Injury-hit Dons will "have a go" as they head to Bradford Bulls
Doncaster RLFC head coach Richard Horne says his injury-hit side will pull out all the stops to prevent second-placed Bradford Bulls charging to victory in Friday night’s testing Betfred Championship clash at Bartercard Odsal Stadium (7.45pm).
“We’ll go there and have a go and if we can play for the full 80 minutes as well as we did in the first half of our win over Hunslet on Sunday, we won’t be far away from getting a result at the end of the game,” he told the Free Press.
The game is the last of Bradford’s so-called Friday Night Fever series during which they have yet to lose a game and they will come into the game on the back of a 30-10 West Yorkshire derby win over Halifax.
Bulls will start as favourites to complete a double over the Dons though they needed two late tries, including one on the hooter, to claim a 30-22 win at the Eco-Power Stadium in early June after being second best for long periods.
“They are a very strong side and are probably prepping in case they are in Super League next season (following the recent decision to extend it to 14 clubs next season) with the recent signing of Chris Hill from Salford,” said Horne.
“They’ve got quality throughout their side with the likes of (former Super League player) Waqa Blake and Keiran Gill in the centres and two tall wingers in Jayden Okunbor and Guy Armitage.
“Joe Keyes, who has caused us problems in the past, and Tom Holmes, are both quality halves. In the forwards the likes of Michael Lawrence, Zac Fulton and Matty Gee are in very good form.
“We know we’re going to be challenged but we are looking forward to it. Obviously, we’d like to be in a better position regarding the team as we know we are going to be without a number of regulars who have been playing well for us, whereas Bradford are probably going to be as strong as they’ve been all season with injured players having come back in recent weeks.”
Friday’s game will be the Dons second visit of the season to a ground which once held over 104,000 for a Challenge Cup final replay, with the Bulls charging to a 30-4 Betfred Challenge Cup second round win on a cold and wet afternoon back in January.
With Featherstone not having a game this weekend, the Dons have the incentive of knowing that victory would take them into fifth place. Having opened up a three-point lead of the two teams immediately below them, the Dons will retain their play-off place even in defeat.