The final round of the Betfred Championship regular season is taking place this weekend. Sides are still fighting for survival and to get into the top six, here is a closer look at all seven games.
Batley Bulldogs host Newcastle Thunder in one of the opening games of the weekend. The Bulldogs lost to a late Liam Harris drop-goal on Monday live on Viaplay Sports. The defeat saw Batley’s situation change as it now is out of their hands.
Saturday’s contest is a must win match against a side, who have never defeated the. In 14 meetings, Batley have won 12 and drawn the other two.
The meeting earlier in the season saw Batley come out on top with a 26-12 away win. Dale Morton was on the scoresheet that afternoon and the winger has scored in each of his last three matches against Thunder.
Newcastle Thunder know they will be playing in Betfred League One next season after they were relegated a fortnight ago. However, they did show resilience last weekend with a victory over Barrow Raiders.
The win was Chris Thorman’s fifth of the season and they will be looking to end the season on a positive.
Whitehaven are another side who need to win, as they welcome Toulouse to the LEL Arena. Jonty Gorley’s side are 11th in the table, however, they sit above the relegation places by just five points on points difference.
Haven have lost their last five, two of which they have lost to a late drop goal. One of which was last weekend away at fellow strugglers, Swinton Lions.
Whitehaven will be searching for their first victory against Toulouse since 2010, when they beat them 34-20 at home.
Toulouse are set to finish second and will host a home play-off game in the second week, which would see them 80 minutes from the Championship Grand Final.
Olympique will be looking to bounce back from their last away game in which they were defeated by Halifax Panthers.
The final game on Saturday will see Featherstone Rovers receive their League Leaders Shield. Widnes Vikings are the side who travel to West Yorkshire.
Featherstone have won their previous four home meetings with the Vikings.
The Rovers have won 24 of 26 league games this season, which sees them head into the final day with a 12-point advantage over second place Toulouse.
Last weekend, Featherstone reached the 1000-point mark during their impressive away win at Toulouse. That was the first time the French side had suffered a home defeat this season.
Defeat last week ended Widnes’ play-off hopes. Sheffield Eagles proved too strong in the second half, which saw Widnes drop to ninth in the table.
The Vikings have not won away at Featherstone since 2011.
On Sunday, Barrow Raiders and York Knights meet with both sides needing a win for different reasons.
Barrow Raiders are one point above the relegation places, with Keighley Cougars, Whitehaven and Swinton Lions all trying to fight the drop themselves.
Paul Crarey’s side produced huge victories against Whitehaven and Swinton Lions which has helped their hopes of survival.
The Raiders know a win would keep themselves in the Betfred Championship.
York Knights are one of the most in-form sides and head into the final game in contention of the play-offs. The Knights defeated Batley late on due to a Liam Harris drop-goal.
York are seventh in the table and trail Halifax Panthers by one point, meanwhile they are two points behind London, however, the Broncos have a significant advantage on points difference.
York hooker, Will Jubb, could make his 150th Knights’ appearance. Jubb made his debut for the club in February 2017 against North Wales Crusaders.
Another game which has a lot riding on it is Halifax Panthers against Swinton Lions. A win for Halifax would guarantee their play-off place, meanwhile, a Swinton win would pretty much secure their survival without relying on other results.
Simon Grix’s side may have hoped for better in the league this season, however, winning the 1895 Cup and making the play-offs would be a very successful end to his time at the club.
Halifax have won their previous four matches at home to Swinton, so they will be hopeful of reaching the play-offs.
Half-back, Louis Joufret could make his 150th appearance career appearance. The French international has made 55 appearances for Halifax.
The Panthers have won their last three meetings with Swinton.
Swinton are one of the sides who could face relegation, but a win would pretty much make sure of their safety.
The Lions are currently sat in the relegation places, but they know if Keighley were to lose, a defeat by a lower margin would keep Swinton safe.
Swinton have not won since 2016 at The Shay.
The final 3PM kick-off on Sunday sees London Broncos face Keighley Cougars.
London are fifth in the table, however, a defeat and results go against them would see them drop out of the play-offs.
The Broncos lost a close contest at home last weekend to Bradford.
Rob Butler could make his 100th career appearance this weekend. Butler has made 53 in two stints for London.
Keighley defeated London earlier in the season and they will be needing a repeat of the same to ensure their Championship survival.
The Cougars have competed well, including narrowly losing to at home to Halifax Panthers.
Keighley were the Betfred League One Champions last season and will be looking to avoid dropping back to that level.
The final game of the weekend will see Sheffield Eagles host Bradford Bulls at 6:30 on Viaplay Sports.
Both sides are fighting to finish for third spot, Sheffield currently have it meanwhile a win for Bradford would overtake them.
Both sides will come into this contest off the back of a win. Bradford defeat London away from home, meanwhile Widnes were the victims of Sheffield last weekend.
Bradford defeated Sheffield at Odsal when the sides met earlier in the season.
