Scorpions skipper hoping to secure play-off spot on Sunday.

South Wales Scorpions’ captain Aled James is hoping that his side can secure a Co-operative Championship 1 play-off place this Sunday when they take on York City Knights at The Gnoll in Neath (kick-off 1pm).


James, a Welsh international and former Super League player with Widnes Vikings and Celtic Crusaders, has led the team from day one and has experienced all the highs and lows that bring us to Sunday’s important game.

“It’s been a tough old season,” he said. “We have exceeded all expectations and in fairness we’ve competed every week and we’ve put ourselves in a position where we push hard to get into the play-offs and go as far as we can.

“We need just the one point and we hope we can secure that on Sunday at The Gnoll. If we get a win it’s better off though as we could finish as high as fourth which will give us a home tie in the play-offs and make it easier for us.

“We lost to York in the last minute up there by a drop-goal so it’ll be a close game. But we’ve a lot of confidence in ourselves and we hope to get everything sorted this weekend as we’re playing at Hunslet next week who look like they’re going to be Champions.”

James believes that the Scorpions side have come a long way in their 18 games since they kicked off on the last day of February with a win over former Super League outfit Workington Town.

“They expected us to be whipping boys and be down at the bottom with London and Gateshead,” he said. “But we’ve earned a lot of respect from some of the traditional teams in the north of England. They know that when they come down here, they’ll have a good game.

“As a team we’ve come a long way. We had a great start really - we knocked up wins against Workington and Doncaster and since then we’ve been building. We’ve had a couple of set-backs along the way but in fairness we’ve only lost a couple of games by more than 10 points. We’ve picked up a few bonus points, and that along with our nine wins has kept us in the hunt for most of the season.”

Tickets for the Scorpions v York at The Gnoll are priced £4 for concessions and £8 for adults can be bought by going to http://www.scorpionsrl.com/. 2011 Season Tickets are also available and by buying one before midday on Sunday, fans will have a chance to win the Season Ticket and have their money refunded.

Ian Golden

Media Manager
WALES RUGBY LEAGUE