WE now know the official play-off fixtures and my predictions weren’t far off.

Due to Toulouse winning by 40 points against London Skolars and Hunslet beating North Wales Crusaders, Hunslet were able to leapfrog Skolars and secure seventh.

That means Hunslet will come to Craven Park and Barrow will have to travel to the capital and play a London team who only a month ago defeated us 42-34.

The sequence of games has also changed from those in the Championship play-offs last season, so my assumption they would stay the same was wrong.

It is a very difficult start against Rochdale, who finished second in the first phase, with 25 points. They have beaten us twice this season at Craven Park, but both were very close encounters and on their day Barrow have every chance.

I can’t wait for that one on July 24 and let’s hope the Barrow public get behind the team and swell the terraces to the biggest crowd of the season.

With both York and Doncaster losing at the weekend, that Barrow are only one point behind Doncaster and two behind York.

That provides us with a very good chance of challenging for third,which would give us a home fixture in the semi-final promotion match against the team that finishes fourth.

By the time we play our last play-off match in Toulouse on September 10, we should know our destiny and, if we can win most of the six previous games, it may provide an opportunity to give some of the fringe players an outing and save the majority of the team for the more important promotion match the following week. Promotion is a tall order from fifth, but not impossible.

Let’s go for it and have no regrets.

At Cougar Park, chairman Gary Fawcett isn’t messing about and has confirmed that the club will replace coach Paul March if he fails to guide the club to promotion at the end of the season.

The Cougars were heavily backed to earn promotion at the beginning of the season, but since winning the i-Pro Sport Cup in May their form has deteriorated and they ended up a point behind Barrow in sixth.

Fawcett said: “It has been especially frustrating for the board this season, because we substantially strengthened the squad from last year’s – when we came ever so close to being promoted – and felt our position as favourites was entirely justified."

There’s also a bit of turmoil up the coast, with James Coyle, the Whitehaven coach, announcing his resignation come the end of the season.

Barrow connections Dave Clark and Gary Broadbent have been mentioned as possible successors.

Haven have struggled this season and their switch to Saturday evening hasn’t worked, with average crowds about 600.

Workington are also struggling financially, with the club stating income streams are drying up, with average attendance at 700 and vice-chairman Mark Fryer is urging fans and local businesses to get behind them. The players have also been spoken to and some pay cuts may be inevitable.

Fryer said: "We can’t carry on at the level we are at. We have got to run the business accordingly and we had to look at our fixed costs to keep the club going."

It is tough going in the current financial climate, with Town rock bottom of the Championship and facing the threat of relegation.

Rugby league is a tough business, but we must remain ambitious and find a way of engaging the Furness community and generating new support or we could end up the same.