Both sides are determined to reach Super League next season but their match on Saturday might not matter at all
he favourites for the Championship title meet in the south of France on Saturday evening. It would be a surprise if the match between Toulouse Olympique and Bradford Bulls is not repeated at the end of the campaign in the Championship Grand Final. But what the 13 teams in the second tier are playing for this season remains unclear – and will still be unknown when autumn leaves begin to fall.
Toulouse and Bradford are the only two clubs still spending anywhere near the seven-figures usually required to reach the Grand Final. The removal of automatic promotion and relegation last year did not prevent the Championship winners, Wakefield, from replacing Super League’s bottom team, London Broncos, in the top flight this season. But that scenario is unlikely to be repeated this October, when the 12 clubs in Super League will again be decided solely by the IMG grading system. Winning the Championship may be about glory rather than promotion.
Toulouse, who started this year 13th in the IMG grading system, and Bradford, who were three places further back in 16th, could have the infrastructure and players required to leapfrog a Super League club. They are the only second-tier clubs that are revving their engines in Super League’s pit lane, ready to pounce if vulnerable Salford or Huddersfield hit the buffers.
Toulouse decided to stay full time this season as it is the only way their players can cope with the logistics of flying to England every fortnight. Their coach, Sylvain Houles, thought long and hard before deciding to remain in charge for a 14th season. His commitment is a huge boost for the club but the number of top-flight names in the squad has shrunk in line with their budget.
Bradford, on the other hand, are splashing out on players because they need to win the competition. The IMG points a title would bring are vital given the poor facilities and patchy crowds at the vast Odsal Stadium. They are top of the Championship table after two rounds of fixtures but are yet to click for the full 80 minutes.
Former NRL stars Waqa Blake and Jorge Taufa are hugely experienced – and, like Matty Gee and James Donaldson (who is still playing for the club 16 years after his debut), still in their prime years – but they are still adjusting to the Championship’s bruising nature. Brian Noble’s side dumped Castleford out of the Challenge Cup, but then took a while to overcome London in their opening league match at Odsal and conceded 20 points at newly promoted Hunslet, and only won a bruising 1895 Cup tie at Batley by a try.
The Championship remains a country for old men. It’s a division that still features blokes who played when Gordon Brown was Prime Minister and Liz McDonald was running the Rovers. Newly promoted Hunslet managed to lure Kevin Larroyer and former Brisbane Bronco Greg Eden to south Leeds; and with 350 senior games to his name, 35-year-old hooker Paul McShane is steering York around. Last year Doncaster’s survival plan was based on signing a minibus full of veterans with vast experience. It worked. Now the likes of Bureta Faraimo and Pauli Pauli have to produce again.
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