Celebrations put on hold at Featherstone as Powell looks to secure Grand Final spot with Halifax standing in way

They may have finished top of the table, losing just twice all year, but the former Great Britain international believes that will be rendered irrelevant ahead of Thursday night's qualifier against second-placed Halifax.

Whoever wins at Post Office Road will secure their place for the showpiece at Warrington's Halliwell Jones Stadium on September 26.

"We've got two bites at the cherry as the top two but both sides would like to get there first time," said Powell.

"We've been pretty consistent in the league but that's gone now.

"We've given ourselves a good opportunity to get to the Grand Final but plenty of work is needed to be done.

"We need to perform on the night and these are the games you want all your players in the right frame of mind and playing with form. It's a big night for us but we're confident."

Featherstone have defeated Halifax both times they have met this season, 26-16 at The Shay in June and 44-4 at Big Fellas Stadium two months earlier.

But Powell said: "That doesn't mean anything now.

"It's a one-off on Thursday. Halifax are in a fair bit of form and we know each other well – strengths and weaknesses – but we realise if we can play our best we can come away with that Grand Final spot.

"It should be a great night with a good crowd and all the players are looking forward to it."

Halifax, seeking a seventh successive win, pose plenty of threat and know Featherstone are fallible at home.

They suffered a surprise loss there against Sheffield only last month and their only other defeat also came on their own turf against Toulouse earlier in the summer.

Meanwhile, Featherstone, who had Liam Finn, Stuart Dickens, Matty Dale and Jonny Grayshon in the Championship Team of the Year, celebrated their presentation evening on Friday.

However, Powell admitted the real celebration will not happen unless they finish the campaign on a high.

The club is holding a community gala day this afternoon where the coach will hold a video analysis and Q&A session, fans can have their pictures taken with the players and the League Leaders Shield and also go on a stadium tour.

Furthermore, as part of the event, supporters can watch the first team take on the Rovers reserve grade in a match Powell hopes will enhance the preparations of his side – who have not played since August 22 – ahead of Thursday.

"It will only be at about 70 per cent as our reserves played in their Grand Final eliminator on Saturday," he said.

"We've done it for the last few weeks and it's proved good preparation for the reserves ahead of their games as well as for us before ours.

"You don't do a lot of unopposed now; you need people in front of you to generate your gameplan and it should be a good exercise."

After Sheffield's win over Leigh, they will now face Barrow Raiders who crushed Widnes Vikings 38-0 yesterday.

Tries from Ned Catic, Liam Harrison and Liam Campbell put Raiders 18-0 up by half-time.

And they set-up a home tie with the Eagles after the break thanks to further tries from Campbell, James Coyle, Andy Ballard and Matt James. Jamie Rooney kicked four goals, Ballard one.