Northern Rail Cup previews (From Leigh Journal)

Northern Rail Cup previews

2:48pm Thursday 4th February 2010 in

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Barrow Raiders v Blackpool Panthers

Jamie Rooney and Chris Young are both doubtful for the Raiders after suffering from a virus but Ned Catic, Liam Harrison and Rob Roberts are all fit and available for selection.

Barrow coach Steve McCormack said: “I watched Blackpool last week and I was very impressed with them.

“Martin Crompton has recruited very well and they’re a well-drilled team. He’s expecting big things from them this year and we’ll have to be ready for that.”

Blackpool coach Martin Crompton has doubts over David Best (shoulder), Kurt Haggerty (knee) and Andy Hobson (head) after last week’s defeat against Keighley.

“We’ll assess all three of them on Saturday morning,” said Crompton, “but at this stage I wouldn’t even say they were 50/50.”

Jonny Leather also remains sidelined as Crompton tries to plot the Panthers’ first Northern Rail Cup win of the year.

Crompton said: “Last week we were very good in the first half and average in the second half. I was disappointed with our discipline and we’ll have to improve against Barrow.

“They’re probably the best team outside of Super League so we know exactly what we’re up against.”

Batley Bulldogs v Widnes Vikings

Jack Watson (back) remains Karl Harrison’s only injury concern as Batley prepare to start their Northern Rail Cup campaign against holders Widnes.

Harrison said: “Like everybody else this year, our preparations have been weather affected. However, we’ve been fortunate enough to play three friendly games and we’ve come through unscathed.”

He added: “We were disappointed that Whitehaven was called off last week because we trained exceptionally well.

“Widnes throw down a different challenge. They’re a big club with some excellent signings, but it’s never easy for any team to come to Mount Pleasant.”

Widnes assistant coach Stuart Wilkinson insists his side still have room for improvement – despite Tuesday night’s thumping 50-6 victory over Gateshead.

Wilkinson said: “We’re still not where we want to be. There are things that we’ve improved on but there are other things that we need to focus on over the next couple of weeks.”

Vikings are without Thomas Coyle after his appeal against a one-match suspension was unsuccessful on Wednesday night.

On Batley, Wilkinson added: “They’ve had a good preparation and been successful in their friendlies. We know from last year that they’re always well organised, well structured and highly motivated, so it makes for an interesting afternoon on Sunday.”

Featherstone Rovers v Sheffield Eagles

Tony Tonks (calf), Liam Finn (back) and Papua New Guinean recruit Jessie Joe Parker (ankle) could all be available for Rovers.

The trio were all in doubt for last week’s scheduled game against Hunslet but that game’s postponement has given them an extra week to recover.

Featherstone are considered one of the favourites to lift the Northern Rail Cup but coach Daryl Powell remains focussed on the short term.

He said: “We’ve got a tough four group games and we’ve got to make sure we don’t come unstuck.”

Matty Brooks and Peter Green could both feature for Sheffield, despite recent elbow injuries, while Trevor Exton (finger) and Ashley Thackeray (jaw) will face late fitness tests.

Eagles coach Mark Aston admitted to being frustrated by last week’s cold snap but remains focussed on Sunday’s trip to the Bigfellas Stadium.

Aston said: “The bad weather has disrupted our preparation but it’s the same for the other clubs.”

Gateshead Thunder v Workington Town

Stephen Welton (dead leg) and Rhys Clarke (suspected broken hand) are Chris Hood’s major concerns ahead of Thunder’s Northern Rail Cup clash with Workington.

The pair both picked up injuries during Gateshead’s midweek defeat at Widnes, but Hood insists the experience was a positive one for his squad.

He said: “There were lots of areas of encouragement for us. Our second half performance was very good and I think Widnes are a better side than they were last year.

“It was a great learning curve for our lads and some of the new players learnt a very valuable lesson about controlling the ruck.”

Hood added: “Workington have got a relatively fresh squad. They’ve got some talented players who always fight hard for each other and the club. They’re a proud team and they’ll be raring to go.”

Town travel without Joe McKenna, who has been ruled out for the next two months due to work commitments, but Lee Dutton and Liam Finch are both available.

Workington coach Gary Charlton said: “We’re looking for competitive games now. You can have as many friendly games as you want but this is what we need at the moment.

“In terms of this weekend, we’ve got to worry about what we bring to the table. We’ve got to look after our own game and whatever happens, happens.”

Halifax v Dewsbury Rams

Ben Black (foot) has an outside chance of playing in Halifax’s Northern Rail Cup opening game against Dewsbury.

The Aussie livewire underwent minor surgery during the off-season but he is edging nearer to a return to action.

Sean Penkywicz is also believed to have recovered from a knee complaint.

Rams coach Warren Jowitt says Alex Bretherton and Lee Lingard are both “still struggling” with knee problems ahead of Sunday’s clash.

Dewsbury got their campaign underway with a thumping 50-4 victory over London Skolars last week.

Jowitt said: “We had a very good first half and we were quite clinical. We had an 80 per cent completion rate but a few players probably got a bit giddy in the second half, so we’ve got to put that right because teams like Halifax will capitalise on that.

“They’ve got quality across the park and quality on the bench. They’re a very good side and we’ve got to go there and see how we compete with them.

“When you look at their squad you can see they’ve got a very powerful pack that we’re going to have to work hard to try to contain.”

Keighley Cougars v Whitehaven

Will Cartledge (sprained ankle) faces a late fitness test to determine whether he can take part in Sunday’s Northern Rail Cup game against Whitehaven.

Daley Williams (neck) is also doubtful but expected to pull through in time to face Ged Stokes’ side.

Cougars coach Barry Eaton said: “We’ve not seen much of Whitehaven last year because they were in the Championship whereas we were in Championship One.

“By all accounts they had a really good effort against Leeds a couple of weeks ago so we’re expecting a tough game.

“They’ve been a top four team over the last few years so they’re certainly a benchmark for us to aim for.”

Ben Sagar and Chris Baines are also rated as 50/50 while Richard Jones has returned to full training.

Whitehaven are boosted by the confirmed fitness of Craig Calvert and Graeme Mattinson. “They’ll both take their place against Keighley,” confirmed Ged Stokes.

He added: “Keighley will probably be at their most difficult to play against at the start of the year.

“They will have prepared well for the season, but we go into the game confident that we can overcome whatever they throw at us and that’s the way we’ve got to look at it.”

London Skolars v Hunslet Hawks

Gareth Honor could return to the Skolars line-up after suffering from a hamstring problem but London coach James Massara has been hit with a major blow after Austen Aggrey suffered a badly broken hand against Dewsbury.

Massara said: “It was a very, very tough day last week. We can safely say that we’re disappointed with a lot of aspects of the performance.

“We knew it was going to be tough but we made it tougher on ourselves in the first half, although we fixed those things up after the break. We all know it was not the standard we require.”

On Hunslet, Massara added: “I doubt they wanted last week’s game calling off so I’m very aware of the challenge but we’re excited to play someone in our division.”

Joe Howey is back in contention for Hunslet after playing 40 minutes of a reserve fixture on Tuesday night.

However, Hawks coach Paul March still has doubts over Michael Mark (hand) and Richard Knight (knee).

March said: “Everybody’s getting really excited again about getting the season underway and I’m going to take the strongest side possible down to London.

“Hopefully we can do a professional job and be happy when we come away. I went to watch the Skolars at Dewsbury and they’ve vastly improved since last year but hopefully our hunger to actually have a game will drive us through this weekend.

“We’ll be going out all guns blazing and hopefully we can put a statement down to the rest of Championship One.”

Oldham v Rochdale Hornets

Saqib Murtza, Paul Reilly and Marcus St Hilaire will all be given fitness tests on Thursday night before Tony Benson finalises his line-up.

Craig Robinson (nose) and Kashley Watkins are definitely ruled out but Benson is hopeful at least one of Murtza, Reilly and St Hilaire can be passed fit.

Benson said: “We went really well against Leigh and it tells me we’ve been doing the right things in pre-season.

“I’ve no idea what Rochdale’s team is going to be or how they’re going to play, so we’re focussed on ourselves.

“I do look forward to these derby games, though. There’s always a lot of emotion and a great atmosphere.”

Rochdale coach John Stankevitch will be without Dean Gorton (shoulder) but has an otherwise fully fit squad, with Michael Ostick set to play despite a recent ankle injury.

Stankevitch said: “Oldham have some very good players. Wayne Kerr is very aggressive in the forwards and they’ve got two decent half-backs in Matt Ashe and Neil Roden.

“I think it will be a forward battle on Sunday and the weather might eliminate some of the fancy skills.

“We’ll just have to roll our sleeves up and rip in to the hard work.”

Swinton Lions v Doncaster

Danny Heaton (hand) and Lee Wingfield (hand) are both available for selection in Sunday’s Northern Rail Cup clash, Swinton coach Paul Smith has confirmed.

Richie Hawkyard is also expected to play despite picking up a minor knock during the Lions’ pre-season friendly at Featherstone.

Smith said: “We’ve done pre-season, had a couple of friendlies and everyone’s looking forward to getting out there.

“Doncaster came down a division last year so they’ve probably got a few players that have played at a higher level.

“There will also be a few new players there that will be trying to impress, so we know we’ve got a game on our hands.”

Shaun Leaf could feature for Tony Miller’s Doncaster side after returning from his spell in rugby union, while skipper Craig Lawton is also confident of taking part.

The forward has been struggling with a knee injury but is hopeful he can complete his recovery over the next few days.