Mid 8s

mid 8s
although the salary cap difference has closed substantially , I dont think Leigh can be trusted to beat all 3 of the Championship teams , to get in the MPG.
Granted Leigh are less cavalier than last year , agree that Leeds are too good ,  but I suspect it will be same teams in SL next year.

It's hard to see an upset such is the gulf between super league and the Championship. Leigh are the only realistic hope of causing one.

Huddersfield keep finding ways to get beat and they don't seem to have a lot of spirit in the side,so could be vulnerable.

They might find a bit of improvement when they are playing for their livelihood. All in all no change next year.

Update-Cas in top 8 after beating Cats.
So HKR have to beat Hull(A-unlikely) and Leeds (H)and Wakefield lose to Cas(H) and Wire(A) which is on. Pts diff is very similar.
Widnes have Salford and Cats at home and 100 or so points diff in hand so are virtually safe.A HKR win at Hull although unlikely would have Wakey in a bit of a tis.

As for Leigh-saw them today and looked quite good- defence maybe a bit of a problem but unlike last year if they have learnt to play out leads against SL clubs then who knows.They do look better than last year in so much as they look better at playing the %s.The loss to HKR after squandering a big lead and leading Wakey and bombing out again shattered the confidence.Coaching team are better now and players like Higham have more influence on the plays than the cavalier style of last years team leaders.They will beat the Champ clubs this time I think-record speaks for itself 3 Champ wins in 3 seasons-Played 70 Won 65 Drawn 2 and Lost 3. Home form is 100% winning streak stretching back to 2013.

The problem for them this time around is the SL sides look better.They had the chance last year when Wakey were by far the worse-no such team this year all look good-unless a injury glut hits one if them.Should still be some cracking games.

All decided from super league anyway
Hull KR Salford Huddersfield Leeds
plus Leigh London and then two from Halifax Batley Bradford Featherstone

one game to go after this weeks results and the possibilities remain the same

It`s Batley and Featherstone(Bradford missing out is a shock)
Salford - 6 pts did cost them 8th and let Wakefield off the hook

It all kicks off Sat.Leeds and Huddersfield have hit form at the right time and if they both win as Leeds should and so may Huddersfield at Salford who may be worried by off field problems.We will know if the Salford  situation re Dr K is affecting the players after this game.A good win for Hull KR at home v Batley will boost confidence-anything else and...........doubts creep in. Fev will be up for the game v Leeds but class should tell.So with the 4 SL teams looking good(no weak link like Wakey were last year)can anyone join they party?Three teams no BUT I think Leigh can.Watched them train last Sat morning and they looked sharp.Hard session had quite a few puffing and blowing -the touch/held session was impressive -really quick.They have a good coach who seems to know the score-forwards to get in game /no pens etc ie a SL approach(which they did not have last year)
so my order
Leeds Huddersfield Salford Leigh Hull KR Featherstone Batley London
MPG
Leigh v Hull KR
.............atm Leigh to win it
The thing with TGG this year is the unpredictability of it all-injuries may well scupper my analysis)
The squads are so much more level(due to NRL TV deal which means the Leeds/Saints/Wigan can no longer afford the best or even the good Aussies).a good thing? ...well yes local players will get chances and will step up(I do not subscribe to the small player pool arguement )

leigh 34-30 london , 34-8 after 72minutes , london score 4 tries in 8 minutes.
leigh match last seasons middle 8 points total after 1 round

happy leigh dressing room,the points and the score handicap reached,their winnings were somewhat impinged though when they had to pay off the rlf bloke who moniters strange betting patterns and suspicious happenings,such as letting the opposition march up the field unapposed four times in 10 minutes,good job this great game of ours is so honest and clean

So after 4 games were are we now?
Leigh are far from pleased-heading for a 20+ point difference and then the lunacy of last year reared it`s ugly head.I was at the game and they never got the ball after the red cards(8 mins in RL is not as short as it seems due to ref stops of clock etc)Leigh must play smarter next week, not react to forward intimidation etc or Salford could run away with the game.Still look good for the MPG.
Leeds( saw on TV) at with a full squad are looking good as expected-Featherstone did give them a hard time for a spell but second half is was not a contest.
Also went to Salford game where Salford showed that they are a side who would be in the top 8 but for the deduction.It seems they are determined and off the field stuff has not affected them.
If Hull KR  can take heart and build on a big win v Batley then they will be in the top 3.
Huddersfield could be in trouble-woeful today and showing why they were bottom,their game v HKR may be a MPG decider

28/1 for Fev to beat a Brough-less Huddersfield is very generous in my view, and worth a punt. Fev may have learnt a bit from their 2nd half thrashing by in-form Leeds last week. Hudds on the other hand are in freefall. Clearly they are rightly favs to win at home, but Fev at 28/1 ???!!!

Aug 13, 2016 -- 5:18PM, vickersa1 wrote:

28/1 for Fev to beat a Brough-less Huddersfield is very generous in my view, and worth a punt. Fev may have learnt a bit from their 2nd half thrashing by in-form Leeds last week. Hudds on the other hand are in freefall. Clearly they are rightly favs to win at home, but Fev at 28/1 ???!!!

I have found 28/1 for the draw and 11/1 Fev win on sportsbook -would defo take few quid at 28/1 the win. However 30 for hcp seems high. tbh I went last week and Brough was a liability -very poor.I reckon Hudds by 20 is realistic.
PS went to Leigh today and though they were struggling with the speed around the ruck they hung in well. Salford did not take the chances they were presented with.Ref was good stood no messing but got the game flowing.Leigh at Fev next week could be interesting.
Leeds are as we thought too good for the rest in this league.

Oddschecker is your friend.
Most of the 28's gone now, but Bet"way (a firm I do not know) still 28's, beteveryday 25's. On the other hand Viktor go 17/2 - a very strange market. Cap +32 at Billy's.

Not getting this-last week Huddersfield were just awful and Fev gave Leeds a good game for the first half.On the exchange £10,218 at 1.02/3/4 are they mad??? 90 for the draw.Yesterday showed that the Championship teams can compete. btw this season Fev 24 Leigh 30 and Leigh 16 Fev 12 so Fev are not a bad team-not saying that they will win at Huddersfield but the odds are too stacked in favor of home side-I say Hudds win  by 20

Got that wrong-just got in from that game. Fev had dreadful first 15 mins and although they only let in one try -6 pts -it took a lot out of them-lots of unforced handling errors silly pens etc-16-6 with 4 mins to half time and they give away two crazy scores so 28-6 HT-did not make Hudds work at all in fact Hudds didn`t look good at all-had they been playing a SL side would have well in trouble.Second half even for 25 mins then Hudds scores loads in last 15 mins as Fev wilt.
The margin of London`s win is a shock.
So where does that leave things?
Leeds and HKR seem to be the best and if Leigh turn over Fev next week the game v Hudds at Leigh becomes one that if Leigh win then third becomes probable and a Sal v Hudd MPG is a possibility. Batley and Fev look  cooked

Been at the Wire and Widnes games this week  so only seen London v Leeds on tv in this comp.Good effort from London ,scored some good tries. Leeds looked weak/slow around the ruck-you can see why they were in the bottom four.Still well the best in this section. HKRs win at Salford does a lot to see them in the top three.Leigh did win so as in post above a SL place is there if they can beat Huddersfield and  MPG if not.Huddersfield actually lost the second half at Batley -not a good sign despite a big scoreline.A week off now will see Salford and Huddersfield putting in a lot of training as they need it-SL survival in doubt for these two!!

Well it`s all very interesting now.Leeds well away 14 pts is on as long as they don`t lapse in the last 3 thru complacency.We could well end up with Hudd/Leigh and HKR all on 10 points.Leigh should beat Batley but could lose to Hudd and Leeds. Hudds win two out of games at Leigh and HKR and Leeds at home.HKR have a difficult task as it will not be easy at Lon and Fev and Hudds at home and they have to win all three.Salford MPG as even if they win all three v champ sides can only end up on 8 pts.
What a game this Sat:Leigh v Hudds-win or draw for Leigh and they will be almost there in SL.Lose and
points diff is important and this may be Leigh`s problem.Hudds are the key player here,their pts diff is worth a point if they win at HKR or lose at Leigh then its a HKR/Salford MPG.
ATM I think Leeds /Hudds/HKR back in SL Leigh at home v Salford MPG

Peacock out of retirement for HKR !

not sure London and Huddersfield will be too happy with that

He's asking for an injury. He's forgotten how much it hurts at that level.

Salford look vulnerable which has surprised me. I think relegation for either Salford or Huddersfield would be a disaster and see them in the same state as Bradford.

Sep 6, 2016 -- 10:07PM, gotitwrong- wrote:

Peacock out of retirement for HKR !

HKR are missing Blair this week plus others and Kelly?who knows!
Thats playmakers down-Peacock is no answer to the problems.
Their youngsters will need to play out of their skins.
London are not a walkover-they have been well in the games at half time v SL sides-if they get a lead they may push on and they may have Soward who missed lat week to be there to pull of a win

Update-Leeds as expected are easily there and Leigh-did say I watched them train a few weeks ago and they looked really sharp and up for action-also. HKR V Huddersfield Winner to SL-loser home v Salford in MPG.Now Huddersfield/HKR v Salford-I watched the game at Salford where Huddersfield were dire-can they reverse that-well up to Sat just gone I would have said no but now after the Salford debacle v London it`s all up for grabs-HKR are  Jeckell and Hyde -will see how this weekend goes.My guess and it is a guess is HKR in third with Huddersfield taking MPG and Salford to Championship.

Well now-what a game-late drop goal(or not drop goal?) and it`s Huddersfield back into SL 2017.Who will join them. Salford today at Batley will tell us a lot -if they revert to how they played v Fev then it`s no problem but if the errors and luck goes the way of Batley like it did for London last week who knows.I will take an easy Salford win.So to the MPG. HKR look in a real mess. Salford are the better team when they decide to play-home advantage -well is it? HKR have lost to Leigh and Huddersfield in big games at home(not forgetting Oldham in the cup).I am rooting for Salford as without the points deduction they would have been 8th and Wakefield in the mid 8s. This group of players are not the group of 2014 however the owner is and so is responsible but the fans would be hard done by if they went down.

peacock should miss the MPG for deliberate contact with the ref after the drop goal was given ?

Sep 25, 2016 -- 7:21PM, gotitwrong- wrote:

peacock should miss the MPG for deliberate contact with the ref after the drop goal was given ?

Yes indeed -Hock and others got bans for less-but it`s Peacock-one of the favoured. It would save the embarassment of him playing next week-looked so slow yesterday and clearly didn`t add any guiding hand to the team as the game management was very poor.Then moaning about the drop goal on twitter.Quite what his role will be next year at HKR is anyone`s guess.

so the salford coach is off to hull kr next season , and it hull kr v salford in the MPG !

have seen rumours , peacock back to leeds next season

Peacock EGP plays on Sat v HKR. If HKR lose Sheens  doubt he will  go as they would not be able to afford him .