AFTER the weekend’s results we are back in charge of our own destiny and without disrespecting West Wales I am confident that we will be crowned champions should we win at Rochdale.

This now becomes a cup final. Rochdale also must win if they are to achieve a play-off place, so it is a massive game for both sides.

Our injury problems should ease a little this week and we are hopeful that Jordan Walne, Tom Hopkins, Charlie Emslie, Jake Emmitt, Mark Tyson and Callum Bustin are all in the frame to return. If ever a player needed to put their body on the line this week is it.

The game versus London Skolars was a genuine game of two halves. We were pretty good in the first half and were clinical with our execution, but the second half left a lot to be desired.

We struggled with forward replacements, but we were still lax in defence.

Skolars showed enough to suggest they will be a threat to Workington on Saturday, but I still expect our rivals to be too strong. It is a favour we won’t be banking on.

Should we be successful we have already provisionally booked a recruitment and retention planning session with our coaching team for next week.

The obvious advantage of being champions is that it gives us an extra five weeks to recruit a squad for the much tougher league above.

I am in the working group looking at league structures for 2023 and whilst nothing has been decided I think that Super League 1 and 2 consisting of 10 teams each is the favourite.

If we include a Magic or Bash this would give a 21-game season and with it a potential later start and room in the calendar for internationals and perhaps a nines tournament. For me, I am not against that but simply changing league sizes isn’t a cure to any of the problems of rugby league. We need to market all games strongly and each club has a responsibility to grow their crowds.

There should be two key objectives for rugby league and that is to increase participation and to grow the crowds. I watched the Warrington v St.Helens fixture on Monday evening and it was a tremendous advert for rugby league.

The crowd sang throughout and there was a special atmosphere in the ground for two of the biggest rivals in the game. That is the sort of match occasion that every club should be trying to replicate.

I have little doubt that the TV funding would bounce back if that was the normal fare.

Barrow Raiders recognise that the growth in crowds can be so advantageous to the game and the club itself. When we got over 3,000 in for the Workington fixture there was also a special atmosphere in the ground and full credit must go to the large travelling contingent who played a big part. We are hoping that there will be more games like that in the Championship and we can continue to increase our numbers.