Hunslet Hawks: Hunslet are undaunted by challenge

HUNSLET HAWKS won't hold anything back when they play host to Toulouse Olympique in the Kingstone Press League One Super-8s today (3pm).
Matt BramaldMatt Bramald
Matt Bramald

Defeat by the French visitors and a win for York City Knights at home to London Skolars tomorrow would end Hunslet’s play-offs hopes.

Hunslet have already come through one must-win game, producing their best performance of the season to beat York 33-12 last time out, but Toulouse are undefeated in the league this year and Hawks coach Matt Bramald knows the odds remain stacked against his team in the race for a top-five finish.

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“There’s a scenario where we could win both our remaining games and not get into the top-five, or we could win one out of two and still make it,” Bramald said. “It is out of our hands to an extent and all we can do is have a good go. We have prepared well and the players are aware of what’s in front of them and what we need to do.

“We know what a tough task it’s going to be, but it’s one we’ve got to get on top of and we are going to give it our best shot.”

Toulouse have rattled up 930 points in their 19 League One fixtures this year and Bramald added: “We are going to have to stop them scoring.

“What they’ve done is they have outscored everybody. They have some glitches defensively, but when they have the ball in hand they find a way to score. They play a quick game and we have got to find a way to stop that. We will take confidence from the performance against York and we have to have the same intensity, particularly defensively.”

Lewis Reed (knee) – who has signed a 12-month contract extension – and Simon Brown (hand) could return from injury, but Danny Thomas and Craig Robinson are unavailable.