Round 5 of the Betfred Championship starts on Saturday in the South of France as unbeaten Toulouse Olympique welcomes Batley Bulldogs to the Ernest Wallen Stadium.
The Bulldogs have added to their squad by signing local lads Aiden Ineson and Tom Harrington after impressing in training during pre-season.
Featherstone Rovers will be expecting to continue their fine start to the season when Swinton Lions make the journey over the M62. Making a welcome return after a three match suspension is Dane Chisholm, he needs 13 points to get to 300 points for Featherstone Rovers.
Brett Ferries needs 1 more try for a career century of tries. Missing for Rovers will be James Lockwood. Swinton Lions game last week was postponed at Heywood Road, so they will be hopeful to pull off a shock, they have lost their last 12 meetings with Featherstone Rovers.
At the Leigh Sports Village, Leigh Centurions will be looking to continue their strong start to the Championship when Halifax RLFC are the visitors. The Centurions had last weekend off when their game was the victim of a waterlogged pitch against Swinton Lions. Halifax RLFC had an impressive win over York City Knights last Sunday. New signings Tommy Lee and Lian Harris could make their debut for Halifax, who haven’t won at the LSV since 2012.
The Dewsbury Rams will be confident of continuing their good start to the season when they travel across the Pennines to face Oldham RLFC at Bower Fold.
Matt Diskin will be hopeful of having centre James Worthington back in the team, he has been absent since their round one clash against Widnes Vikings.
For the Rams, Dom Speakman is available again after missing last week’s victory over the Widnes Vikings because of suspension.
On to the Widnes Vikings who will see the return of Owen Farnsworth, Deon Cross, Shane Grady and Matty Smith for the visit of Whitehaven, the Vikings will be hoping to get back to winning ways after last Sunday defeat at the Rams.
Life in the Betfred Championship for the Cumbrian side is looking like it will be a struggle, where will their first win of the season come from?
The same can be said of the York City Knights, the surprise package of last season have lost all their league games so far, the last time they lost 4 successful league games was way back in August 2016. The Knights play their first league game of the season at Bootham Crescent against London Broncos.
York’s boss James Ford will be looking for resilience and togetherness in their bid for that first win.
The evening game on the OURLEAGUE app is at The Tetley’s Stadium for the second week in a row. Bradford Bulls entertain Sheffield Eagles, the Bulls will be looking for another victory to keep the momentum going and climb the Championship table.
For the Bulls, Greg Johnson is poised to make his 150th career appearance, while Brandon Pickergill will be looking to continue his impressive try scoring start too.
Sheffield Eagles finally got their first league win of the season in the first ever golden point victory in the Championship against Batley Bulldogs. Joel Farrell will be available for this game, although he received a one match ban for dissent in the victory over Batley.
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This article was written by Rams supporter Andy Lumb. Comments made on this article do not represent the views of Dewsbury Rams RLFC.
