Excluding the cup game against Salford which I don't expect us to win and just hoping for a decent showing.
Newcastle (AWAY)
Dewsbury (HOME)
Batley (AWAY)
On paper we have a pretty favourable start to the season and need to be hitting the ground running. I doubt most people would tip any of the above sides to make the playoffs let alone be title contenders. Batley away is the toughest of the three for me and certainly a potential banana skin. If we are going to be serious contenders for promotion we need to be winning all three and any less than two wins would put us very much on the back foot with regards making the playoffs. I thought there was enough in the performance against Whitehaven to say we can win all three. But will we? Thoughts?
If we are to have any aspirations of being in the mix at the end of the season then you'd expect to win these 3 games .
I think we should beat Newcastle comfortably , after a bit of battle for 60mins. Dewsbury and Batley will both test us up the middle and if we cannot cope and fail to get the points then its going to be a long and fruitless year for us . Of the two I'd agree with MT Batley will be the tougher game.
The Vicar
We can and we should if we have Top 6 ambitions.
However, we have slipped up against both Batley and Dewsbury in the past!
Both of those matches should be indicative of whether the Clough and Cook signings (plus Doro and Jewitt maybe?) have sufficiently beefed up our pack.
We will have to hope for a dry day at Batley and play down the hill in the first half and get a good lead, unlike last time when I think we were 6-0 down playing downhill at half time. We should win the other 2 games.
I’d rather we played uphill in the first half. As long as we were not more than one score behind at half time I would fancy the win.
If there was no cup tie after the first championship game I would say we would have a good chance of 3 out of 3 wins. However 2 of the games are away & in recent times our away form has not been good at all. I think our pack is a lot more competitive size wise now but a lot will depend on how many injuries we sustain against Salford in the cup. Most games involving SL teams seem to end up with at least 1 or 2 injuries. From the interview with Finnegan he seemed to indicate he will play the squad members who have not played yet so he may rest our key players & put out a weakish team. That could mean we are involved in an 80 minute defensive stint & all that comes with it. A heavy defeat could mean confidence is dented. My heart says 3 wins but my head says if the Salford game ends with bad injury blows 2 wins is possibly more likely.
I will be happy with a win at home and one out of the Newcastle and Batley away games. It’s still early in the season after a long break and, although at the end of fixtures we should be in the top 4, realistically we won’t win all our matches.
Agree with geoffw that the Salford game poses unwelcome injury risks to our squad, but as I don’t think that many people are expecting a win, losing shouldn’t seriously affect confidence.
Listening to the podcast with SF he said players who have not played yet will get a runout so it doesn’t sound like a game he is targeting
Listening to the podcast with SF he said players who have not played yet will get a runout so it doesn’t sound like a game he is targeting
I picked that up as well paull. It makes sense long term.
If he follows through with it all the squad will have their first team shirts and will be in for the semi-final for the 1895. Should help the gelling process. Without crowds the share of a big team game is gone anyway.