Round 14 of the Betfred Championship has arrived and it's going to kickstart with two epic encounters taking place on Friday night.
In what is set to be a scorching weekend, it’s firstly the Bulls against the Bulldogs as Bradford welcome Batley to Odsal.
Brian Noble’s men will be reeling from their loss to York last weekend which saw their winning run come to an end, but can they bounce back at the first attempt? They will need to do so if they are to maintain second spot and continue hunting down first.
The sides have already met twice in 2025, in both league and cup, with Bradford coming out on top on both occasions.
Their most recent meeting saw the Bulls take home a 12-48 victory, but Batley are notorious for pulling off an upset, despite only winning two games this year.
Batley will be led by Jaymes Chapman and Ben Kay for the foreseeable, following Mark Moxon's resignation.
There’s a standout tie between Featherstone and Halifax under the Friday night lights at the Millenium Stadium.
‘Fax defeated Fev comfortably in their reverse fixture back in Round 4 but have recently dropped in form and are without a win in their last four matches.
On the contrary, Featherstone managed to avoid a late scare against Hunslet in the previous round and enter this game with additional motivation as the two points would see them close in on their opponents in the table.
On Saturday, league leaders Toulouse have home comforts once again and will host Oldham in the south of France sunshine. Will they make it eights wins in a row?
Hunslet are then at home to Barrow. The Parksiders will be boosted by what was arguably their best performance of the season last Sunday after falling agonisingly short to the Rovers in the closing stages.
There’s a chance they could kick on now as they look to be competitive once more in Round 14 but standing in their way are Paul Crarey and his Raiders who he will be hoping can produce a response to their Round 13 loss.
From 1-9th in the table it’s far too close for comfort and those top six spots could be anyone’s come to end of the regular season. Therefore, every point matters.
The South Yorkshire Derby returns in Round 14 as Sheffield take on Doncaster. It’s the Dons who currently have bragging rights following a 19-6 victory back in Round 7, although this could all be set to change.
Sheffield have won their last three home meetings with Doncaster – in fact, the visitors’ most recent away victory against the Eagles last came in 2014.
The sixth fixture sees Widnes welcome York – a side who are in blistering form and have won eight of their last nine league matches.
The Knights are knocking on the door of the top two, while the Vikings currently occupy ninth place.
A victory for the Vikings, however, could potentially move them up to high as sixth.
It’s going to be a tough ask of Allan Coleman’s men, with York having won their last five away meetings with their opponents. But as we’ve seen so far this season, the beauty of the Betfred Championship is that anybody can beat anybody on their day!
Betfred Championship Round 14 fixtures:
Bradford Bulls v Batley Bulldogs
Featherstone Rovers v Halifax Panthers
Toulouse Olympique v Oldham
Hunslet v Barrow Raiders
Sheffield Eagles v Doncaster
Widnes Vikings v York
London Broncos – Bye week
Don’t forget you can make your Betfred Championship predictions on the Rugby League website here or in the Our League app now. Download the Our League app on iOS or on Android to start playing the Predictor Game!
The Betfred Championship’s full fixture list can be found here.
Photo Credit: Batley Bulldogs
