The current league standings are:



9 Hull KR

10 Widnes

11 Salford

12 Wakefield



Hull v Hull KR could make a difference but with Kelly possibly missing this I reckon it might just be a case of Widnes getting 9th



1 Leigh

2 Bradford

3 Sheffield

4 Halifax



If Fev beat Sheffield they have a chance of making the 4 otherwise these are the teams. Even if Bradford beat Leigh it's unlikely they'll take top spot.

So if it stays as it is the fixtures will be like this:





Hull KR........Home: Widnes; Leigh; Salford; Sheffield..............Away: Bradford; Wakefield; Halifax

Widnes.......Home: Bradford; Salford; Wakefield; Halifax.........Away: Hull KR; Leigh; Sheffield

Salford........Home: Leigh; Wakefield; Sheffield........................Away: Hull KR; Widnes; Bradford; Halifax

Wakefield ...Home: Hull KR; Bradford; Halifax..........................Away: Widnes; Leigh; Salford; Sheffield



Leigh.........Home: Widnes; Bradford; Wakefield; Sheffield.....Away: Hull KR; Salford; Halifax

Bradford....Home: Hull KR; Salford; Sheffield; Halifax.............Away: Widnes; Leigh; Wakefield

Sheffield....Home: Widnes; Wakefield; Halifax.......................Away: Hull KR; Leigh; Bradford; Salford

Halifax.......Home: Hull KR; Leigh; Salford..............................Away: Widnes; Bradford; Wakefield; Sheffield





The only thing I'd prefer is for Widnes at home. The rest I'm ok with.

I'd be happy enough with that and I think we could hold our own against most of those sides.



Bradford and Halifax at home would be absolute must-wins. I'd like to think with the improvement we've seen so far under Brian Smith that we have a good chance against KR. Widnes away will be tough as they just play their pitch better than most other teams. Salford are tough to judge, they can be great one day and awful the next. Sheffield should hold no fears, even away from home. The other tricky fixture will be Leigh away (which I think I read was the first fixture of the middle 8's). Having said that I think we're infinitely better now than when we played them in the cup and we should have won that.

Its cup one off rugby and T B H anything can and probably will happen. Home games are vital and the club must promote the fixture and dare I say it offer some kind of offer to get the place packed. The away games are all winnable but Leigh will be a tough encounter and I think the most composed team will win it. The pack will need to be on top form. Leigh will be in the usual bash em form.

Home games are vital but three games in Lancashire will be tough ... Widnes's pitch, unpredictable at Leigh and Salford will improve with Tim sheens

Fully agree with this.



Sheens at Salford will ensure that they will stay in SL, which leaves us "hunting" Widnes, even if it's on their plastic pitch and we have to beat the Championship clubs, no if's no but's, we have to beat them and they will all be tough fixtures.



The 4 Championship clubs will be busting a gut to gain promotion and the 4 SL clubs fighting for survival, especially Wakefield.



Our home fixtures look ok but the away ties all look tricky.

So realistically, how many are we going to have to win in order to stay up? Like you say, the home games look ok, but those away games could be very difficult.

Personally I think the Championship 3 and 4 won't win any games (apart from the one against each other)

I think Leigh will knock off at least 2 Super League teams (and could do them all)

That means that we'll have to win 5 from 7 to get that 3rd spot, and I think even then we may be split on points difference with 4th, which puts you in the play off game.

We'll have to win at least 3 to make sure we are not automatically down.



I think Salford are a target for us.

They have us and Leigh at home. Both tough games. If we beat them, and Leigh do too which is highly likely, they will be having to win all their away games, which is a tough task

Whereas we play Hull KR, Bradford at home, and tough as Hull KR can be, we have beaten them and beating both is very possible. With Halifax at home and Sheffield away, that would be 5 wins for us.



Salford away is a big game

But of course it is all just Maths at this stage. Need to actually find our best team and get them playing well for 80 minutes.

I suppose winning 5 from 7 if it is that amount shouldn't be beyond us, but it is gonna be tough no doubt about it, like you say, hopefully BS will have some idea of the team he thinks is best capable after the next two.

Like us, I think that Salford are a totally different beast with Tim Sheens at the helm, especially bearing in mind some of the quality they have in their squad.



We need to look at Widnes and whichever Hull club it is that fails to make the top 8.

Hopefully, the Hull club will be on a downer at missing out on the top 8 and they may be vulnerable

If HKR, they also have a semi final to think about. Losing that and missing the 8 whilst also been without Campese, could put them in a tricky situation.



Having said that, We are still conceding too many points per game, so unless that gets sorted there is no point looking at everyone else.

After tonight's game it could be favourable to play Hull FC in the 8. Looks like Ellis and Price are out for season!