Hull aiming to prosper at expense of weak Wigan

Hull could go top of Super League tonight, if they take full advantage of Wigan's current troubles. Stuart Raper takes his side to the Kingston Communications Stadium insisting that they must improve their defensive performance, which has fallen away this season.

He said: "We had the best defensive record last year and now it's the fourth worst. That's got to improve."

Raper has limited room for manoeuvre. For the trip to Hull, he moves Paul Johnson into the second row for the injured Mick Cassidy and recalls Stephen Wild and Shaun Briscoe on the bench. Most damagingly, there is still no Andy Farrell. Nor is there any Julian O'Neill, with his transfer to Widnes expected to go through today.

The Bradford chairman, Chris Caisley, says that the Bulls could go it alone in selling television rights for their games, if the new deal for the whole of Super League does not measure up.

The game is renegotiating its contracts with Sky and the BBC and Caisley – chairman of Super League when the current £45m deal was struck in 1998 – said clubs are entitled to make their own arrangements if the new offer is not up to scratch.