WHEN assessing the importance of finishing in the Championship’s top four this season, it is worth noting the monies on offer for 2017.

The team who claims top spot this year, and Leigh are the leaders-elect, will receive £750,000 in central monies from the RFL next season.

The second-placed side (almost certainly London) will get £700,000 and the club who ends up in third will be paid a not inconsiderable £500,000.

The team who finishes fourth? They will get £450,000 throughout the campaign from the governing body.

But outside the top four, the figures drop markedly.

The fifth-placed team from 2016 will receive a paltry £275,000 throughout 2017, which equates to around £23,000 a month.

It is just £225,000 for the side who finishes sixth.

That is fine for part-time clubs but barely scratches the surface for a full-time outfit like Bradford who spend over £1million a year on their playing squad.

Thus the importance of finishing inside the top four cannot be understated. Bulls star James Clare is confident about his team avoiding the humiliation of missing out.

Looking ahead to tomorrow’s trip to Leigh, the winger said: “We see this weekend as a winnable game.

“Leigh are the benchmark to measure ourselves against but so far this year we've had a draw and a loss against them, so to get the win tomorrow would even things up.

“We believe we can do it. I think we're a much better team than when we faced them before and we have come a long way.

“It's two teams who have invested heavily in their squads and they speak publicly about what they're trying to achieve.

“I think the fans see it as a big game too, so it's no surprise the two teams usually perform so well against each other.”

Defeat to Neil Jukes’ side could leave Bradford three points outside of the top four with only three games remaining.

Yet Clare insisted: “We're not too worried to be fair.

“Nor are we bothered about the two home games we've got coming up because all the focus is on Leigh this week, so hopefully we can put in a very good performance.

“Travis Burns is an incredible player after what he's done at Hull KR and St Helens, but the Leigh back five are the real threats for me.

“I know Lee Smith is a bit older and probably a bit slower now, but the intelligence he brings along with the likes of Micky Higham gets Leigh on the front foot every single time.

“Liam Kay is another player I particularly rate and it gives players like Gareth Hock and Dayne Weston the power up front to dictate.

“If we can nullify the threat from the backs, it could go a long way towards winning the game.”

Either way, the Bulls need to stop conceding tries if they are to have any hope of squeezing into the end-of-season Qualifiers.

Clare added: “We've attacked fairly well but I just think we need to be better connected defensively.

“Nobody would have expected Leeds and Huddersfield to be in the middle eights at the start of the year.

“They are the games you want to play in and I think we can do a job against them.

“If you want to be playing at the highest level, you have to be able to beat any team in Super League.”