Sheffield Steeldogs have NIHL National double in their sights as they look to tame play-off rivals Telford Tigers Yorkshire News

Win a Cup competition. Tick. He finished third in the regular season league standings. Tick. Get to the final four by the weekend. Tick.

But as head coach Greg Wood says: ‘Why stop there?’

But with a Covid outbreak in the roster around Christmas, the Steeldogs may have pushed the Telford Tigers, Saturday’s play-off semi-final opponents, closer for the league title.

As it was, they had to be satisfied with comfortably beating them in two legs in the National Cup final last month, leaving both teams looking for a brace this weekend at the SkyDome Arena.

And it’s those two performances that Head Coach Wood wants his players to build on so they can cross the line and reach Sunday’s final, where either the Milton Keynes Lightning or the Peterborough Phantoms will await them.

“We have achieved our treble which was to win a cup, finish in the top three in the league and make it to this weekend.

“But now we are there, we want to go one step further and we are desperate to come out of this season with a brace, but I am sure Telford is too.

“We are playing against a very good team that has been the most consistent team throughout the year and that is why they are league champions.

“Our record against them has been really good and the cup final was a prime example of that – the way we played, the intensity, the intelligence and the decisions we made, they were possibly the two best games we’ve ever played. year. ”

The Steeldogs will make a decision on game day about key forward James Spurr, missing since January with an upper-body injury but whose return would offer a significant boost, Wood insists.

“He’s a great player,” Wood said. “Having him back in the locker room and having him back only makes us stronger. We have missed him and hope that he can play a role.”