1) Raiders’ turn in deserved spotlight
Only two of the 14 Championship clubs remain unbeaten in all competitions this season; the perhaps expected Featherstone Rovers, and the less expected Barrow Raiders.
Paul Crarey’s team have had an exceptional start to the season, beating Sheffield Eagles and Newcastle Thunder at home either side of a win at Whitehaven, then taking their league form into the Challenge Cup last week and avoiding the potential banana skin of Rochdale Hornets.
Last season’s League 1 champions, Barrow have taken to the Championship just fine, but there will be a marked step up in quality for them to contend with this week as the Premier Sports spotlight shines down on them away at Widnes Vikings on Monday night.
The Raiders were clinical last week at Rochdale, especially with wingers Shane Toal and Tee Ritson in spectacular form, and they might take hope from some of the questionable defence from Widnes in their cup exit to Leigh Centurions, but nonetheless this will be a far sterner test than anything faced so far.
2) Full-time clubs with different ambitions
The only two entirely full-time squads in the Championship go head-to-head on Sunday with Leigh welcoming Newcastle Thunder.
If budgets and resources were the be-all and end-all, this ought to be a promotion showdown, but of course there is more to it than that and these are two clubs who are in very different positions.
Newcastle have gone full-time only this season, and have opted to recruit a notably young squad with talent which they hope will grow over a number of years at the club, and ideally compete for Super League further down the line.
As for Leigh, relegation last year is still fresh and their recruitment of big-name stars from home and abroad – with Caleb Aekins now catching the eye as well as Nene Macdonald – reflects the need to go straight back up. It’s all about the here and now, and on that basis there is likely to be only one winner this week.
3) Featherstone v Halifax, part two
These two West Yorkshire clubs renew rivalries just seven days on from contesting an exciting Challenge Cup clash.
Down 16-0 at half-time, Halifax came roaring back and gave Featherstone a fright before a Morgan Smith drop goal and Brandon Pickersgill try wrapped things up and knocked the Panthers out.
It was an impressive effort from Fax but they will need to not only repeat it, but find extra gears, if they are to travel over to Rovers and provide a real match for Brian McDermott’s unbeaten men on their own turf.
Considering Leigh, supposedly Featherstone’s closest rivals, have already been dismantled at Post Office Road, it is some task ahead. Making a better start is a must for Halifax, or it could be a long Sunday afternoon.
4) Gill proving instant hit for Bulls
Batley Bulldogs were the team to end Bradford Bulls’ hopes last season by beating them in the first round of the Championship play-offs, a reminder of the distance still to be travelled by John Kear’s side.
Kear comes up against his old club, and former assistant Craig Lingard, again this week with his team yet to fully hit their stride this term either, having lost two of their three Championship dates so far.
One player who has not failed to hit expectations though is off-season signing Kieran Gill, who added to the four tries in those three league outings with a late hat-trick to steer them past London Broncos in the Challenge Cup last week.
The former Castleford Tigers centre scored more than a try a game in his time at Newcastle Thunder, and is already showing he can transfer that prowess to the Bulls. He will be one man that Batley must watch out for if they are to have more joy in this fixture.
5) Workington and London seek first wins
Two sides remain winless after the opening weeks of the Championship season, with Workington Town and London Broncos sharing both the relegation zone and the ignominy of nul points in the embryonic table.
After three league defeats, at least Workington tasted that winning feeling again at the weekend, defeating established Championship outfit Dewsbury Rams in the Challenge Cup with hooker Dec O’Donnell – who signed at London for 2022 before deciding to return north – magnificent in a morale-boosting win.
As for London, it’s five defeats from five across all competitions, and while they stuck in for a long time against Bradford last week, perhaps most worryingly of all they have scored a mere 32 points in those five games combined.
Both are at home this Sunday and Workington will fancy their chances against a Sheffield Eagles side who only scraped past amateur Hunslet Club Parkside in the cup, but London will need to pull something out of the bag that they’ve yet to show if they are to beat York City Knights and climb off the bottom.
Fixtures
Sunday 6 March
Leigh Centurions v Newcastle Thunder, 1.45pm
Workington Town v Sheffield Eagles, 2pm
Bradford Bulls v Batley Bulldogs, 3pm
Featherstone Rovers v Halifax Panthers, 3pm
London Broncos v York City Knights, 3pm
Whitehaven v Dewsbury Rams, 3pm
Monday 7 March
Widnes Vikings v Barrow Raiders, 7.45pm (live on Premier Sports)
