Championship Round-up
This week
I will once again review how the season is looking for some of our rugby league
teams. Here I’ll concentrate on the 12
sides which make up this season’s Championship and take a look at how they have
fared through the second quarter of the season.
HULL KINGSTON ROVERS
Round 6 –
1st / 12 points
Round 12
– 1st / 22 points
Since
that opening few weeks which saw Tim Sheen’s side live up to the theories that
the squad is far too strong for this level, they carried that form through to Round
10 where further wins over Halifax, Batley, Swinton and Featherstone firmly established
them as the runaway league leaders.
But a
surprise defeat in Toulouse in Round 11 rattled a few cages and opened many people’s
eyes to the potential prospects of the French side. But a comfortable home victory over Rochdale ended
any possible thoughts of a collapse and Hull KR are still firm favourites to
lift the league-leaders shield.
TOULOUSE OLYMPIC
Round 6 –
3rd/ 8 points
Round 12
– 2nd / 18 points
The success
of Toulouse’s opening quarter of the regular season saw a few eyebrows raised
as they won four of their opening six games.
Amazingly, Sylvan Houles’ squad have gone from strength to strength and a
14-6 victory over favourites Hull KR and then a huge 60-4 trouncing of Bradford
Bulls has firmly established the club as potential promotion challengers to the
Super League.
The next
six games will see them battle it out with Featherstone to stay in second place
but with five wins from six in this latest quarter I would not be surprised if
they remain where they are.
FEATHERSTONE ROVERS
Round 6 –
2nd / 10 points
Round 12
– 3rd / 18 points
As for
Featherstone Rovers, they’ve slipped a place down the table due to the
successes of Toulouse and a Round 7 defeat to the French side coupled with a
defeat to leaders Hull KR in Round 10 mean they took just eight points from
their second quarter.
The next
group of fixtures sees Rovers take on London Broncos and Hull KR at the home in
consecutive weeks, so wins in either or both of these matches could be crucial if
they wish to remain inside the top four before facing London and Halifax again
later in the season.
HALIFAX RLFC
Round 6 –
6th / 6 points
Round 12
– 4th / 16 points
Defeats
to Featherstone and Batley Bulldogs in the opening two rounds of the 2017
season mean that the West Yorkshire side had a mountain to climb in order to fulfil
the ambition of reaching the Qualifiers again.
A further defeat at home to Toulouse in Round 5 meant they had just
three victories from six games.
But five
wins in a row in the last five games have seen Halifax bounce up the table and
sit in the qualifying spots thanks to a point’s difference of +81, compared to London
Broncos’ +80 who are fifth.
LONDON BRONCOS
Round 6 –
4th / 8 points
Round 12
– 5th / 16 points
The
Broncos have remained consistent from the opening quarter in so far as they’ve
won four and lost two games in the next six matches. But overall, Andrew Henderson’s side have
been pretty inconsistent so far considering many tipped them to be challenging
Hull KR.
A
surprise defeat away to Sheffield Eagles followed by defeat to Featherstone
early in the quarter allowed Halifax to catch up with them, and Toulouse and
Featherstone to establish stronger leads in the race for the top four.
BATLEY BULLDOGS
Round 6 –
7th / 6 points
Round 12
– 6th / 10 points
Strangely
Batley have moved up a place in the table despite a worse record in this second
quarter than they gained in the first.
Just two wins saw them add four points to their overall total but due to
results elsewhere they are up to sixth on point’s difference.
A big six
rounds is coming up for the Bulldogs if they harbour any hopes of returning to
the Qualifiers at the end of the season but they now effectively lead the
bottom half of the table. Upcoming home
games to Hull KR and Toulouse will be big tests.
SHEFFIELD EAGLES
Round 6 –
10th / 2 points
Round 12
– 7th / 10 points
Despite
victory over Toulouse in Round 2 the Eagles had an awful start to the season
with that being their only victory of the opening quarter. Since then they have enjoyed great success thanks
to two-pointers over Swinton, London, Rochdale and Dewsbury.
Despite a
defeat to Bradford in Round 9 and an expected loss to Featherstone more
recently, Sheffield have reached double figures in the points column but their
next two games over Bradford and a trip to Toulouse will test Mark Aston’s
squad.
OLDHAM RLFC
Round 6 –
8th / 3 points
Round 12
– 8th / 9 points
The
Roughyeds have enjoyed a much better second quarter of this regular season and
despite flirting with the relegation zone early in the campaign they have potentially
done enough to remain a force in the Championship for next season.
There’s
still a long way to go but crucial victories over most of the teams below them,
and game in hand with struggling Dewsbury Rams to still be arranged, will be a positive
for the Oldham fans. They may not reach
the qualifiers but they might just stay up.
ROCHDALE HORNETS
Round 6 –
5th / 7 points
Round 12
– 9th / 7 points
If this
was a league based on form then Rochdale would unfortunately be bottom. After a blistering start to the season which
saw Alan Kilshaw’s promoted side sit in first place after two rounds will have
pleased the fans no end, but six consecutive victories have meant a drop of
four places with no further points.
Admittedly,
recent defeats to Swinton and Batley have been by the odd point or two but they
need to convert those games into much needed victories in case Swinton and
Dewsbury find some form of their own and drag them into a relegation battle.
SWINTON LIONS
Round 6 –
9th / 2 points
Round 12
– 10th / 4 points
Moving
onto the Lions they only sit in tenth because of Bradford’s point’s deduction. One win in six in the opening few weeks was
followed by the exact same record in the second quarter.
That
solitary win over Rochdale may be crucial if they want to drag the Hornets down
the pecking order but they have a horrible run in their next six games which
includes matches against three of the top four plus Sheffield, Oldham and Batley.
DEWSBURY RAMS
Round 6 –
11th / 0 points
Round 12
– 11th / 2 points
The Rams
also have Bradford’s 12 point deduction to thank for them not being bottom of
the league with the worst record of all 12 clubs so far in the
Championship. A solitary win over Batley
is all they have from their first 11 games.
It’ll be
a major shock if Dewsbury can get out of the bottom two ahead of the
Championship split at the end of the season and, unfortunately, I think Neil
Kelly’s side are already destined for League 1 in 2018.
BRADFORD BULLS
Round 6 –
12th / -6 points
Round 12
– 12th / -2 points
Bradford
were expected to find it tough going this season what with having a 12 point
deduction to contend with but they will be mightily pleased that they have
managed to cut that down to just -2 after the first 12 rounds.
The Bulls
take on Sheffield, London and Hull KR in their next three games so they will
have to work in those matches to try and reduce that points total back to zero but
a Round 16 tie against Dewsbury should be the game to do it if not already done
so. If they can win as many games again
in the second half of this regular season they may just have a chance of beating
the odds and surviving in the Championship.
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