‘We have come a long way but we can’t stop here’: Batley Bulldogs determined to improve for 2027 after play-off heartache

The Bulldogs let a desirable 12-point lead slip in the elimination contest last Sunday with the Eagles, who finished seventh in the regular campaign, winning 25-18.

It was another case of ‘what if’ for Ford’s men who, despite their courageous efforts, did not beat a side which finished in the Championship’s top ten - including games with those teams who finished first, London, second, Newcastle, third, Oldham, and fourth, Doncaster - in 11 attempts in 2026.

And Ford insists he will be working hard to change that in 2027.

He said: “I was disappointed to lose the game because we were in a position to win it. We did some really good things for around an hour but there were some individual mistakes - and some good players from Sheffield, we can’t discount that - that swung the game their way and we couldn’t wrestle it back.

“I am very proud but there were one or two key moments in the game that really hurt us and I felt like it epitomised our season. We have come a long way and we have shown this year that we can compete with the top teams, but I need to find out if we lack a little bit of belief or quality or a little bit of something.

“We will be progressing our pre-season to make sure we come back next season to get over these ones. We don’t want to be a team that plays a team above us and nearly wins, we want to beat them.”

He went on: “We are really close to being a good team. We now need to make sure we take another step forward over the close and pre-season.

“I do feel we have progressed immensely. I watched every game they played the previous year and there were some hard watches. This year we have nearly beat second, third and fourth and Sheffield, and we didn’t get any of them.

“I don’t want to be having this conversation next year. We want to get them and we are working really hard to make sure we do.

“We have come a long way but we can’t stop here, we don't want to be a team which is happy competing and losing. We want to get over these teams and get Batley back to where they were a few years ago.”

The Eagles now progress to another play-off eliminator at Barrow Raiders, who were heavily beaten by Doncaster, 72-0, in their play-off qualifier at the weekend.

“I don’t think the league structure has been great this year,” Ford admitted. “We’ve played first, second, third and fourth and there are teams who finished above us who haven’t played any of those teams which I think is ridiculous.

“I don’t know what structure they will go with next year. They will tell us and we will endeavour to be the best we can be within those structures. It is about us and there is enough for us to go at before worrying about the league structure.

“Catching kicks and passes, we have got to get that right first, and if we had, we would have won a number of more games, as there were a few games which we lost by the skin of our teeth in the last five minutes.”