Wigan tackle curse

Wigan set out tonight to try to beat the curse of third place, but they must do so with a threadbare side.

Since the introduction of the Super League play-off system, teams finishing outside the top two have struggled to make an impact. Wigan's first hurdle, against sixth-placed Castleford, was not made easier by the withdrawal last night of Terry O'Connor, Mick Cassidy and Sean O'Loughlin, on top of the absence of four outside backs.

"It's not too bad having injuries, as long as they're spread through the squad," said the Wigan coach, Stuart Raper. "It makes it more difficult when they're all concentrated in certain positions."

The late changes see Harvey Howard come into the starting line-up, with three young forwards – Ricky Bibey, Danny Sculthorpe and Stephen Wild – joining Mark Smith on the bench.

Castleford's Graham Steadman has no such problems and his main decision is whether to give the 35-year-old prop, Dean Sampson, what could be his last game before retirement.

Sampson was left out against Salford last week, but is added to the squad that won there, along with the young winger, Tom Saxton.

At Mount Pleasant tomorrow, two unlikely candidates for advancement try to take the next step forward in the Northern Ford Premiership play-offs.

Neither Batley nor Oldham were strongly fancied when the play-offs began two weeks ago, but both have achieved two away victories to bring them this far, with a match against Leigh for a place in the Grand Final the prize for the winners.

Oldham's player-coach, Steve Molloy, is a former Batley player who has steadied the ship at a club which never expected to do as well as last year, when they reached the NFP Grand Final before losing to Widnes.