Who is favoured to win NL1?

[bartman]

Could go any of three ways. With a finals series still to come to decide the winner and promotion candidate it's wide open...

 

[bartman]

Results - Round 14
Barrow 16 - Doncaster 34
Batley 25 - Hull KR 40
Halifax 26 - Featherstone 22
Rochdale 24 - Oldham 27
Whithaven 19 - Castleford 16

Table after 15 Rounds - 3 games to go:
Whitehaven 13-2 +271 26
Castleford 12-3 +235 24
Hull KR 12-3 +176 24
Halifax 9-6 +121 18
Doncaster 8-7 +0 16
Rochdale 7-1-7 -29 15
Oldham 5-1-9 -102 11
Batley 4-11 -75 8
Featherstone 2-2-11 -188 6 (in danger of play-off to avoid relegation)
Barrow 1-13 -409 2 (virtually gone-ski...)

Next Weekend's Games - Round 16 (all Sunday)
Castleford v Halifax
Doncaster v Rochdale
Featherstone v Barrow
Hull K R v Whitehaven - top of the table at stake for three teams...
Oldham v Batley

 

[terracesider]

Cas scored 16 according to the running commentary absed on local radio on the Cas board on RLfans.com.

Strange how little attention Farrell seems to be getting at Halifax despite getting them up to. 4th with a limited squad and virtually no resources.

 

[bartman]

Cheers for that. BBC and other sites were initially listing three conversions.

Halifax are definitely much improved compared to last year. Guess they slip under the radar with everyone focussed on the big three teams there.

 

[coldhardbitch]

It would be great to see the Cumbrians in SL. I think they may have what it takes. Plus David Peachey is set to sign for the NL1 winner

 

[bartman]

Round 16 Results:
Castleford 38 Halifax 34 (Crowd 4,941)
Doncaster 30 Rochdale 45
Featherstone 74 Barrow 22
Hull KR 14 Whitehaven 18 (Crowd 3,508)
Oldham 32 Batley 34

Table with three games to go:
Whitehaven 14-2 28 (+275)
Castleford 13-3 26 (+239)
Hull KR 12-4 26 (+172)
Halifax 9-7 18 (+117)
Rochdale 8-1-7 17 (-18)
Doncaster 8-8 16 (-15)
- - - - -
Oldham 5-1-10 11 (-104)
Batley 5-11 10 (-73)
Featherstone 3-2-11 8 (-136)
Barrow 1-15 2 (-457) - officially relegated (swap with York)

 

[terracesider]

Barrow are in a real mess. They have difficulty attracting players because of the travelling involved. Nearby Whitehaven players are turning donw moves there and the other week they were so desperate they were going to play a 16 year old but the RFL refused them permission.

A pity because they are a great club.

 

[Hightown Tiger]

It's a nice ground Barrow, they just can't attract crowds or players, whereas Whitehaven (which is smaller) can.

With Whitehaven winning at the weekend, Castleford have to hope that Haven lose both their games and Cas win their remaining games against Featherstone and Batley. Likewise, Featherstone have to win at Castleford a week on Sunday to stand any chance of staying up. Kind of ironic, given that when Castleford were relegated by Wakefield last season I recall a few Featherstone fans came along to cheer on Wakefield and taunt Cas. How times have changed.

So, with 2 games remaining it's looking like Castleford will make the journey to Whitehaven to take them on in the Playoffs. Should be very interesting indeed.

 

[terracesider]

The plot thickens, as reported in League Weekly:

Doncaster has said they will not apply for ESL even if they win the NL1 GF, until they have their new ground ready in 2007.

Haven is in talks with Carlisle about using their ground for ESL if they win the GF and Widnes are spitting the dummy out, threatening legal action if the RFL allow that.

The RFL decision on criteria was supposed to be today.

 

[bartman]

Castleford and Hull KR were quoted as assuming their plans for the ground modifications needed in the criteria would meet approval in their applications, should they be in a position to be promoted. Will be interesting to see how this all unfolds...

 

[Henson Park Hornets]

I'd like to see 'Haven go up. Cas had their turn in NL1 and thought that they'd walk it, but as the Hornets showed that if you play with a bit of heart then they can be beaten. The same with 'Fax and Donny. Don't like the Cas arrogance in thinking they'd go back up without working up a sweat.

 

[bartman]

Some updated NL1 results:

Round 17:
Whitehaven 52 - Batley 12
Rochdale 30 - Hull KR 26 :shock:
Oldham 52 - Barrow 12
Doncaster 28 - Halifax 22
Castleford 40 - Featherstone 6

Round 18:
Rochdale 20 - Whitehaven 44
Halifax 46 - Oldham 20
Featherstone 22 - Doncaster 46
Batley 12 - Castleford 54
Barrow 10 - Hull KR 42

Final Table - Amended:
Whitehaven 16-2 +341 32
Castleford 15-3 +315 30
Hull K R 13-5 +200 26
Halifax 10-8 +137 20
Doncaster 10-8 +15 20
Rochdale 9-1-8 -34 19
- - - - -
Oldham 6-1-11 -90 13
Batley 5-13 -157 10 (must play in NL2 play-offs - winner to keep 2006 NL1 spot)
- - - - -
Featherstone 3-2-13 -194 8 (automatically relegated to NL2 2006, because two teams being relgated from Super League)
Barrow 1-17 -533 2 (automatically relegated to NL2 2006)

Play-offs:
Week 1 (this weekend): Hull KR v Rochdale and Halifax v Doncaster
Week 2: Whitehaven v Castelford , Winner (HKR v R) v Winner (Hfx v D)
Week 3: Loser major semi v winner minor semi
Week 4 (GF): Winner major semi v Winner week 3 (for promotion to ESL 2006, pending announcement about meeting criteria)

 

[MrCharisma]

waves Castleford flag

 

[In-goal]

Hull KR bring back the Derby.

if not let's all hope for a good CC draw

 

[bartman]

Elimination Play Off results

Hull KR 45 - Rochdale 4
Halifax 62 - Doncaster 10

Again, nothing too unexpected. Rochdale and Doncaster end their seasons.

Next weekend - Major and Minor Semi Finals

Whitehaven v Castleford - winner through to Grand Final
Hull KR v Halifax - loser elimated

 

[dantheviking]

would love to see whitehaven or kr go up

 

[bartman]

Semi Final Results - Week Two

Whitehaven 32 - Castleford 22 (Cas ahead 18-6 at half-time)
Whitehaven are through to Grand Final

Hull KR 22 - Halifax 36 (Fax ahead 20-0 at half-time)
HUll KR's season is over :shock:.

Next weekend: Castleford v Halifax
for the right to play Whitehaven for potential promotion to Superleague

 

[terracesider]

It's probably a step too far for Fax but since a year ago they were about 20 minutes away from NL2 it's been a remarkable recovery.

It shows what a good coach can do with no money and average players.

 

[bartman]

Having seen how close they were to relegation last year, it's a great turn around in the space of a season regardless of how their next game pans out.

 

[Weasels Ripped My Flesh]

I still think Haven will have the goods and make it up