ROCHDALE head to Huddersfield on Sunday in the lowest position in the professional game.
With just one win from their opening six Co-operative Championship I fixtures, they are three points adrift at the bottom of the table on -3 points after starting the season with a nine-point deduction for going into administration in January.
Their only League win so far this season came two weeks ago when they won 46-8 at home to second-bottom London Skolars, who are still searching for their first victory, but on Monday they suffered a 24-12 defeat at Blackpool Panthers.
The Hornets have, of course, also sampled success on the Challenge Cup front and moved into the fifth round after an excellent 28-22 triumph at Swinton Lions.
But a trip to the full-time Super League Giants is obviously a different kettle of fish for the Lancastrian part-timers!
One to watch
ROCHDALE’S most famous Challenge Cup name has this week been facing a race against time to be fit to face the Giants.
Winger Leroy Rivett made Cup final history in 1999 when he scored four tries in Leeds’ big Wembley win over London Broncos.
Since then, he has played for a number of clubs, including the Giants in 2000, but has missed his side’s last two games with a shoulder/neck injury and is a doubt for Sunday.
In his absence, the most experienced tag falls on Chris Giles.
The utility back had spells in Super League with Widnes Vikings and Leigh Centurions, where he scored tries on a regular basis, and he’ll be desperate to add to his tally back on a bigger stage this weekend.
COACH Darren Shaw made a name for himself in the Challenge Cup as a member of Sheffield Eagles’ Challenge Cup-winning side of 1998.
But the Australian, who took over at Spotland after resigning at Leigh in 2008, knows a shock win this weekend is hardly on the cards!
