I think that H K R on their own turf look the strongest but hopefully their minds will be elsewhere if they beat Wire......maybe their large crop of foreigners would see a Wembley appearance as being of prime importance as opposed to someone with a local connection....here's hoping . Wakey are a basket case and Salford seem to be getting that way. Widnes are a bit unfathomable away from home and maybe we could match them. With a couple of strike players in the team I would fancy us against the other Championship teams and hopefully Gaskell and Mullaney are fit to play some part at least. I still keep hankering back to Sammut at Workington and what sort of contract he is on. It always seemed a strange move and maybe there are other factors involved.

I am quite excited about the M8's what with the internal turmoil at Salford and with Locke's injury who has been a big assist to Wakefield lately.



I would never have imagined for a second, that these teams would be in such disarray at this point in the season.



What an opportunity to have going into the M8s ... Unbelievable !!

I think Sammut is too much of a wildcard this late in the day. It's either all or nothing from him and whilst his all is great his nothing is a frustration we don't need. He's a big fish in a small pond at Workington, I don't think he'd have that magical an effect on us.

Bumped into Sammut in the chippie on Friday night and when he was asked who Workington were playing this weekend he seemed to have real difficulty remembering.......or was it simply lack of interest! Either way I don't think it would be a good move for a short term return to Bulls.

If you looked purely at our results and performances in the last few weeks before yesterday, it would be difficult to make a case for us finishing above 6th. But we discount those performances because we know we can play better, we've been treading water but will be hugely motivated when the serious stuff starts, we hopefully will have players coming back.



By the same token Salford and Wakey might be re-invigorated for the Middle 8's. Its a fresh start, no more hiding to nothing trips to Headingley. Both teams have players that are capable of playing much better than they have done recently.



Have they announced the order of the fixtures? That could be crucial to the eventual outcome. If Salford and/or Wakey get a relatively easy start against Fax or Sheffield, run up a big score, their confidense will improve. They could be a completely different proposition.



By contrast, on recent form Leigh appear to be favourites for 3rd. But its quite feasible that they could have an early trip to HKR and get spanked. Could that burst their bubble?

Damn, the revolving door at Wakey continues to spin.

They've signed Bill Tupou from Canberra, and Matt Ryan leaves the club with immediate effect. I have no idea if Bill is related to Tame.

The fixtures are to be announce on the 29th July (next Wednesday)

Up until yesterdays debacle against Cas, Wakey had improved no end under Smith, as for Catalans until the weekend they had lost only once at home this seaso against Leeds..

When we played Hull at their place we had 9 players unavailable through injury what played against them when we won at home and they had both their HBs present yet we lost by one score.

The main reason apart from injuries for the big turnover in players is that up to the start of the eight's it is pre season for the coach and is using it to find his best formations.

As for Tansey, Kirke, and Hall I have no inside information on Smith's plans but I would be quite surprised if any of those three will feature, unless injuries prove different.

wakefield are complete crap and their attendances are pathetic. No doubt they shouldn't be in the league they are in. However, they are also extremely jammy to the point they look immune from relegation. If they're not in Superleague next season I'll be very surprised.

You'll be surprised how not crap we are then.

We have holes but Wakefield are not crap. You may well beat us, but if you come to our place expecting to play a crap side I think you'll be disappointed.

Wakefield are arguably in the best position of the SL teams. We have known where we are for a long time. We know we are in danger so know that we are playing 7 cup finals.

Hull KR, Widnes and Salford have been thinking they can still make the S8s until this weekend. They have to change their mindset now.

Wouldn't go that far. You have to play four away games, rather than three, and have the weakest squad of the SL sides. A team like Hull KR might have to change their mind-set slightly, but they have far more quality in their side than Wakefield.

Agreed about Wakey not being crap, won't be easy beats although as I said earlier in thread, it's hard to judge just how much Wakey have improved long term as teams usually improve when a new coach comes in. I think how Wakefield start the 8's could be key for them.



Listen Bradford, Leigh, Wakefield etc are all capable of beating anyone in those 8's. What yesterday showed is that it will simply come down to who performs better on the day. No one gave us a chance yesterday. We all thought we would be attending an annihilation of the Bulls. We had not half backs, have been playing cr@p for months. Yet we put in a great performance when in reality, we should have been hammered by Leigh. We can all say who has the better players and make good cases for out teams going up etc, but if a team doesn't perform on the day, they'll lose. The middles will be interesting!