2017 Championship Preview

2017 Championship Preview

This year’s Championship season looks to be the most interesting of the three leagues as no-one really knows how it will pan out.  Hull KR are obviously strong favourites to get into the Middle 8 Qualifiers at the end of the regular season but how will they fare against four sides who have played at Super League standard for the past 23 weeks?

Another uncertainty is the fate of Bradford Bulls.  Yes they now have new owners in charge and have announced a new coach over the weekend but how will they survive starting the season on minus 12 points?

And what about the other clubs in the division?  Can anyone break the hold of last season’s top four and does anyone other than Hull KR have a realistic chance of promotion?

WILL HULL KR BOUNCE BACK?

They are most people’s favourites to at least finish top of the Championship after the end of the regular season but as I mentioned above they may find it difficult when coming up against Super League standard opposition.

Thankfully for KR it looks like they have kept the main crux of their squad so it may not be as difficult as initially thought.  Now we’ve had two seasons under the current structure I’m not sure how I would feel if they did bounce straight back up, as the RFL would probably claim that this structure is working as they’ve had two Championship clubs promoted in two years.  When you think about it though, are Hull KR not already at Super League standard anyway, and would it really be a surprise if they did win promotion at the end of the season, even if it was through the Million Pound Game?

Most, if not all, of the players may have changed since the last time the Robins were in the Championship, but they will have some experience of playing at this level from that time to call upon.  Plus, the standard of the grounds won’t be much different to what they’re used to in Super League as they have played at Bradford’s Odsal Stadium before, Sheffield are playing at Wakefield’s Belle View for 2017, Rochdale’s Spotland stadium is a decent ground, as is The Shay at Halifax.  They’ll also be used to a trip to France so Toulouse away shouldn’t faze them either.

I predict them to do very well this season - win the league-leaders shield at the end of the initial group of fixtures and at least push for a place in the Million Pound Game at the end of the year.

CAN THE BULLS SURVIVE?

I am pleased for the Bulls and their fans that they have been able to finally agree who the new owners will be.  The two in charge are former New Zealand RL chairman Andrew Chalmers and a former Wigan Warriors coach in Graham Lowe.  I don’t claim to know too much about the club’s history but do either of these two have any links to the town or the club and if not will that hinder them in the long run?  I’m sure the RFL have their reasons for allowing this particular partnership to take control and time will tell as to how well it works.

On the field, with the point’s deduction they have to start with, it means they will need to win six of their games just to get to zero points!  This puts them virtually out of contention to finish in the top four so I think the best they can hope for this season is to try and retain the Championship Shield.

Looking at last season’s record Bradford ended the regular season with 13 wins, two draws and eight defeats after the initial 23 rounds of play.  That gave them a total of 28 points and a fifth place finish.  If they recorded the same results again they would amass 14 points and would be sitting in tenth place, the same as Oldham did, and just above the relegation zone.  Then, going into the Championship Shield they won six of their seven games to finish with 19 victories.

They would need to do something very similar this year to enable them to sneak into the Play-offs again with 28 points, but they would need to keep hold of all 23 players named in last week’s League Express newspaper and add some more quality which may prove difficult so close to the start of the season.

It’ll be interesting to see how the campaign pans out for the Bulls.  I believe they have the quality to avoid relegation but they need to get their points column back to zero as quickly as possible.

WHAT NOW FOR THE OTHER CLUBS?

If Hull KR are going to run away with the league-leaders shield and Bradford Bulls are going to have a season-long battle to avoid relegation I feel that leaves the rest of the places wide open.

For me this is the season where London Broncos need to step up and push even harder for a Super League spot.  I think they’ve recruited well and will end up in the Qualifiers with Hull KR when the leagues split again.  It was only point’s difference which stopped the Broncos finishing above Salford in the table last season so another win or two would see them easily squeeze into the Million Pound Game and a one-off match for that final Super League spot.

I think the third team to join them will be Toulouse Olympique.  They powered through League 1 last season and only a shock defeat to Rochdale Hornets in the Promotion Final stopped them going the whole season unbeaten.  Barrow Raiders gave them another scare in the Play-off Final but ultimately Toulouse was far too strong for long periods of that game.  This season they may struggle away from home against teams with big crowds behind them but they will be strong at home again.  They also have the experience of knowing what the Championship is all about from their previous stint in the English leagues.

That leaves three or four teams battling it out for the final fourth Qualifiers spot.  For me it will be one of Featherstone Rovers, Halifax, Sheffield Eagles or Batley Bulldogs.  I can’t see any of the others clubs mounting a serious season-long challenge and Batley and Featherstone will have had the advantage of the extra funding from finishing in the Qualifiers last season.

Swinton Lions and Oldham surprised everyone with how well they did last season in order to avoid relegation and by the end of the year they were both comfortably safe in the Championship for another 12 months.  I think they will have another season of avoiding relegation alongside promoted Rochdale who will also be battling to avoid the drop.  A good start by any of those teams will do wonders for their confidence and possibly have Dewsbury Rams staring over their shoulders all year as they only finished three points ahead of Swinton and four ahead of Oldham at the end of the Championship Shield campaign.

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