When Glen Tomlinson tongue-lashed hapless whistler Ben Thaler in Batley's recent encounter with Dewsbury, he couldn't have expected a) a whopping six match ban and b) that it might bring down the curtain on his career in England. Whilst injury ravaged Hornets might breath a sigh of relief at the niggle-meister's absence, the whole unsavoury incident throws up the old question of refereeing standards in the NFP.

Indeed, Hornets have also suffered the Ben Thaler experience as he abdicated all pretence of control in our recent game against Doncaster. Throughout he looked abjectly out of his depth and relied almost entirely on the input of his touch judges. The reception he got when he left the field was one of the most vitriolic I've ever seen at Spotland - from both sets of supporters.

So, he leaves the Bulldogs without a key player - and there is conjecture amongst Batley fans as to who will step into the no. 6 jersey. Utility ball-handler Mark Cass and veteran handful Roger Simpson head the queue. It was Cass who kickstarted the Bulldogs in last week's win over Hunslet. His introduction to the fray after 20 minutes sparked batley to life with his vision and distribution . He even grabbed a try himself - his 50th for the club. His partnership with Dean Lawford at half back provides the engine room for this workmanlike Batley side. Lawford had an eventful game last week against Hunslet too - his livewire acceleration repeatedly breaking the defensive line to send a procession of players in for tries. he also kicked five goals - and still found time for a spell in the sin-bin! The Hornets half-back pairing will have to be at their best to snuff out their counterparts.

Given the injury situation at the moment, Martin Hall will probably wait until the last moment before naming his team. Last week's half back combination of Woody and Garty looked fairly steady, but toiled in vain in front of a largely outplayed pack. Games together will only aid fluency, but injuries could well see the partnership broken up again as Hally looks for a solid threequarter line. We'd guess at Warren Ayres at 7, Garty at 6 and Woody at centre to cover for Casey Mayberry/Matt Calland. James Bunyan could well cover the other centre berth.
But we have been wrong before, and your guess is as good as ours given the situation. It would also be good to see Andy Ireland come into contention to give the pack some much needed direction and impetus.

Much against the run of history, Mount Pleasant's been a half decent hunting ground for Hornets recently - not least last season's closing game when we pipped the Biffs for third. But you really can't underestimate Batley on their own patch. They play the slope to their advantage and make it hard for the opposition to gain ground. And in times when clinical all-seater stadia and bowling gren pitches are an almost pre-requisite, it's a fairly uncompromising arena in which to perform.

Home advantage allied to Hornets' injury struggle pulls the two sides much closer together than league positions sugest and we could be in for a real battle on Sunday. It's games like this one that really find out what your players are made of - and it's time for one or two to convert reputations into performances. Hornets supporters have always taken decent numbers to Batley and it would be nice to repeat the feat this weekend. It's way less than an hour to Mount Pleasant and the lads really could do with a lift. Go on, make the effort - you expect it from the players. We'll see you there.