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| Super Saturday in the offing | |
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| Topic Started: Sep 3 2010, 02:54 PM (59 Views) | |
| stacey | Sep 3 2010, 02:54 PM Post #1 |
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 Engage Super League clubs are gearing themselves up for one last push for the end-of-season play-offs. Of the 14 teams, only Wigan Warriors and Hull KR know their final positions going into the last round of the regular season but Super Saturday will finally determine the make-up of the eight-team play-off series. Most eyes will be on the KC Stadium, where the winners of the Hull FC-Leeds Rhinos clash will secure fourth place - and a trip to leaders Wigan for a qualifying play-off on Sunday week - with the losers consigned to sudden-death football. If in-form Huddersfield Giants make it five wins in a row at the expense of struggling Catalans Dragons, they will secure fifth place and a home tie against Castleford Tigers or Crusaders RL while at the same time consigning the French club to the wooden spoon. Castleford will be ousted from eighth place if they fail to win at St Helens and Crusaders win at home to Hull KR, who are guaranteed to finish seventh. A calculator may be needed to determine second place if Saints finish level with Warrington Wolves, with points difference and then points percentage coming into the equation. Meanwhile, a Giants victory in Perpignan would relegate the losers at the KC Stadium to sixth place, raising the intriguing possibility of a first Hull play-off derby next Friday, with their thrilling clash of two months ago still fresh in the minds. “It would be a very good spectacle,” admitted Hull stand-off Richard Horne. “I’m sure they’d be buzzing about it and we definitely would be. It becomes knockout football and big bragging rights in the city. It’s not one you’d want to get turned over in. “But we want that fourth spot. It’s always good to know you’ve got a second chance. “We’d be going up to Wigan, who’ve played consistently well all year and they’ve done us twice, but we’d be going there with a lot of confidence if we do get a result against Leeds and with nothing to lose.” Much will depend on how Leeds, the reigning champions, respond to their crushing Carnegie Challenge Cup final defeat by Warrington at Wembley last Saturday. “They’ll want to respond to not playing well at the weekend and they’ll want that fourth spot just as much as we do,” said Horne. “If we do our jobs, then we can be confident we can get a result.” Castleford will be aiming to emulate Catalans, who pulled off a shock 24-12 win at Knowsley Road a year ago in the last match of the regular season to clinch the last play-off spot and went on to reach the semi-finals. But, unlike last time, Saints have something to play for and coach Mick Potter, who is hoping to bow out of the hot seat with his first trophy, believes that will guard against complacency. “It’s different circumstances for us,” he said. “We’ve a little more to do and I think it will make a difference for us. “Castleford are a tricky team and they will be desperate to win to give themselves the best chance of finishing eighth. They play off the cuff and can change direction in their attack. They are very dangerous.” The Tigers have the chance to put a dampener on the celebrations surrounding St Helens’ last-ever league game at Knowsley Road and coach Terry Matterson insists they will go there with confidence. “It’s obviously a big night for Saints but we aren’t fearful and we’ll be giving it our very best,” he said. “It’s in our own hands and, whilst we probably couldn’t have asked for a tougher game, we have got to believe that we can go to Knowsley Road and win.” If Castleford fail to pull off a shock, Crusaders will be ready to take their place and complete a remarkable turnaround under Brian Noble after they finished their first season in Engage Super League with the wooden spoon. “I think if you would have asked our critics at the start of the year whether we would be in with a shout of finishing in the top eight, they would have chuckled,” said Noble. “We’ve got some good players. We stopped sneaking up on people after five weeks and other teams recognised that they had to show up to play us this year. “The credit has to go to the players who have applied themselves all the time. I think they are a great bunch and I personally believe they deserve to finish in the eight.” www.superleague.co.uk Have your say, click here to register |
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