Major challenge for Roughyeds

Michael Ward

OLDHAM will have to produce one of their best Championship performances since winning promotion to come away from The Big Fellas stadium in Featherstone on Sunday with two more league points in the bag.

Rovers are widely tipped to challenge the Roughyeds' next two opponents, London Broncos and Hull KR, for end-of-season honours and they will regard home form, in front of relatively big and vociferous Big Fellas crowds, as key to their success.

They won nine of their 11 regular-season home games last year, pipped narrowly by Halifax and Leigh, in front of an average crowd of 2,655 - an increase of 671 per game on their 2015 average.

AVENGED

In the corresponding match last year, Roughyeds lost 20-6 in front of 1,739 fans, but avenged that defeat at Bower Fold two months later with a 16-14 triumph; attendance 868.

The difference in fan-base numbers alone indicates the extent that Roughyeds are having to punch above their weight, but they are making a big fist of it and they will go to Featherstone with confidence after their opening-day win against Sheffield.

While Scott Naylor's men were dominating a huge and physical Sheffield side in the second half, to win 26-10, Rovers finished strongly at Halifax to come from behind and win a thriller 32-26.

Interestingly, the key to both winning performances was the strength, energy and mobility of the forward packs, with Adam Neal, Phil Joy, Jack Spencer and Michael Ward in rampant form for Roughyeds and props Andy Bostock and Jordan Baldwinson doing much of the damage for Rovers at The Shay.

Neal had a blinder; Ward was on the field for longer than he ever was last season; Joy stepped up heaps of notches compared with his pre-season form; and Spencer had his best game yet in Oldham colours.

It will need all that to happen again if the big fellows celebrating a win at The Big Fellas on Sunday are only infrequent visitors to that iconic and historic rugby league stadium.

Coach Jon Sharp told the Pontefract and Castleford Express: "We made The Big Fellas a fortress last season and that's our intention again this year.

"We had two real tussles with Oldham last season. We lost at their place and they were really good that day.

"They had a good win against Sheffield last week and I'm sure they're going to be full of confidence."

Naylor's philosophy is a simple one: Complete most of your sets, don't give away penalties, kick astutely and you won't be far off.

He seems well satisfied so far in how new recruit Scott Leatherbarrow and his half-back partner David Hewitt are handling the kicking game, and that's another facet that will have to be spot-on if Roughyeds are to be in contention with 10 minutes left to give themselves a chance of nicking it.