Momentum is ‘crucial’ for Halifax Panthers’ head coach Kyle Eastmond as Championship play-offs await
Halifax Panthers will be looking for victory in their final game of the regular Championship season at Doncaster on Sunday, September 14 (kick off 3pm), to take some “crucial” momentum into the play-offs.
Fax secured their place in the top six by nervously, yet deservedly, beating Widnes Vikings at The Shay last weekend to make it four wins on the spin.
And the Panthers will be confident of making it five consecutive wins at the Eco-Power Stadium against a Doncaster outfit which has lost five games on the bounce - form which has scuppered any chance of the South Yorkshire side making the play-offs.
A win for Kyle Eastmond’s men could see them leap into fifth - which would mean a showdown at Oldham in the play-off eliminator - if Featherstone Rovers lose at Bradford Bulls in their Round 26 encounter. But if Fax can only match Fev’s result at Odsal, the Bulls will be hosting the Panthers in the first round of the play-offs next weekend.
Eastmond told Panthers TV: “Momentum is crucial. It is really important. Having the right momentum, preparing ourselves correctly and understanding what is at stake in these games.
“You have got to get your mentality right. That was one thing I was really pleased with this week. Everybody deserves credit for that.
“I am really pleased for the team. Everything we spoke about (before the Widnes game), they delivered a lot of it. I thought the lads did a great job.
“It got really frantic towards the end. The lads held their nerve to be honest. They stayed in the picture and they stayed alive to things and ultimately they solved it at the end so credit to them.”
Asked if making the play-offs was the main goal at the start of the season, the head coach responded:
“I didn’t look that far down the line. It would have probably been a little bit disrespectful of me to just walk in and start making goals to do this, that and the other.
“We just wanted to make a team that was tough to beat and would compete against everybody, and to change their mindset a little bit. I think they have done that.
“The credit goes to the players, not me or the coaching staff. They go out there and do it. I am really happy for them.
“But it doesn’t end here. We enjoyed Sunday, but we need to get back to work.”