It’s going to be a crucial week for Leeds.
They visit Castleford today (Monday, April 18) and according to Gary Hetherington, will have a new coach by the time they take on Toulouse at Headingley on Friday.
A few months ago, it would have been unbelievable that Leeds versus Toulouse in round ten would be a showdown between Super League’s bottom two clubs.
Toulouse’s precarious position isn’t a surprise, of course.
Having made so few additions to their squad after promotion, they were always going have their work cut out to pick up points, even before the departures of Mark Kheirallah and Johnathon Ford.
But who’d have thought Leeds would be down there?
Their start to the season has been dire, and while they picked up a third point through Thursday’s 20-20 home stalemate with Huddersfield – weren’t draws meant to have been eliminated from Super League, by the way? – I couldn’t really find any other positives to take from their performance.
And judging by the many I spoke to on the night, neither could the disgruntled supporters.
It was a strange old game, high on drama but low on quality, and both sides had spells on top.
To be ten points up with two minutes to play yet not win takes some doing.
But Leeds managed it as Huddersfield grabbed back-to-back tries, the second on the back of a penalty, against which the home side should have been so carefully guarding.
Winger Innes Senior’s equalising score was too wide out for Tui Lolohea to land what would have been a match-winning conversion against his old club, so it was on to golden point.
It seemed hard to believe neither side could score in the ten minutes available – why is there such a short time limit? – but rather than stay calm and collected and build a position from which to have a realistic drop-goal attempt, it was panic, panic, panic, and no further score.
The result was a reasonable reflection of the game.
But I suspect Ian Watson will have been happier with the point than Jamie Jones-Buchanan, who could be taking his last match as Leeds caretaker coach against Castleford, although in practical terms, whoever gets the job won’t have much, if any, time to prepare the team for the Toulouse showdown.
It’s a huge decision for Gary, because whoever gets the job has a mountain to climb with this side.
And while the chief executive and no doubt the new coach will talk about there still being time to make the play-offs, climbing away from the danger zone will be a feat in itself.
While they are in the doldrums now, Leeds remain one of the game’s biggest clubs, and a prized scalp, and rival teams will be desperate to keep them down at the foot of the table.
As for Toulouse, they certainly gave it a go in the first all-French Super League game at Catalans, who edged it by eight.
But like Leigh last year, they have a few too many journeymen in the ranks, and that means that while there will be phases in plenty of matches where they are the dominant side, being better for most of the 80 minutes, and therefore picking up enough wins to stay up, will be difficult.
They really need to take points off the teams closest to them in the table, which makes their trip to Leeds especially important.
And the way Leeds are currently, I think Toulouse will win by seven.
Better news for Daryl
Daryl Powell will be feeling a bit more relaxed after Warrington got their first victory in six in all competitions.
But having won by 14 points at home to Salford, who now have only one success in seven, the Wolves need to back the performance up.
Toby King was a stand-out with a hat-trick of tries, and England coach Shaun Wane will surely be monitoring him closely.
I tipped Wakefield to finally snap their losing sequence in games against Castleford, so like many, I was surprised by the scale of their capitulation (a 30-point defeat).
It was another grim derby for the home supporters, whose hopes had been raised by those recent back-to-back wins at Warrington and the home success over Salford, but for whom the Challenge Cup defeat by Wigan was a bit of a wake-up call.
Their side have now lost 17 times on the bounce in clashes with Cas, and I bet Paul McShane couldn’t believe his eyes as that gap opened, allowing him to waltz through for his try.
It was poor defending by Trinity, and Willie Poching is entitled to think his players should do the basics far better.
As for Lee Radford, successive league wins over Toulouse and Trinity will have provided him with a pick-me-up after those five defeats in the first six games.
There was further good news for the Castleford faithful the following day with the confirmation that rather than pursue the construction of a new stadium elsewhere, their beloved Wheldon Road is to be redeveloped.
It means the club will be staying at their traditional and atmospheric home in the heart of the town rather than moving to some soulless set-up on the outskirts.
Wakefield, of course, are due to start the redevelopment of Belle Vue imminently.
And it seems the local council, whose area includes both clubs as well as ambitious Featherstone, have finally started to realise just how important the teams are to significant numbers of the public, and just what a community asset a modern venue can become.
Hodgson facing problems at Hull
Sam Powell and Brad Fash are the latest players facing lengthy bans.
And while the latter’s incident in the Hull derby, with the allegation of biting, might not have been clear at the time, it’s hard to see why Wigan’s Powell wasn’t sent off, rather than sinbinned, for his blatant crusher tackle on St Helens’ Jon Bennison.
These challenges need to be eradicated – and showing a straight red card is a start.
Saints were just too strong for their old rivals, and when they bring their ‘A’ game, they are head and shoulders above the rest.
Wigan weren’t bad, but Saints’ forwards were too strong and too mobile, their halves too creative and their backs too quick, and the 18-point margin could have been greater.
I fully expect Saints to beat Wigan again when they meet in the Challenge Cup semi-finals.
The Huddersfield-Hull KR tie is harder to call, but it’s difficult to rule out Rovers, who certainly have the upper hand in their own city at the moment.
As I’ve often said, I like the open and attractive way Tony Smith gets his team to play, but after his side slumped by twelve at Rovers, Brett Hodgson has problems to solve at Hull.
The pack looked wooden and lacked mobility, and for me, Luke Gale and Josh Reynolds just aren’t working as a partnership.
I thought Rovers fullback Lachlan Coote was worth nine out of ten and his teammates eight, but as for Hull – three across the board.
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