PREVIEW: SHEFFIELD v IPSWICH (ROWE MOTOR OIL PREM)
SHEFFIELD and Ipswich complete their regular ROWE Motor Oil Premiership campaigns with their rearranged fixture at Owlerton tonight (Thursday).
The Tigers, who are seeking new owners for 2026, just missed out on a place in the Grand Final after an agonising one-point defeat to Leicester in the play-off semi-finals.
Meanwhile the Witches are warming up for the Grand Final the week after next, having overcome Belle Vue in their own semi-final earlier this month.
Sheffield’s Nick Morris will make a late call on his fitness after crashing out last week, whilst Ipswich are without Emil Sayfutdinov due to a stomach problem, with Chris Harris stepping in to guest.
Tigers manager Simon Stead said: “One thing is for certain, the head-to-heads between ourselves and Ipswich are always entertaining. They’ll want to keep in their rhythm ahead of the Grand Final at the start of October, but we’d like to round off with another win.
“The commitment from everyone at the club this year has been outstanding when you consider everything that went on at the start of the season when Woffy (Tai Woffinden) got injured.
“But this current group of lads have been a pleasure to work with and they’d love to reward the supporters for some magnificent backing by putting on one last strong showing against tough opposition.”
Witches boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “We know we have got a massive Final in just over a week that we are completely focused on and have been all season.
“It is a tough one, but one we have to do and we are just looking forward to being together as a team.
“It is a good chance to be out on track and break up the long break we have had from our semi-final to the Final, which has happened to us before and is not ideal for us to be apart for so long before the biggest meeting in the country.”
SHEFFIELD: Jack Holder, Leon Flint, Chris Holder, Nick Morris (or R/R), Josh Pickering, Anders Rowe, Jye Etheridge.
IPSWICH: Chris Harris, Danny King, Jason Doyle, Dan Thompson, Tom Brennan, Adam Ellis, Jason Edwards.
SCB Referee: Willie Dishington
