This week will take some beating for entertainment: four games to decide six clubs’ future. Any of the Qualifiers’ top six could seal a place in the Super League or be in the win-or-bust Million Pound Game, while one of London Broncos, Toulouse, Toronto and Hull KR are going to find themselves preparing for the Championship again. The Qualifiers: the gift that keeps on giving. Well, for a few more days anyway.

It’s a shame Sky have opted to spread the games over four days. Yes, it means three of them are televised live but what a wonderful TV event it would be if all four were played at the same time, going from game to game with every twist and turn. London head coach Danny Ward rightly called it “odd” and admitted it gave the Broncos “a bit of an advantage” when they play Halifax on Saturday.

This crazy climax was caused by three Championship clubs beating Super League opponents last Saturday. While Toronto confirming relegation for Widnes was no real surprise, London’s gritty defensive display to hold out against a strangely lacklustre Salford was, and then came Toulouse turning around a 19-0 defeat to beat Hull KR in Blagnac.

Leeds overcome Halifax to all but confirm Super League place Read more

So how have Toulouse gone from being pushovers in London two weeks ago to deserving a point in Toronto, then getting two against the Robins? “The London game was the push the guys needed,” says Toulouse winger Chris Centrone. “London outplayed us in every way. It felt worse than any other loss and gave us a tough run to the Million Pound Game. But we play our best footy in pressure situations. We somehow enjoy making it harder for ourselves.”

Signed from Australia’s second tier this summer, the Italy international identified a team spirit issue that needed addressing. “We lacked the consistency of a full-time side. That showed even before I arrived,. We had to improve on that. We found ourselves drifting away from our game plan. I hadn’t encountered anything like it before in terms of the attitude of some of the French guys. They put their heads down very quickly, were defeated immediately if something didn’t go their way.

“That attitude towards any given moment during the game – positive or negative – has changed now. Instead of getting angry with each other and throwing their hands up in the air, the guys are getting behind each other and building a bond. It’s a culture we’re trying to instil. We’re all on the same page now. And when we’re really connected, we put big scores on people.”

Barring a Halifax-inspired miracle, defeat at Salford on Thursday night will end Toulouse’s season. Win and they put tremendous pressure on Toronto to get at least a point at Leeds 24 hours later.

“We are expecting another tough battle for sure,” says Centrone. “Salford have been so dominant through this middle 8 and are playing with nothing to lose. [Salford would only fall into the Million Pound Game if they lose and both Toronto and Hull KR win.] I hear the Broncos did a job on them in defence and came away with a win. Our attack takes care of itself so if we can sure up our defence we’ll be in with a real chance.”

Of the Championship contenders, only Toronto are ready for the Super League right now. Their successive 8,000 attendances have been bettered only by Leeds, Wigan, Hull, Warrington and St Helens in the last fortnight. Meanwhile there were only around 600 London fans at Ealing on Saturday and promotion is unlikely to cause thousands of lapsed Broncos fans to emerge from the gloom of four years out of the Super League spotlight. Toulouse have struggled to get more than 2,000 to most games this year, and none of the three’s home grounds currently meet Super League criteria. But any of them could be promoted.

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Foreign quota

Sky Sports viewers were treated to the last 10 minutes of the NRL Women’s game between Brisbane and the Warriors. It was refreshing stuff: well structured with inventive play and passion but played with an innocent purity epitomising the word “amateur”: for the love of the game. There was no milking for penalties, no deliberate delaying the game. Players showed concern for injured opponents and consoled them in defeat. And Fox Sports covered it seriously.

Among the Broncos’ class acts was a tall tackling machine: second rower Chelsea Lenarduzzi. She’s the little sister of Italy international Rhys Lenarduzzi, a full-back or half-back who made the first of his eight appearances for Italy in 2009. In a peripatetic club career he spent time with Sydney Roosters, Penrith Panthers, French Elite club Lezignan and in Italian union with Rovigo. Rhys then hung up his boots, became an agent and is now doing a double degree in Law and Philosophy and a diploma in Chinese. The Lenarduzzi family back in Udine must be very proud.

Clubcall: Sydney Roosters

After two home games each during the play-offs, Sydney Roosters and Melbourne Storm meet on neutral territory in Sunday’s NRL Grand Final at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium/ANZ/Stadium Australia. Brisbane and South Sydney also played at their home grounds, but Penrith and Cronulla were considered not big or metropolitan enough to host ‘Finals Footy’ despite being fine the rest of the season.

By beating their great rivals Souths in last weekend’s semi, the Roosters gave the Sydney Football Stadium a fitting send-off before it is replaced at the mere age of 30. Strangely, the game drew a record rugby league attendance of 44,380 to its last hurrah. The Sydney Football Stadium was an upgrade on the Roosters’ previous Sydney Sports Ground base and has been their home since it opened. Souths shared it for the first 17 years before moving to join Canterbury at the Olympic Stadium. Wests Tigers (occasionally) and Parramatta (temporarily) play there now, too. Imagine a Super League club playing at home in the Grand Final? Not ideal.

Goal-line drop-out

York overcame a first-half wobble to see off Whitehaven and lift the League 1 title on Sunday in front of over 3,000 spectators. That consigned Bradford to a play-off semi-final with Oldham, while Doncaster host Workington. The eventual winners will go up but the losers will end up in the newly concocted play-off against the Championship’s bottom club. That will be Rochdale or Swinton. If it is Rochdale, they will play without full-back Richard Lepori. Like several part-timers, Lepori has booked a holiday ≠ to visit his family in Rome. Workington boss Leon Pryce has called the extra game “an absolute disgrace”.

Enjoy the tortuous Qualifiers one last time before Super League is revamped Read more

Fifth and last

If you thought you had a strong school team, try this. The current captains of all three Wales national teams were in the same school year. London Broncos’ winger Elliott Kear has been appointed Wales rugby league captain for the Euros, joining the soon-to-be-replaced union skipper Sam Warburton and Gareth Bale as former teammates at Whitchurch High School in Cardiff, where Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas was also a pupil. Bale played a bit of league before his football at Southampton took over.

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