I CAN'T ever remember when I was last not bothered whether Barrow RLFC won or lost, but last Saturday’s trek to Toulouse (or was it Toulouse le Trek?) was one of those occasions.

It was a strange feeling; a victory would have resulted in Barrow having to travel to France again this weekend – a journey no-one associated with the club really wanted.

I said last week Barrow had to travel to London to catch a plane to France and return home on the Saturday night to travel home on Sunday, but that scenario would only have kicked in this week if Barrow had been victorious last week.

In fact, Barrow flew from Manchester and stayed overnight in Toulouse before flying home the following day. Apologies for the misinformation, but it’s very difficult to understand Paul Crarey when he phones you early in the morning before you have fully woken. That’s my excuse anyway.

So we lost 44-22 to unbeaten Toulouse, which wasn’t a big surprise, and Barrow had a really good go. At one point I was a bit concerned because after falling 18-0 behind early in the game, we came back strongly and got within range at 32-22 with 20 minutes left.

Toulouse have been a bit special. They have spent a bit of money, assembled a very good side and are only one game away from promotion. Today, they play Rochdale Hornets at home, who finished second following their tricky home victory against Hunslet.

This is the promotion final and, although Toulouse are firm favourites, Rochdale have had a good season and are the only team to have taken a point from them.

However, they were well beaten a few weeks ago in France and I can’t see them winning today. But you never know and the last thing Paul Crarey needs is a Rochdale victory.

That would mean Barrow having to travel to France again should we beat Doncaster next weekend at Craven Park. How ironic would that be? Not funny.

The two-week break is a bonus and allows Barrow to prepare mentally and physically for a very difficult semi-final. If Rochdale lose today, they will play York City Knights at home next Sunday also. The winners of the two games will play each other the following week.

It would be nice if York could pull off a surprise, because if we beat Doncaster we would retain home advantage in the final. But it’s more likely that we will have to travel to Rochdale to win promotion.

Toulouse coach Sylvain Houles was rewarded by the RFL this week, voted League One Coach-of-the-Year. Paul Crarey was short-listed and recognised for the excellent work he has done since returning to the club a couple of years ago. Congratulations Paul, you deserve it.

Last weekend I watched a fantastic game between Workington Town and Bradford Bulls at Derwent Park. Relegated Town scored a try eight minutes into injury time and then, right on the hooter, hat-trick man Jarrod Sammut kicked a penalty from the halfway line to secure a 30-26 win.

Sammut was unplayable and on his day he is the best half-back outside of Super League. A phone call to understand his aspirations for next season wouldn’t go a miss (hint, hint).

Unfortunately, Whitehaven couldn’t pull off the great escape and were also relegated to League One with a close, exciting 20-18 defeat at Oldham.

If we fail in our promotion charge, there will be three professional Cumbrian rugby league teams in League One, which isn’t good for our region.

The only possible advantage could be a shared flight to Toronto?