifax and London
Halifax according to their website they are playing there next 4 games away from home and 4 of their last 5 games at home

Analysis
We are in good position to finish in the top 4 however we can not be complacent, I was impressed with London at the weekend if they can get just one win against bradford or Leigh with an easy run in they will have a chance Featherstone still some tough away games but like us will need to capitalise on next 5 matches Not sure why Halifax are playing 4 games away from home they might have to much ground to make up

Prediction
1st Leigh
2nd Bradford
3rd Sheffield 30 Points
4th Featherstone 30 Points
5th London 28 Points
6th Halifax 26 Points
7th Dewsbury 26 Points

Our goal is SL,why would we play a weakened side?

You only need to get in the top four. After July, everyone's on zero points again in the middle eight.

Might be on zero points,but were you finish in that top four is what counts..Or did you think we all start equal?

I think it's where you finish in the League as to whether you get 4 home fixtures and 3 aways,as to 3 homes and 4 aways.

as long as you finish in the top 2 in the championship you will get 4 home games compared to 3 for teams finishing 3rd and 4th looking at the schedule championship winners home v 4578 and away 126 compared to championship runners up home 5681 and away 237 you could argue that the runners up has a better schedule to get promoted because they are at home to the super league bottom 2 see www.rugbyleaguechampionships.co.uk/rlnewera Obviously you will want to win the league winners shield or whatever it is called but you are in a position to start rotating your squad and rest some players and the warrington game is your biggest game for yours so I believe you may rest some players for our game so they will be fresh for the following week

as long as you finish in the top 2 in the championship you will get 4 home games compared to 3 for teams finishing 3rd and 4th looking at the schedule championship winners home v 4578 and away 126 compared to championship runners up home 5681 and away 237 you could argue that the runners up has a better schedule to get promoted because they are at home to the super league bottom 2 see www.rugbyleaguechampionships.co.uk/rlnewera Obviously you will want to win the league winners shield or whatever it is called but you are in a position to start rotating your squad and rest some players and the warrington game is your biggest game for yours so I believe you may rest some players for our game so they will be fresh for the following week

Not much thought gone into that fixture formula.

It's obviously the first the compiler came up with. And then he thought, "oh, that'll do."

Quote ="duggs413"as long as you finish in the top 2 in the championship you will get 4 home games compared to 3 for teams finishing 3rd and 4th looking at the schedule championship winners home v 4578 and away 126 compared to championship runners up home 5681 and away 237 you could argue that the runners up has a better schedule to get promoted because they are at home to the super league bottom 2 see www.rugpotentiallybyleaguechampi ... k/rlnewera Obviously you will want to win the league winners shield or whatever it is called but you are in a position to start rotating your squad and rest some players and the warrington game is your biggest game for yours so I believe you may rest some players for our game so they will be fresh for the following week'" As it stands your probably correct that the runners up, do have a better schedule.To be honest for me it's all very dependent on what injuries,suspensions teams have going into that middle 8's. 9th and 10th of SL will being fighting all the way to gain a top 8 position in SL,were as 11th and 12th will have already resided to the fact they are in the mid 8's and will be preparing for that. So potentially you could see 11th and 12th of SL (5th and 6th in mid 8's) actually being stronger and better prepared than 9th and 10th of SL (1st and 2nd in mid 8's)... Thats why I don't see us playing a weakened side against you.

Quote ="duggs413"as long as you finish in the top 2 in the championship you will get 4 home games compared to 3 for teams finishing 3rd and 4th looking at the schedule championship winners home v 4578 and away 126 compared to championship runners up home 5681 and away 237 you could argue that the runners up has a better schedule to get promoted because they are at home to the super league bottom 2 see www.rugpotentiallybyleaguechampi ... k/rlnewera Obviously you will want to win the league winners shield or whatever it is called but you are in a position to start rotating your squad and rest some players and the warrington game is your biggest game for yours so I believe you may rest some players for our game so they will be fresh for the following week'" As it stands your probably correct that the runners up, do have a better schedule.To be honest for me it's all very dependent on what injuries,suspensions teams have going into that middle 8's. 9th and 10th of SL will being fighting all the way to gain a top 8 position in SL,were as 11th and 12th will have already resided to the fact they are in the mid 8's and will be preparing for that. So potentially you could see 11th and 12th of SL (5th and 6th in mid 8's) actually being stronger and better prepared than 9th and 10th of SL (1st and 2nd in mid 8's)... Thats why I don't see us playing a weakened side against you.

Apart from Wakefield who seem to be happy to finish bottom the other 3 "middle 8" teams are not easy to call even 4th place Huddersfield are only 5 points from "safety" so I tend to agree with you they may be some high tension games towards the end of the super league season trying to avoid the bottom 4 so to finish 1st may have the better schedule however but to be honest apart from leigh and bradford the rest of us championship sides have 0% chance of promotion so it is all about getting as much money as possible to try to get a full time squad together

Personally, I consider it far more important to maintain the winning habit. The formula for the Eights phase of the season is a bit of a lottery - although, either way, you still play the same seven teams. And whilst you have an element of control over where you finish, you have none over the results of others.

Will play a part Griff,I don't dispute that.I see lots of turmoil come that mid 8's..Not whats on paper.