Sunday, September 03, 2006

Two Games to Go - Who's Slipping Through the Trap Door?

Round 26 has been and gone, the results are in and those at the Jungle and the Galpharm are already breathing a huge sigh of relief.





Whilst Castleford fans, players and Molly the Dog were busy congratulating each other on a job well-done against Quins, Wakefield were recovering from an inevitable defeat at St Helens.
But were the Tigers celebrating too soon? Saturday nights scenes were more like a minor premiership victory parade than that of a side that sits three points above the relegation zone.

The current table stands as such after 26 games:

8. Huddersfield - 20pts (-140 diff)
9. Harlequins - 19pts (-290 diff)
10. Castleford - 19pts (-371 diff)
11. Wakefield - 16pts (-146 diff)

At first glance, it looks like Wakefield will be the ones plying their trade in National League 1 next season, but it's not that simple, as Wakefield will play host to Castleford on the last day of the season at Belle Vue.

Looking at the remaining fixtures, heres theonepointer's predictions.

Round 27:
  • I expect a desperate Wakefield to cause an upset and win at Odsal against an out-of-sorts and unconvincing Bradford.
  • Salford need to book a play-off place and they will beat Castleford.
  • If Catalans turn up, they could turn home advantage into points against Huddersfield. Unfortunatly, they won't turn up and Huddersfield will win.
  • Wigan will beat Harlequins at The Stoop.
Round 28:
  • Quins will probably beat Salford. Brian McDermott will have his side fired up for a game that will keep them in Super League.
  • Bradford will overcome Huddersfield.
  • That leaves the Wildcats against the Tigers and to be honest, I'd be tempted to go for Wakefield. Home advantage will be key and to be perfectly honest, I rate John Kear as the better coach. The win for Wakefield for me.
If that turns out to be true, then that leave the following table:

8. Huddersfield - 22pts
9. Harlequins - 21pts
10. Wakefield- 20pts
11. Castleford- 19pts

So on that basis, it'll be goodbye to Castleford. I do believe it'll go down to the last day of the season and if I were a Cas fan, I would be seriously worried if they leave the Willows with nothing next week.

No comments: