Championship 1 Preview: Hemel Stags v North Wales Crusaders (Sun)

Hemel Stags coach Troy Perkins is facing a half-back crisis as he prepares for Sunday’s match with North Wales Crusaders.

Chad Sharp is likely to be ruled out with an ankle injury, while Mike Bishay has been playing for London Broncos in recent weeks.

Perkins said: “We’ll have to reshuffle the team around a bit, but the nucleus stays the same.”

On Kingstone Press Championship One leaders North Wales, he added: “Everyone’s tipping them to win the league. It’s going to be a big test, but we can go into it with a bit of confidence.”

Christiaan Roets could return for the Crusaders, but coach Clive Griffiths is not short of options. He said: “Christiaan’s a full Welsh international but he’s still got to force his way back into the team.”

Griffiths added: “Hemel have done fantastically this year and they’ll be well-prepared.

“They’ve a very narrow, short pitch, so it’s hard to find gaps. It’ll be up to the bigger guys to punch holes and we’ve also got to pick good lines to run.”