UNDER normal circumstances, a five-hour coach journey back from London on a Saturday night might not seem like a particularly fun place to be.

Last Saturday's return journey for the Barrow Raiders squad from London Skolars was not exactly normal circumstances though, with the players and staff celebrating their eighth win in a row after trouncing their opponents 54-4.

Much merriment was deservedly enjoyed on that trip back home as the Raiders took a step closer to a guaranteed top-three finish in the Kingstone Press League One Super Eights and head coach Paul Crarey hailed the team spirit as one reason for their success so far this season.

“The atmosphere with the lads is brilliant at the moment and we had a great bus trip home,” said Crarey, adding: “I think we sang for five hours and it's a good place to be at the moment.

“We've hit the 700-point mark, we're ranked with the second-best attack and second-best defence in the competition, so we've got to be doing something right as a group at the moment.”

Barrow are well on-course for a top-three finish which would ensure home advantage for the play-offs, even if they were to finish second and then lose the promotion showdown away to runaway leaders Toulouse Olympique.

Promotion either way would represent an impressive achievement for the Raiders nonetheless after Crarey helped stabilise the club by guiding them to a seventh-place finish in 2015.

And the former Barrow hooker is well-aware of the need to ensure the club are ready to go up both on and off the field should they manage to secure one of the two League One promotion places.

“It would be nice to finish in the top three because that's where we set our stall out as to where we want to be as progression for the club, and after that everything is a bonus,” said Crarey.

“If we go up to the Championship, it's a different ball game and everything has to be set up. The club has got to be ready for it and financially we've got to be ready for it.”

He is, however, confident Barrow will prove an attractive proposition both for those players already at Craven Park and any potential new recruits, whichever division they happen to find themselves in for the 2017 campaign.

“You've got lads wanting to come here through agents and people who have got friends in the game here are expressing an interest in coming, so it all helps,” said Crarey.

“Good news travels fast in rugby league, but bad news travels faster and good things are happening here at Barrow.”

Read more: Evangelist Paul Crarey hopes public buy into his Barrow Raiders vision

Read more: Darren Carter delighted to see Furness Raiders ready for lift-off