As many suspected before the Super 8s began, the one-off game to determine the final place in next season’s Super League – marketed as the “Million Pound Game” – will be contested by Wakefield, who finished bottom of the top tier after 23 rounds, and Bradford, who were relegated to the Championship last year and finished second this season, six points behind Leigh.
The Wakefield coach, Brian Smith, will attempt to put the big game and the club’s off-field turbulence to the back of his squad’s mind on Sunday as they aim to secure home advantage in next Saturday’s match by finishing theQualifiers with another win.
A Widnes defeat to Leigh and a points swing of more than 120 is required for Bradford or Wakefield to sneak into the third automatic promotion place.
Smith acknowledges his side’s destiny will be decided in that game, but he is keen to ensure the decider is played at Belle Vue by beating Sheffield at Bramall Lane. “Everyone knows that our opponents in the big game next week are going to be Bradford, but apart from that we’ve not discussed that game too much yet,” he said. “Nobody within my hearing distance has spoke about it yet, anyway. We’re keen to back up what we did last week and finish the Qualifiers with two wins in a row.
“Home advantage is important; any advantage to be had in a game like this is revolved around that. You’ve still got to play well, but we’d like to be here for our fans because it’s a bit more comfortable for them if we’re here at home against Bradford rather than away.”
Wakefield will still be without Tim Smith and Kevin Locke, who were suspended by the club last week pending the result of an internal investigation into an off-field incident. Smith is hopeful of a similar response to last week’s victory against Halifax with Reece Lyne and Scott Anderson, who were also suspended by the club, set to return after the club’s investigations into them were concluded.
“I’m really pleased with last week,” he said. “Some of the people that were involved in these matters have got friends and team-mates who were playing, and our boys had to cut off from all that to focus hard on what was going to be an awkward and difficult game for us.
“It’s not an easy thing to do, and the circumstances were exacerbated by the withdrawals of players due to injury. It was a great response from us.”
Smith was also quick to point out that despite having nothing to play for Sheffield will still possess plenty of danger. “I went to watch Sheffield play on Friday against Hull KR and they took them a long way into the match,” he said.
“They played as enthusiastically as any team who were chasing a big prize. The last game of the year is always a fun time for teams to have a bit of a go and to try and enjoy the off-season with a win, so it’ll be just as hard as the rest of the Qualifiers.”
