Top placed Wakefield Trinity made the short trip to Mount Pleasant to take on the Batley Bulldogs who started the round in tenth place with just a single win to their name after four games in the 2024 season.

A good win for the Bulldogs could see them into the top half of the table and kick start their season but the bookies were strongly leaning towards a win for Trinity and had given the home side a massive thirty-two points start on the coupon.

The home crowd were full of hope, but low on expectation as the league’s big boys rolled into town on a sunny afternoon with the aim of preserving their perfect start to the season.

York RLFC Knights came into their final home game of the season against the Batley Bulldogs with the slenderest of hopes of making the playoffs while their opponents knew that a win in tonight’s game in front of the ViaPlay cameras would mean that their qualification for the playoff was in their own hands.

A win for York by seven points or more would lift them above the Bulldogs and into seventh spot in the league, while a win for the Bulldogs would see them up to sixth in the table, going back above the Halifax Panthers who usurped them yesterday afternoon.

Batley have what looks like a home banker against the Newcastle Thunder next week while York travel to Barrow and Halifax have a home game against the Swinton Lions.

Whatever happened tonight the playoffs wouldn’t finally be decided until next week’s games.

After a sensational Challenge Cup final, the men of the Halifax Panthers and the Batley Bulldogs had something to live up to as they took the field for the final of the AB Sundecks 1895 Trophy on the hallowed Wembley turf.

Halifax won the first meeting between the two sides in March by 20-16, but lost by 20-12 at the summer bash in May before a massive 42-0 win for the Bulldogs on the 9th July.

Batley were favourites with the bookies as they are currently fourth in the league table and secure in the play-off positions while Halifax look much more precarious in sixth place.

It promised to be another great game.

The final game of Round Ten of the Championship took place in front of the Viaplay cameras at the Fox´s Biscuit Stadium as sixth placed Batley Bulldogs took on a Widnes Vikings side which started the game in fourth place in the table.

A forty-three-point win for Craig Lingard´s side would lift them above their opponents and into the top four while John Kear´s men needed a massive victory to go above the Sheffield Eagles and into third spot.

Batley were slight favourites with the bookies, but they were struggling to find much between the sides, Widnes getting just a two-point start on the handicap coupon for the Bank Holiday Monday game.

Everyone except the Batley squad and coaches and perhaps the most diehard/deluded of supporters expected that Sunday’s game at the Millennium Stadium against Featherstone Rovers would be a game too far for the plucky part-timers from deep in heavy woollen country.

Their incredible win, leading from the first points of the game until the relieving final hooter, set up a trip to the Leigh Sports Village, to take on Leigh Centurions, in the Million Pound Game for the right to play their 2023 rugby in the Super League.

But the Bulldogs have no chance of winning, absolutely zero, not a prayer, a snow ball´s chance in hell.

We take a look at the probablility Leigh will be the ones celebrating on Sunday evening.

With Leigh Centurions comfortably into the Million Pound Game with a comprehensive win over the York City Knights, all that remained was to determine their opposition next Sunday night as Featherstone Rovers took on the Batley Bulldogs for the chance to take a tilt at Super League rugby in 2023.

The home side were massive favourites with the bookies and the pundits and been handicapped by sixteen points on the coupon before kick-off.

But coach Brian McDermott was cautious coming into the game as Batley were unbeaten in 2022 by Rovers having drawn 20-20 when the two sides met in March before recording a 28-20 victory away in June.

Both sides were unchanged from their last outing.

It was York City Knights and Batley Bulldogs who braved the heat that had brought public transport and much else in the country to a halt, to conclude the round 19 of the Betfred Championship.

The teams started the game lying fourth and fifth in the table, both on 26 points but with the hosts having played one more game – so everything was to play for.

Neither the Bulldogs nor the City Knights looked likely to take third place off Halifax Panthers, with their impressive score difference, but both could take or secure fourth.

And a win for Batley would do nothing to to dampen the talk of them being outside contenders for a top two place.

It was fifth v second when Batley Bulldogs welcomed Leigh Centurions to slope at The Foxes Biscuits Stadium as round 11 of the Betfred Championship concluded in front of the Premier Sports cameras.

The Bulldogs entered the match unbeaten in their last five games, having drawn one game when they became the only team in the league to take a point off Featherstone back in March.

Leigh's only loss in the  past six weeks was to Super League club Hull KR in the sixth round of the Challenge Cup.

Leigh kicked off down the hill while the hosts had first use of the ball - faced with the challenge of carring it 100m up the field and up nine feet in altitude in the first half.

The Bulldogs were the first to make a mistake though, when Johnny Campbell knocked on trying to collect a high kick in the corner.

Toulouse Olympic XII and Batley Bulldogs faced up in the weekend’s first Championship lay-off semi-final for a berth in the grand final or “Million Pound Game” – and a possible place in Super League for 2022.

The hosts were making a welcome return to their home ground at Stade Ernest Wallon after 18 months of Covid lockdowns and restrictions.

They also came into the game off the back of impressive wins in their last six games, including an 82-12 thrashing of Newcastle Thunder, where they collected the League Leaders Trophy after going through the season unbeaten.

Underdogs Batley on the other hand, had lost two of their previous six, to Dewsbury and Whitehaven and finished the regular season in fourth – though having played seven more league games than their opponents, given the pandemic disruption.

Seventh placed Sheffield Eagles and tenth placed Batley Bulldogs were drawn against one another for the chance of a trip to Wembley and the 1895 Cup Final on the 24th August.

The Eagles made it this far thanks to a 32-28 win over Doncaster while Batley needed the golden point for a 17-16 win over the York City Knights.

There were wet conditions at the Olympic Legacy Park but the 4G pitch would neutralise the worst of them and an open game was promised.

The Eagles have won both games between these two sides in 2019, most notably by 54-24 when the two sides met in June.