Dragons v Bulls: Teams
Catalan Dragons host Bradford Bulls in what should prove a pulsating encounter between sides with everything to play for.
Last Updated: 07/09/12 12:04pm
Catalan Dragons host Bradford Bulls in what should prove a pulsating encounter between sides with everything to play for.
Heading into the last weekend of the regular season, the fourth-placed Dragons could finish anywhere between third and fifth in the table depending on whether they beat the Bulls and results elsewhere.
Coach Trent Robinson will also be looking to go out on a high with the news on Friday that he is to leave the Super League club at the end of the season to take charge of his old outfit Sydney Roosters.
Meanwhile the play-off chasing Bulls - currently sitting in ninth in the table just a point behind eighth-placed Wakefield - need at least a draw from the game.
Mick Potter's men must then hope the Wildcats lose to Salford in the later kick-off.
Bulls player Olivier Elima, who is to return to the Dragons on a two-year deal, believes it would be fitting if Bradford, who were hit with administration earlier this season, could make it into the play-offs for the first time in four years.
Happy
He told the Telegraph & Argus: "It's out of our hands but whatever happens, we're happy with how we've performed this season.
"The first few weeks were a bit shaky but after that you could tell that something was happening at Bradford.
"The likes of Manase Manuokafoa, Keith Lulia and Luke Gale have done a great job for us and Ben Jeffries too has had a great season.
"Something special has happened this year but if it hadn't been for the off-field stuff we would be in the play-offs already with the amount of games we won.
"This is probably the best season we've had in years and we could still get in the play-offs."
Team news
For the Dragons, Lopini Paea and Leon Pryce have not recovered from injury and will miss the game, but Steve Menzies, Sébastien Raguin and David Ferriol are back in Robinson's squad.
The Bulls are missing four players for the crucial trip, with John Bateman remaining sidelined and Craig Kopczak, Jamie Langley and Karl Pryce out after picking up knocks in last week's defeat to Hull FC.
On a more positive note, Michael Platt has been passed fit for inclusion and Phil Joseph, Elliot Kear and Nick Scruton are also included in the 19-man squad, although there is no place for Shaun Ainscough.
Catalan squad: Greenshields, Blanch, Sa, Bosc, Dureau, Ferriol, Henderson, Casty, Menzies, Anderson, Mounis, Raguin, Pelissier, Millard, Fakir, Baitieri, Duport, Cardace, Maria.
Bradford squad: Kear, Crookes, Lulia, Whitehead, Diskin, Scruton, Jeffries, Walker, Hargreaves, Olbison, L'Estrange, Joseph, Sammut, Elima, Gale, O'Brien, Kearney, Platt, Manuokafoa.