LEIGH CENTURIONS v HULL KR
DISCIPLINE will be the key issue in Leigh’s changing room as they bid to win the remaining place in the National League One Grand Final, according to new Centurions supremo Alex Murphy.

Murphy is back from holiday in the south of France and is set to meet with the Leigh players head-on prior to their clash with Hull KR on Sunday. He plans to offer some harsh words of advice on how to deal with the pressure of knock-out rugby league and trusts that the Centurions will take heed.

“Apparently we lost the game against Salford through stupidity. The last thing I said to our coach Tommy Martyn was to tell the players no stupid penalties.

“The game isn’t won in the first 20 minutes, so we don’t need to go hell for leather. Discipline is also very important, so I will be stressing this to all the players,’’ said Murphy, who plans to have in-depth discussions with all the Leigh players who will be involved in Sunday’s clash.

“I will be talking to every player on a one-to-one basis. It will be my way of generating the right attitude,’’ said the enigmatic Murphy, who during his playing career was rated the greatest ever British scrum half and as a coach led Leigh, Warrington and Salford to cup success in the 1970’s.

But can the 63-year-old Murphy retrace those steps and instil in the Leigh players his ideals in the short space of time left before the Hull KR game?

“I’ve kept in touch with the club while I was away on holiday, both through the chairman and through Tommy Martyn and we will discuss everything before the team is selected.

“We need to know that the players we have at Leigh are good enough to forward with, that’s for sure,’’ said Murphy.

With on-loan prop Ricky Bibey and quick-silver hooker Paul Rowley both facing disciplinary action ahead of the Grand Final following their dismissals in a heated confrontation at Salford, the Murphy-Martyn combination may need to plan round their possible absence. Bibey and Rowley were shown the red card in a crazy two-minute spell just after the interval, which reduced Leigh to 11-men and with Adam Bristow effectively still in the sin-bin for a high tackle, the Centurions were down to ten men for a while in the second half.

Both Bibey and Rowley are likely to make the starting line-up against Hull KR, albeit that they may well start on the bench. Lee Sanderson is a capable utility player who can fill in at hooker or scrum half with equal effect, and he may well get the vote to start the game in the No 9 shirt ahead of Rowley.

Damian Munro is back from injury and could squeeze his way in, while pacy centre Dale Cardoza is also in full training having missed the game with Salford through injury. However, Leigh’s main thrust will come through the intelligent play of former Great Britain and St Helens half back Martyn and the pack power of Sonny Nickle, Dave Bradbury, Sean Richardson and Adam Bristow.

Their opponents will not faze Hull KR, who pulled off a brilliant win at Rochdale in the quarter-final.

Coach Steve Linnane was still on a high days after the victory.

“That was an amazing win at Rochdale and this will be a massive game for us at Leigh, ‘’ he mused.

“The win at Rochdale gave us the chance to play Leigh in the final eliminatorl, so now everyone is ready to play,’’ said Linnane, who will have to make at least one change in his line-up.

Hooker Paul Pickering has been ruled out with a shoulder injury, leaving Linnane to mull over the possibility of either handing the No9 shirt to teenager Andy Ellis, or bring in utility forward Jimmy Walker, who has recovered from a broken arm.

“A few players have put their hands up to play in that position, so we will have to work out who is the best for the job,’’ was Linnane’s assessment.

Jamie Bovill has yet to come into consideration after his suspension as has Mark Blanchard, but Linnane will not reveal his line-up until he is clear in his own mind that the team he selects is the one to carry Hull KR forward to the Grand Final at the Halton Stadium, Widnes on October 5th.

Having beaten Leigh in the National League Cup quarter-final last season, when the Centurions were being tipped to rival Huddersfield Giants for every National League trophy available, it proved to be a remarkable achievement.

But Linnane feels that will have no psychological bearing on this game.

“We have lost 13 players since then, so I don’t see any connection whatsoever with that game. I can’t worry too much about how Leigh will play it. I’m more concerned with Hull KR. “But we are confident that we can go to Leigh and do a good job,’’ he said.

Gifted halfbacks Paul Mansson and Latham Tawhai and tenacious forwards Jon Aston, Anthony Seibold and Andy Smith will have a major impact for Hull KR, who also have plenty of pace wide out.

NATIONAL LEAGUE TWO - FINAL ELIMINATOR

CHORLEY LYNX v KEIGHLEY COUGARS
HOSTS Chorley have one more bite at the Grand Final cherry when they take on Keighley at Victory Park Coach Darren Abram is confident they can achieve that goal, but he will want to see a better performance from his players in the wake of defeat at the hands of Sheffield last week.

“Sheffield were the better side on the night, but we felt that the arrangements surrounding the kick-off time were geared to the home side,’’ confessed Abram, who gave his players some time off ahead of their preparation to meet the Cougars.

With gutsy second row forward Chris Newall back from holiday to strengthen Chorley’s pack and centre Jamie Stenhouse glad of some extra time to recover from his foot injury, the Lynx approach will be much the stronger for it.

“We still have a few injury problems to sort out and while we haven’t played well over the last three games, we feel we can get to the final,’’ said Abram, who will also run checks on prop Martin Roden and hooker Mike Briggs.

“Keighley are a good side with some excellent players, but it could be which side is the fittest on the day that will take the spoils,’’ said Abram.

With veteran prop Tim Street aiming to end his career on a high note with a Grand Final appearance on October 5th and winger Eric Andrews desperately keen to hold onto top spot in the National League Two try charts, Chorley have two players who will be keen to achieve some status.

Goal kicker Mark McCully’s accuracy with the boot could also have a major bearing on the result for Chorley. Keighley will run the rule over Ricky Halliwell’s knee injury before coach Gary Moorby selects his line-up.

“Ricky is to see a specialist to discover what is wrong with his knee, but we can only hope he makes it,’’ said Moorby.

“It is a nice incentive for the players to reach the Grand Final and play in front of the television cameras, so we feel good about going to Chorley,’’ said Moorby, who was delighted with the way Keighley dealt with the threat of Barrow Raiders in the Elimination semi-final.

“The first 70 minutes were perhaps our best so far this season. But the fact that we took our foot off the gas at the end scared me a little,’’ he confessed.

Pack leader Jason Ramshaw could keep his intended retirement on ice for a while longer, while Cougar will look to the skills of halfbacks Matt Firth and Paul Ashton to feed the work-hungry pack.

With coach Moorby predicting few if any changes to his side, Keighley should go into the match full of confidence.