Selection woes ahead of three games in eight days
BATLEY Bulldogs have problems as they face an important eight days which could define their season, starting with the Carnegie Challenge Cup fifth round tie at Halifax on Sunday (3pm).
The Bulldogs then play the re-arranged Co-operative Championship game against Sheffield Eagles at Bramall Lane on Wednesday (7.30pm) and host Whitehaven a week on Sunday (May 16).
All three fixtures have a particular edge. A win at Halifax would give the club a chance of meeting one of the game's heavyweights and gaining a financial boost. So far the cup has not been productive. There is unlikely to be such a massive attendance at The Shay this weekend so progress is important.
The league games are particularly important because both opponents are around the Bulldogs in the table and, after four successive defeats, with only two bonus points, Batley need wins to overhaul their rivals.
The squad have been hit by another injury to scrum-half Gareth Moore, who was taken off in the first minute at Toulouse last Saturday with a hip injury and did not return. He was hobbling badly the following day and missed training on Tuesday but a check has shown it is badly bruised.
He is very unlikely to play on Sunday and whether he is fit for either of the league games is in the balance.
Mark Toohey, who played at centre in France, suffered a dead leg and also has ankle trouble so he too is set to be ruled out.
With the Huddersfield duo of Josh Griffin and Kyle Wood again unable to play in the Cup, the squad will again be stretched.
In the last round against Siddal, Toohey played at half-back alongside Paul Handforth but with the former likely to be absent, coach Karl Harrison faces another selection headache.
Harrison remarked: "It's an awkward time for us with some tough fixtures and to be losing players like this doesn't help.
"We need to make cup progress for the sake of the finances but the league games are also important. We played well at Toulouse last weekend and it was very disappointing to come away with only a bonus point.
"I don't think the officials were too kind to us with some of the important decisions but we were beaten because we made mistakes. That's the second successive game in which we have been the better side and had most of the play but finished with only a bonus.
"We have to start turning bonus points into winning points if we're to start climbing the table."
Batley had a good following in Toulouse and many of their supporters felt it was the team's best performance of the season in a very physical encounter.
Lee Greenwood had a try disallowed in the first half and a score for the home side, following a high kick, appeared to stem from a knock-on as the ball was knocked down when Batley did not compete for it but the French touch judge saw nothing wrong.
The Bulldogs piled on a tremendous amount of pressure when they pulled back to 14-12 and Sean Hesketh thought he had made the line before the ball bounced clear.
Batley were also unhappy when a Toulouse player was tackled very near his own line, got up, did not play the ball, and was allowed to make a long clearing run with no penalty awarded and the home side went on to score the match-winning try.
It's a sign of how things have gone for the Bulldogs of late but Harrison insists they must make their own luck.
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Weather for Batley
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -3 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 1 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South west
