Barrow Raiders give Cumbria hope of a shock Super League return

Having romped through the Championship regular season, Leigh Centurions are expected to stroll to the playoff final and win the Million Pound Game. Having scored a whopping 1,306 points in winning 26 of their 27 games this season, Leigh are unlikely to falter. If they do, it is assumed that second-placed Featherstone – the only team who have beaten Leigh all season, in a winter mud bath in February – will take advantage. But, however unlikely it sounds, Halifax, Barrow, Batley or York could replace Toulouse Olympique in Super League next season. That is the jeopardy when only one team is promoted and it is done entirely on a playoff system.

Victory over London Broncos at Wimbledon on Sunday saw Barrow clinch fourth place, an extraordinary achievement in their first season back in the Championship. Only one point separates Barrow, their playoff opponents Batley, and sixth-placed York. This weekend York will go to Halifax, who only won two more games than Batley and Barrow in the league. There’s little between them.

All five playoff contenders below Leigh – including Featherstone – have beaten at least one of the others. Barrow pushed Featherstone all the way a fortnight ago and Fev needed a disputed conversion to squeeze past Halifax last Sunday. The last time Leigh really struggled in a game was against Barrow in June and they still won 30-28. Before that, they hadn’t been pushed since they only beat Halifax by 10 points in March.

For anything other than a Leigh v Featherstone final, two of the unlikely promotion challengers need to do something extraordinary. Yet most post-seasons have an unexpected twist somewhere and – as Leeds and Salford showed at Catalans and Huddersfield, respectively – teams that go into the