BATLEY BULLDOGS coach James Ford is ready for a big and exciting run-in to the regular season as he targets a top-ten finish.
That would make him the first coach to take the Fox’s Biscuits Stadium side to the play-offs since Craig Lingard in 2022.
Back then, Batley won at Barrow and then Featherstone to make the final, where they lost 44-12 at Leigh.
Four years on, Ford is trying to conjure some consistency from a team who has won nine out of 20 league games following Sunday’s 30-12 win at Swinton.
This Sunday they host Newcastle, then it’s Keighley at home, a derby at Dewsbury and Salford at home.
“The table is close and that is by design, but I probably won’t look properly until the last couple of games,” Ford, who is in his first season at the club, told the Dewsbury Reporter.
“The RFL have picked the fixtures to try and make it as equal as possible. They have created the list to make it a really exciting end to the season, and it will be.”