Other results have gone our way, with saints and Catalans both losing. Worst case we end the week 4th if Warrington beat Leeds, third if Leeds win. Nice position to be in at this stage of season. Tough few weeks coming up though where we'll have to be at our best.

Who would we prefer to win tonight,can't sit and watch it and hope Leeds win

Floodlight failure would be best outcome for me

Much as I hate to say it Leeds win would be best. Although a mass brawl and few two or three week bans wouldn't go amiss

In a few games time we will have reached the halfway way point in the SL and will have played everyone at least once. If we can get even 1 victory in the next 3 versus Wigan, Warringotn and Leeds will be nicely placed for the 2nd half of the season. But I think we're capable of giving anyone a game so why not aim higher?

Need wire to win i think, leeds have 2 games in hand and they will win then both most likely, so the more they lose the better for the po's

Agreed,come on the wolves

Hope Leeds won today and Bulls make good use of being third to market Sunday's game. Then it's on the players to make any floating voters glad they bothered.

Will really see what the team is made of other the last few weeks. It seems to have been forgotten that we were in almost exactly this position in 2010. We lost two hard-fought games to Leeds and Wire and fell apart. Hoping for a better outcome this time.

To be fair, this last time last year the protracted uncertainty about the future was kicking in to gear.

This time last year wasn't 2010.

Disagree results went our way this week. Personally I would have rathered the two Hull sides both lost today so that we are stretching the gap on them.

Odd as it may sound, we would have been safer in the play-off spots had Saints and Catalans won today and put us down to fifth than we are currently in third. Put simply. I would rather been in fifth with a four point lead over KR and 6 over FC than third with 2 and 4 points ahead respectively.

Good point Eddie,I hope we are getting to the point where we are looking at different teams results as opposed to the teams below us

Agreed though, you would think we should be worrying about Wakie, hull KR etc,maybe after next 3 games we will be , but after 11 games it's no fluke we are in 3rd at this moment in time

I have thought for a few week that Hull will not stay as poor as they have been ,2 good wins on the trot now, but we are not going too bad either

Strangely enough, I nearly posted precisely the same as ME, a few hours ago, but was reluctant to rain on the parade. Such violent agreement really won't do.

It still seems to me most likely that we will be fighting with the Hull clubs (and maybe a resurgent Widnes) for a play-off spot. The competition is so tight at the moment that we could easily be out of the eight by May if the situation should develop not necessarily to our advantage. Although our present league position is extremely encouraging and confidence-boosting, this weekend's results DO give us that much less margin for error later in the season. Hopefully we won't be in a marginal position by then, but it does require a great leap of faith to believe we won't be, I feel?

And after those games AF referred to in 2010, He Who We Do Not Name started on his "I want my Mummeeee bwah mwah" run for home, with all the damage that caused - may he and the Sack of Rat Droppings rot in the deepest pits of hell for all eternity. Or maybe even a bit longer.

I think perhaps it is easy to try over think how the results might go. The other way to look at it is we're currently 3rd and it's up to the other sides to catch up with us. If we continue in a similar vein of form then we won't be worrying about who is scrapping for 8th spot.

Plenty of twists and turns left in 2013 for all clubs and the results in this round have no greater significance than in the other 26 rounds IMO.

I have said all season that there are 6 certainties for the top 8 in Wigan, Wire, Leeds, Saints, Catalans and Huddersfield.

Perm any 2 from 3 with ourselves and the two Hull sides to complete the play off picture. (I can't see Widnes making it TBH).

Therefore, the more games the Hull sides lose then the better for us.

Hmm. Would like to think the players have a less fixed mindset and are ambitious to win every game and crack the top four.

Afaik a 50% record has always put you in the top 8. We have got 16 games to find six wins that will achieve that. While I agree with Eddie that we might find ourselves in competition with the Hull clubs, for now it is good to be having a crack at greater goals than just making the 8.

You're not wrong.

Don't think anyone suggested any fixed mindset or lack of ambition? Or of not striving to win every game regardless? Or of not enjoying the moment when two-fifths through the season we are third in the table (and no worse than fourth even if Leeds win at least one of their two games in hand), a position few could have dreamed of not that long ago.

The point being made was that the top eight still looks most likely to contain the six clubs plus two from the Hull clubs and us. our mission, I suggest, is to strive to ensure that we are safe in the eight, and it is the two Hull clubs (or indeed clubs of the so-called "top 6"icon_wink.gif that are fighting it out for the last spot. No point worrying about how the other clubs perform; we just have to ensure we perform better than at least six of them, and hopefully more. Which task would not be helped by both Hull clubs making up too much ground; the point that was being made.

Both arguments make sense to be honest. Whilst I agree ourselves and the two Hulls are the most likely to make up the numbers outside Eddie's list of 6 I actually think any of the current top 11 can do it. Both Hulls have plenty of duff games in them and Wakey and Widnes have more wins in them than most are giving them credit for.

Our biggest worries relate to injuries, especially up front. From what we've seen so far I don't think desire, fitness or willingness to perform are going to be serious concerns for us. The next three weeks are a big test. I'll be reasonably happy to get two points from the next six. I'd rather be in third going in to those games and maybe slipping down a notch or two than on the outside trying to fight back in.

Fully concur.

I think your last sentence is very, very pertinent.

Don't get me wrong, I think we're more likely to be competing for the 8 than
top four. But given that most people here would think we're an outside shout for the GF regardless of where we finish, I wouldn't underestimate the value of a run near the top of the table even mid-season. In a comp where we have less resources than any other club and only two trophies are available, it's good to find different ways to succeed and being third this week is one, admittedly minor, way in which we have succeeded already. Good luck to the lads in their attempts to build on it over the coming months.

Ways in which this could be a good year for the Bulls (on-field)

1. Cup run (Wembley?)
2. Make the eight/finish as high up the table as possible
3. Take a scalp or two in the play-offs
4. Take a scalp or two in the regular season
5. Have a run near the top of the league

Have I missed any? Even placing it bottom, it's still the 5th best thing we could do this year and so worth doing I reckon.

I think when the players look at the table and see we are 3rd, it will give them a massive confidence boost.

Well as many were tipping us to finish bottom before the season started (and I'll admit that I didn't see this season as anything other than us being also rans) I'd be happy for us to continue the season the way we've started it.

A cup run will be superb for us. Financially and profile wise. Tell everyone we're back on the big stage. A final could earn £1million for the kitty!

Do we receive all our play off money or are we sharing it with the other 7 play off teams if we make it?