Who will play in Bradford’s halves at London Broncos?
Bradford’s quest to overhaul their 12-point deduction imposed on them by the RFL continues on Sunday with a trip to the capital – as they aim to make it three wins on the spin against Andrew Henderson’s in-form London. However, the Bulls may have a dilemma in the halves.
The Broncos’ 3G pitch means the Bulls could tinker with their squad – and Jordan Lilley’s recall from Leeds has done the Bulls no favours either. So might someone like Oscar Thomas have to go into the halves, allowing Lee Smith to make his debut at fullback? It’ll be an interesting dilemma for Leigh Beattie to have.
How will Featherstone line up without any dual-registration players?
Leeds’ injury crisis not only impacted on Bradford’s plans last night – but also Jon Sharp’s Featherstone. Rovers are Leeds’ dual-registration club usually but this weekend, it’s understood there may not be a single Rhinos player turning out for Featherstone against Rochdale.
To their credit, Fev have been great so far this season and are unbeaten on merit. But, aside from the loan deal struck by Fev to bring in Cory Aston from Leeds this week, Sharp’s men will have to go it alone against Rochdale.
How long can Dewsbury go without their first win of the season?
It may well be only round five – but you get the feeling that the weeks are ramping up in importance for Glenn Morrison and Dewsbury as the season rolls on.
So far it’s four games and four defeats; and this weekend’s trip to Oldham looks to be a huge one, at least judging by the league table. The Rams are only being kept off the bottom by Bradford’s 12-point deduction and all things being equal, you get the feeling Dewsbury have to notch up that first win pretty soon – for confidence purposes if nothing else.
Can Toulouse show they’re not the Championship’s Jekyll and Hyde side at Halifax?
Two wins from the opening four games represents a decent start for Toulouse following promotion from League 1 – but it’s a familiar story for the Frenchmen, at least in comparison to Catalans Dragons in the division above.
At home, Sylvain Houles’ men have been great – if not unstoppable in hammering Batley and Dewsbury. But away from home, it’s been a different story, losing to Sheffield and, most recently, Bradford. So can they stop the rot away from home on Sunday? It’ll be tough; Halifax are picking up form under Richard Marshall and have back-to-back wins behind them. But if the newly-promoted Frenchmen are to show their promotion credentials, away wins are a must.
Who can stop Hull Kingston Rovers?
Right now, it seems like the answer is nobody. The Robins were pushed in the capital against Andrew Henderson’s London earlier in the season and Rochdale certainly gave them a stiff test – but ultimately, it’s four wins from four ahead of this weekend’s game against Sheffield.
Tim Sheens looks to have his men working well in the early stages of the new season, and those who predicted KR would go through the regular season unbeaten may be feeling quite smug about that right now. But as we know in the Championship, things can turn on a sixpence at any time – and Sheffield will be smelling a scalp.