Fri 25th - Sun 27th Aug: The Betfred Championship Match Thread

[John Drake]

Discuss this weekend's Betfred Championship games here.

FRIDAY 25th AUGUST
Batley Bulldogs v Sheffield Eagles KO 19:30
Newcastle Thunder v York Knights KO 20:00

SATURDAY 26th AUGUST
Toulouse Olympique v Barrow Raiders KO 15:00
at Mazicou Stadium, Albi

SUNDAY 27th AUGUST
Featherstone Rovers v Keighley Cougars KO 15:00
Halifax Panthers v Widnes Vikings KO 15:00
London Broncos v Whitehaven KO 15:00
Swinton Lions v Bradford Bulls KO 15:00

[spanishknight]

6 hours ago, John Drake said:

Sheffield Eagles     by  12
York Knights           by 10

Toulouse                  by 22
Featherstone           by 20
Halifax                      by 14
London                     by 16    
Bradford Bulls          by 24

 

Edited August 24, 2023 by spanishknight

[crashmon]

2 hours ago, John Drake said:

Discuss this weekend's Betfred Championship games here.

FRIDAY 25th AUGUST
Batley Bulldogs v Sheffield Eagles KO 19:30
Newcastle Thunder v York Knights KO 20:00

SATURDAY 26th AUGUST
Toulouse Olympique v Barrow Raiders KO 15:00
at Mazicou Stadium, Albi

SUNDAY 27th AUGUST
Featherstone Rovers v Keighley Cougars KO 15:00
Halifax Panthers v Widnes Vikings KO 15:00
London Broncos v Whitehaven KO 15:00
Swinton Lions v Bradford Bulls KO 15:00

Getting close to the playoffs, but don't see any real surprises....

[Havenwarrior2021]

Batley, York, Toulouse, Fev, Halifax, Haven, Bradford 

[Dovster]

Bulldogs by 4

Knights by 12

Olympic by 26

Fev/Cougars Draw

Panthers by 8

Broncos by 8

Bulls by 2

[Barley Mow]

Batley Bulldogs v Sheffield Eagles - by 8
Newcastle Thunder v York Knights - by 16
Toulouse Olympique v Barrow Raiders - by 22
Featherstone Rovers v Keighley Cougars - by 18
Halifax Panthers v Widnes Vikings - by 8
London Broncos v Whitehaven - by 2
Swinton Lions v Bradford Bulls - by 10

[Normy_Rover]

6 hours ago, John Drake said:

Batley Bulldogs v Sheffield Eagles KO 19:30
Newcastle Thunder v York Knights KO 20:00

SATURDAY 26th AUGUST
Toulouse Olympique v Barrow Raiders KO 15:00
at Mazicou Stadium, Albi

SUNDAY 27th AUGUST
Featherstone Rovers v Keighley Cougars KO 15:00
Halifax Panthers v Widnes Vikings KO 15:00
London Broncos v Whitehaven KO 15:00
Swinton Lions v Bradford Bulls KO 15:00

 

[The Blues Ox]

FRIDAY 25th AUGUST
Batley Bulldogs v Sheffield Eagles Batley by 4
Newcastle Thunder v York Knights York by 24

SATURDAY 26th AUGUST
Toulouse Olympique v Barrow Raiders Toulouse by 38
at Mazicou Stadium, Albi

SUNDAY 27th AUGUST
Featherstone Rovers v Keighley Cougars Fev by 42
Halifax Panthers v Widnes Vikings Fax by 18
London Broncos v Whitehaven London by 16
Swinton Lions v Bradford Bulls Swinton by 4

[doc]

10 hours ago, John Drake said:

 

FRIDAY 25th AUGUST
Batley Bulldogs v Sheffield Eagles by 2
Newcastle Thunder v York Knights by 18

SATURDAY 26th AUGUST
Toulouse Olympique v Barrow Raiders by 40

SUNDAY 27th AUGUST
Featherstone Rovers v Keighley Cougars by 50
Halifax Panthers v Widnes Vikings by 2 (wishful thinking.)
London Broncos v Whitehaven by 18
Swinton Lions v Bradford Bulls by 20

 

[Chronicler of Chiswick]

Batley, York, Toulouse, Fev, Halifax, London, Bradford.

[kiggy]

On 24/08/2023 at 14:54, crashmon said:

Getting close to the playoffs, but don't see any real surprises....

I think Barrow have a lot to play for so I expect a tough match in Albi.

TO are knackered as they've played a lot of games in the heat recently. They've also lost a couple of decent players too, Biscarro for the rest of season, maybe Jussaume too. Also missing Guy Armitage now due to a nasty, sneaky elbow to the back of the head at the end of the last game. If..a big IF, Jake can play, TO should win but I won't expect a big score line. 

[The Phantom Horseman]

25 minutes ago, kiggy said:

I think Barrow have a lot to play for so I expect a tough match in Albi.

TO are knackered as they've played a lot of games in the heat recently. They've also lost a couple of decent players too, Biscarro for the rest of season, maybe Jussaume too. Also missing Guy Armitage now due to a nasty, sneaky elbow to the back of the head at the end of the last game. If..a big IF, Jake can play, TO should win but I won't expect a big score line. 

I thought the new full back Zac Santo looks a very interesting player just based on the highlights of Toulouse's recent games, hard to see from that why he's been playing in Elite 1 for years as he looks a real threat.

 

[kiggy]

1 hour ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

I thought the new full back Zac Santo looks a very interesting player just based on the highlights of Toulouse's recent games, hard to see from that why he's been playing in Elite 1 for years as he looks a real threat.

 

He is. Very quick. If he has Jake and Josh playing in front of him he does well.  It was nice that the 1st home match there were some Limoux supporters who came along to watch to see how he got on.

Olly AB is fit already, although with Zac in the team he won't be brought back and risked playing until next season.  A remarkable recovery in 6 months. 

[Crown Flatter]

Batley Bulldogs 20-10 Sheffield Eagles 
Newcastle Thunder 12-28 York Knights 
Toulouse Olympique 48-10 Barrow Raiders 
Featherstone Rovers 54-10 Keighley Cougars 
Halifax Panthers 30-16 Widnes Vikings 
London Broncos :30-16 Whitehaven 
Swinton Lions 14-36 Bradford Bulls 

[spanishknight]

Knights 6 nil up after 10 minutes 

[The Blues Ox]

Wow whats going on at Batley 6-34 with about 15 to go. Sheffield probably just put themselves as favs for 3rd place at the same time.

Edited August 25, 2023 by The Blues Ox

[Fevrover]

Just now, The Blues Ox said:

Wow whats going on at Batley 6-34 with about 15 to go.

Strange what's happened to Batley.

[Ragingbull]

Batley have recently hit a wall and just havnt been able to compete with the top sides.  They have still been able to give lesser sides a really tough game but the better teams have put them to the sword quite easily

[Havenwarrior2021]

8 hours ago, Ragingbull said:

Batley have recently hit a wall and just havnt been able to compete with the top sides.  They have still been able to give lesser sides a really tough game but the better teams have put them to the sword quite easily

Got beat last week by the cougars enough said really. 

[The Phantom Horseman]

12 hours ago, Ragingbull said:

Batley have recently hit a wall and just havnt been able to compete with the top sides.  They have still been able to give lesser sides a really tough game but the better teams have put them to the sword quite easily

It's not just the better teams that have put them to the sword, they even lost heavily to a team that had been beaten at home by Barrow 6 days earlier.

[The Phantom Horseman]

12 hours ago, The Blues Ox said:

Wow whats going on at Batley 6-34 with about 15 to go. Sheffield probably just put themselves as favs for 3rd place at the same time.

The tipping point in rugby league is a strange thing, there seems to come a point where a lot of hard games in a short space of time plus perhaps people playing banged up can suddenly lead to performances that are massively below par. I mean Leigh shipping 50-odd at HKR last night just doesn't tally at all with most of their season, I think some teams are just hitting the wall at this stage of the season especially those with smaller squads that have had busy schedules.

[Monkeymagic22]

2 hours ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

The tipping point in rugby league is a strange thing, there seems to come a point where a lot of hard games in a short space of time plus perhaps people playing banged up can suddenly lead to performances that are massively below par. I mean Leigh shipping 50-odd at HKR last night just doesn't tally at all with most of their season, I think some teams are just hitting the wall at this stage of the season especially those with smaller squads that have had busy schedules.

Fair point, and Leigh have predominantly played the same team every week, whilst KR had that weakened team the week before the final. With the Championship teams, the 1865 Cup, final and semi finals must have taken plenty out of the tank.

[The Phantom Horseman]

Looks like Barrow are down to bare bones for today's game at Toulouse, at least if their published line-up is accurate in positional terms. Having initially named an 18-man squad, their starting line-up lists wing Shane Toal at centre, Jarrod Sammut at hooker, Greg Worthington at prop, wing/centre Ryan Shaw at back row and hooker Josh Wood at 13 (though presumably Sammut will play as a loose-forward/third half and Wood in his normal position).

Toulouse have their own injury concerns but it will be interesting to see if Barrow can put up a fight.

[RBKnight]

6 hours ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

The tipping point in rugby league is a strange thing, there seems to come a point where a lot of hard games in a short space of time plus perhaps people playing banged up can suddenly lead to performances that are massively below par. I mean Leigh shipping 50-odd at HKR last night just doesn't tally at all with most of their season, I think some teams are just hitting the wall at this stage of the season especially those with smaller squads that have had busy schedules.

Why as a York fan, I'm pleased with the little run the team has put together in the Championship (if you include the decent showing against Toulouse). We've been like Monty Python's Black Knight, with bits falling off weekly, so now there's lots of youngsters and players out of position every game. Again, scrappy but deserved win on a short turn around at Newcastle last night. Personally, I think Hendo as coach deserves a lot of credit for this.

[The Phantom Horseman]

2 minutes ago, RBKnight said:

Why as a York fan, I'm pleased with the little run the team has put together in the Championship (if you include the decent showing against Toulouse). We've been like Monty Python's Black Knight, with bits falling off weekly, so now there's lots of youngsters and players out of position every game.

Indeed - every time the Knights are written off they say Ni