Marshall wary of a Brown-inspired Widnes
Halifax coach Richard Marshall is very confident that his team can be competitive and hold their own in the Qualifiers section of the Super 8s.
But he is also well aware that the four Super League teams he will come up against have some excellent players who will be hard to handle.
First up for Marshall’s men is a home game against Widnes Vikings, whose stand-off Marshall particularly admires.
“Kevin Brown is a fantastic player,” he told Love Rugby League.
“Lee Gaskell is probably the nearest to something like that in our division, and he had a really good game for Bradford against us, and probably won the game at the Summer Bash weekend for them.
“So there’s some special players we’re going to be coming up against.
“But with the likes of Scott Murrell, Dane Manning, and others, we’ve got a fantastic team.
“Our defence is second-best in the league, so we’re not afraid of any team.”
Marshall is happy about where Halifax finished in the Championship, as his club looks to build steadily towards a return to Super League.
“Ultimately, to finish in the top four was our objective,” he said.
“It was our goal, if you like, and we’ve done that, we’ve succeeded in that, and we’ve been quality through the last few weeks.
“The club hasn’t exceeded my expectations. Do we see ourselves as a top-four team? Yes.
“Do we see ourselves as a Super League team? Yes – at some point, whether that’s this year or the following year, we’re not sure of yet, we’ll have to see how it pans out.
“What we want to be is competitive in the Qualifiers. We want to compete against the Championship teams, which we have done all season, and we want to mix it up against the Super League teams.
“We’re not going to target two from three or whatever.
“We know we can be competitive against Championship teams, so that’s the goal for us.
“We’ve got Widnes first up, who are, in effect, fighting for survival.
“We’re not, we’re on the other end of the momentum ladder. We’re climbing that ladder and we’ve been doing that since May.
“But we’re aware that the whole competition changes and everyone starts again.”