Well after the heroics of the Toulouse game we fell a little bit short last Sunday against Featherstone, who were second in the league.

They are only second by virtue of the way the league table is being complied this season due to Covid and otherwise would be top but I couldn’t help feeling that the enormous efforts of the week before had an impact on our performance last week.

It was still a good effort, but Brian McDermott told the players after the match that he was disappointed with some of the things he saw.

He has an uncanny knack of putting a slant on things that, certainly from my point of view, make you think about things differently and he made it clear what he expects from the lads this week, which of course started with the first training session on Monday.

We are now in a position whereby we have three games left which we need to win, whilst hoping Dewsbury lose them all, as they are the only side we can catch.

It is a big ask, as it has been for a large part of this season, but the mood in the camp is good and there is a determination to go to Widnes on Sunday and give it everything.

We picked up a few injuries again last time out but that is part and parcel of the game and particularly at this late stage of the season, so fingers crossed at least a couple of them are fit in time to play this weekend.

Touching on the proposals for season 2022 and beyond it is still unclear exactly what is going to happen, particularly in terms of finance but one thing is certain, there is going to be a significant downturn in the amount of money clubs receive by way of central distributions and the effect will be felt hardest in League One where I genuinely fear for the survival of some clubs.

All of this going on in the background is severely hampering the club’s plans moving forward and we are not in a position where we can offer contracts out until we know what the financial position is going to be.

It is far from a good place to be in, given our current league placing, and sadly it just seems to be the latest in a long line of rugby league planning disasters.

I would very much like for somebody to tell me when we last had the ability to undertake any long-term planning?

With so many things outside of the control of the club it is very hard to do any of that and the short to medium-term future of the game currently hangs in the balance. All clubs, including, and especially Super League, some would say, are dependent upon the finances from the broadcast deal and the start of the new two-year deal from January 2022 on reduced money will have a profound effect on how the game moves forward.

Back to this weekend and we again hope you will turn out in numbers and get behind the team as you have been doing. The atmosphere has been good and is really appreciated by everybody, especially the players.