Following the conclusion of week one of the Championship play-offs, here is a round-up of how the action unfolded…
The second-tier fixtures actually started with a postponed regular-season game, with London Broncos hosting Swinton Lions in a fiery affair.
London were already confirmed to finish top whilst Swinton didn’t make the play-offs, so the game itself was a bit of a dead rubber. London fielded a side made up largely of reserve team players, with their first-teamers receiving the week off ahead of their first play-off game next week.
The game was dominated by the Broncos, as they strolled to a 66-18 win, but the big talking point came at the end of the contest, as two red cards were shown following a brawl between almost all 26 players.
London’s Will Jones and Swinton’s Jordan Brown were both given their marching orders, with a few more players expected to be charged by the Match Review Panel this week.
In the play-offs themselves, history was made as Doncaster half-back Connor Robinson put his name into the record books in a win over Barrow Raiders, after another 12 successful conversions gave him the honour of being the man to kick the most conversions consecutively in the sport’s history.
Coming into the game, Robinson needed just two goals to break the record, but with a huge 12 from 12 this afternoon, he now sits on 52 straight goals converted – an incredible feat for the former Hull KR man.
Dons defeated the Raiders 72-0, in a complete mauling of the Cumbrian side. They will now face London next week, and that is because Widnes, who are the lower-ranked of the two, defeated Oldham in a 30-24 thriller.
The 1895 Cup Finalists scraped through in an away win, as they held Oldham out for the final half-hour of the game, despite their best effort to try to get on the scoresheet. The Vikings will take on Newcastle Thunder for a place in the semi-finals.
In the elimination finals, Midlands Hurricanes defeated Whitehaven 36-4 to book their place in the next round. A hat-trick from Lewis Else and two tries from Matty Chrimes helped them to the win, and they will now take on Oldham, who get another chance following defeat.
Sheffield Eagles just about came through against Batley Bulldogs, winning 25-18 thanks to a late try from Joe Brown and a drop goal from Jordan Abdull. Down 10-4 at half-time, Craig Lingard’s side produced a great second-half effort to keep their hopes of silverware in 2026 alive.
The Eagles will take on Barrow Raiders next week in the other loser-goes-home sudden-death play-off.
Championship play-off week one results
Qualifying Semi Final – Oldham RLFC 24-30 Widnes Vikings
Qualifying Semi Final – Doncaster RLFC 72-0 Barrow Raiders
Elimination Play-off – Sheffield Eagles 25-18 Batley Bulldogs
Elimination Play-off – Midlands Hurricanes 34-6 Whitehaven
Remaining Championship play-off fixtures:
Week 2:
Qualifying Final 1 – London Broncos v Doncaster RLFC – winner receives a bye to the semi-finals
Qualifying Final 2 – Newcastle Thunder v Widnes Vikings – winner receives a bye to the semi-finals
Elimination Final 1 – Oldham RLFC v Midlands Hurricanes
Elimination Final 2 – Barrow Raiders v Sheffield Eagles
Week 3
Winners of Qualifying Final 1 & 2 – bye week and play at home in semi-finals
Sudden Death Play Off 1 – Highest Ranked Loser of Qualifying Finals v Lowest Ranked Winner of Elimination Finals
Sudden Death Play Off 2 – Lowest Ranked Loser of Qualifying Finals v Highest Ranked Winner of Elimination Finals
Week 4
Preliminary Final 1 – Highest Ranked Qualifying Final Winners v Lowest Ranked Sudden Death Play Off Winners
Preliminary Final 2 – Lowest Ranked Qualifying Final Winners v Highest Ranked Sudden Death Play Off Winners
Week 5
Grand Final – Highest Ranked Winner of Preliminary Finals v Lowest Ranked Winner of Preliminary Finals
