Sat 30th-Sun 31st Aug: The Betfred Championship Match Thread

[League Express]

Sat 30th-Sun 31st Aug: The Betfred Championship Match Thread

Discuss the games here.

Please don't accuse match officials of deliberate bias or cheating, or your posts will be removed and your account may be banned without further warning.

SATURDAY 30th AUGUST
Batley Bulldogs v London Broncos KO 15:00
Bradford Bulls v Toulouse Olympique KO 18:00

SUNDAY 31st AUGUST
Barrow Raiders v Halifax Panthers KO 15:00
Oldham v Doncaster KO 14:00
Sheffield Eagles v Featherstone Rovers KO 15:00
Widnes Vikings v Hunslet KO 15:00
 

[Normy_Rover]

43 minutes ago, League Express said:

Batley Bulldogs v London Broncos 
Bradford Bulls v Toulouse Olympique 

SUNDAY 31st AUGUST
Barrow Raiders v Halifax Panthers
Oldham v Doncaster
Sheffield Eagles v Featherstone Rovers 
Widnes Vikings v Hunslet

 

[JonM]

Last home game of the season for Barrow - even if they win, probably only a slim chance of making the play-offs. They were 2nd at the start of May.

Toulouse have Batley (H) and Hunslet (A) after this, Bradford have London (A) and Featherstone (H), so probably the winner takes 2nd spot and the loser 3rd with both having a game in hand over Oldham and far better points difference.

[The Blues Ox]

38 minutes ago, JonM said:

Last home game of the season for Barrow - even if they win, probably only a slim chance of making the play-offs. They were 2nd at the start of May.

Toulouse have Batley (H) and Hunslet (A) after this, Bradford have London (A) and Featherstone (H), so probably the winner takes 2nd spot and the loser 3rd with both having a game in hand over Oldham and far better points difference.

Isn't it still a top 6?

[JonM]

23 minutes ago, The Blues Ox said:

Isn't it still a top 6?

Yep.

Barrow have one less game left to play than Halifax, Widnes, Doncaster, Fev. Teams above them can't all lose all their remaining games, as Halifax still have to play Widnes & Doncaster. So if they win, it still takes quite a few other games to go the right way for them to finish 6th.

Edited August 28, 2025 by JonM

[Fevrover]

42 minutes ago, JonM said:

Yep.

Barrow have one less game left to play than Halifax, Widnes, Doncaster, Fev. Teams above them can't all lose all their remaining games, as Halifax still have to play Widnes & Doncaster. So if they win, it still takes quite a few other games to go the right way for them to finish 6th.

Simple as that . 

[The Blues Ox]

2 hours ago, JonM said:

Yep.

Barrow have one less game left to play than Halifax, Widnes, Doncaster, Fev. Teams above them can't all lose all their remaining games, as Halifax still have to play Widnes & Doncaster. So if they win, it still takes quite a few other games to go the right way for them to finish 6th.

Thanks, the way you were talking I thought it might have gone back to a top 4 and I had missed it.

But there is always hope, you never know, the RFL might change the format in the next few weeks. 

[JonM]

I do wonder how many boards of directors and playing squads will be genuinely hoping to get the sixth play-off spot with the reward of a 5 days notice trip to Toulouse, but I guess we'll see.

[Bulls2487]

1 hour ago, JonM said:

I do wonder how many boards of directors and playing squads will be genuinely hoping to get the sixth play-off spot with the reward of a 5 days notice trip to Toulouse, but I guess we'll see.

Could be the Bulls yet.

[Chronicler of Chiswick]

Batley, Toulouse, Halifax, Oldham, Fev., Widnes.

[gogledd]

Wins for Bulldogs, TO XIII, Panthers, Oldham, Rovers and Vikings.

[DEANO]

5 hours ago, The Blues Ox said:

Isn't it still a top 6?

A new initiative has come out. The top 6 will be decided in alphabetical order of nicknames 

[doc]

9 hours ago, League Express said:

Sat 30th-Sun 31st Aug: The Betfred Championship Match Threa

SATURDAY 30th AUGUST
Batley Bulldogs v London Broncos KO 15:00
Bradford Bulls v Toulouse Olympique KO 18:00

SUNDAY 31st AUGUST
Barrow Raiders v Halifax Panthers KO 15:00
Oldham v Doncaster KO 14:00
Sheffield Eagles v Featherstone Rovers KO 15:00
Widnes Vikings v Hunslet KO 15:00
 

 

[gavin7094]

1 hour ago, DEANO said:

A new initiative has come out. The top 6 will be decided in alphabetical order of nicknames 

If I didn't laugh I would cry.

[gavin7094]

 

10 hours ago, League Express said:

 

All away wins.

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

...

Edited August 28, 2025 by Les Tonks Sidestep

[RBKnight]

York on their bye week, so Knights fans can hope for Bradford v Toulouse to be an attritional and bruising 0-0 draw, ending in a massive fracas with eight players suspended for the rest of the season 

[Bulls2487]

Tough one to call Bulls V Toulouse. Bulls put in our worst performance of the season at Toulouse. Lost 36-4.

The other games we have lost to York and Barrow were 3 by 2 points one by 8 and 10 so pretty close

Toulouse haven't won at Odsal since 2019.

 

[Griff]

18 hours ago, JonM said:

I do wonder how many boards of directors and playing squads will be genuinely hoping to get the sixth play-off spot with the reward of a 5 days notice trip to Toulouse, but I guess we'll see.

Somebody's going. The flights will already be booked.

[JonM]

1 hour ago, Griff said:

Somebody's going. The flights will already be booked.

If Toulouse finish 2nd, those flights won't be needed.

[Griff]

1 hour ago, JonM said:

If Toulouse finish 2nd, those flights won't be needed.

Then they'll be cancelled.

[Simon Hall]

1 hour ago, Griff said:

Then they'll be cancelled.

Surely any flights will be booked when they know the names of the people going on them, they can't just book flights then decide who's going on them at a later date. A simple name change can cost more than the entire flight cost, and if they're cancelled you lose the lot.

[Griff]

8 minutes ago, Simon Hall said:

Surely any flights will be booked when they know the names of the people going on them, they can't just book flights then decide who's going on them at a later date. A simple name change can cost more than the entire flight cost, and if they're cancelled you lose the lot.

They have an "arrangement" which they can get because they buy a lot of flights.   How daft would the RFL look if they waited for the team to be picked three or four days before the game and then found that the flight was full?

[Simon Hall]

1 minute ago, Griff said:

How daft would the RFL look

Probably no dafter than they already do.

[Griff]

1 minute ago, Simon Hall said:

Probably no dafter than they already do.

To photographers ?  Maybe.

To folk who manage teams flying out?  That ability to get concessions is a godsend.