BATLEY BULLDOGS will play only their second Championship league game on Sunday after their opening game of the season against Featherstone Rovers was postponed because of Rovers having been liquidated.
In Round 2 they travelled to Halifax Panthers, losing 28-10, but that result could also be expunged from the league table if the Halifax club can’t be revived this season.
They will therefore be looking to get off the mark against a Doncaster club that defeated the Panthers 19-12 in Round 1 before going down to a shock away 26-24 defeat against Midlands Hurricanes in Round 2 and they could be helped by the inclusion of winger Derrell Olpherts, who has been signed recently after becoming a free agent from Featherstone.
Doncaster have been tipped by many pundits as a force to be reckoned with this season and they will travel to the Fox’s Biscuits Stadium with confidence after giving a spirited Challenge Cup display last week against Castleford Tigers, only going down 14-0 to the Super League club.
SQUADS
Bulldogs: 1 Robbie Butterworth, 2 Joe Burton, 3 Ollie Greensmith, 6 Ben Reynolds, 7 Josh Woods, 9 Alistair Leak, 10 Luke Cooper, 11 Dane Manning, 12 Lucas Walshaw, 13 Robson Stevens, 14 Ben White, 15 Nyle Flynn, 16 Michael Ward, 17 Liam Kirk, 18 Evan Hodgson, 19 Jonah Parsons, 20 Jack Hudson, 21 Luca Atkinson, 25 Akim Metvejev, 33 Will Oakes, Derrell Olpherts
Doncaster: 1 Tom Holmes, 2 Bureta Faraimo, 3 Brad Hey, 5 Luke Briscoe, 6 Cory Aston, 7 Connor Robinson, 8 Bradley Knowles, 9 Greg Burns, 10 Suaia Matagi, 12 Alex Sutcliffe, 13 Loui McConnell, 16 Pauli Pauli, 17 Muizz Mustapha, 18 Edene Gebbie, 19 Connor Jones, 20 Isaac Misky, 21 Tyla Hepi, 22 Luis Johnson, 23 James Glover, 24 Watson Boas, 25 Gadwin Springer
Referee: Tara Jones
STATS
Last ten meetings:
Doncaster 42, Batley 16 (ChR19, 27/7/25)
Batley 12, Doncaster 50 (ChR13, 15/6/25)
Batley 0, Doncaster 38 (ChR23, 8/9/24)
Doncaster 26, Batley 0 (ChR8, 19/5/24)
Doncaster 16, Batley 12 (CCR5, 14/4/19)
Doncaster 20, Batley 38 (CSR3, 23/8/15)
Batley 34, Doncaster 6 (ChR20, 5/7/15)
Doncaster 14, Batley 16 (ChR6, 29/3/15)
Doncaster 10, Batley 34 (ChR26, 7/9/14)
Batley 12, Doncaster 20 (ChR4, 9/3/14)
CONNOR ROBINSON needs one appearance to reach 100 for Doncaster.
- Debut: Thornhill Trojans (h) (CC) (W24-6) (Scrum half, 4 goals) (30 January, 2022)