Having tasted successive defeats in the Betfred Championship, Barrow Raiders half-back Brad Walker believes victory over London Broncos is a must if they’re to get the club’s top-six push back on track.
The Raiders gave a good account of themselves against full-time Toulouse Olympique last weekend but ultimately fell to a 34-14 defeat as the visitors ran in two late tries.
Results in Round 19 mean the Raiders find themselves eighth in the table, and with so few games remaining, Walker insists there can be no room for error.
“I think that it’s a must-win for us, certainly to help us get back on track,” he said.
“We targeted the Toulouse game and obviously we didn’t win that, so it’s a massive game in terms of getting back near that top six.
“The quality is there, and we know we are good enough to reach the play-offs. Going away to London, it’s probably the perfect game for us to go and throw the ball around with confidence, and hopefully come back with the win.”
Successive defeats have dented the Raiders’ play-off hopes slightly, but they remains firmly in the mix heading into their final six games of the season.
In fact, if results go the way of Paul Crarey’s side this weekend, they could end Round 20 as high as fifth.
Reflecting on the positives from the Toulouse game, Walker added: “For probably 60/65 minutes, I thought we were well in it.
“We had chances to probably go ahead earlier on, and considering we had players playing out of position, I thought we gave a good account of ourselves.
“It was the kind of game where last year we’d probably have fallen off a cliff. That happened at times when some games just got away from us, but I think that against Toulouse we dug in.
“There are a lot of positives to take, and everyone’s positive at the moment.
“We’ve slipped down a bit after last week’s defeat, but a few more wins could get us into that top six and that’s what we’re all aiming for.”
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