Campaign has been an up and down ride
Reporter: Roughyeds coach Tony Benson
Date published: 02 September 2009
THE HUNSLET game on Sunday is our last before the play-offs start and looking back on our season as a whole up to this point, we have had a very tough time for a number of different reasons.
It has been a real rollercoaster ride in terms of the overall experience for both coaching staff and players.
On a couple of occasions we have found ourselves in good shape, notwithstanding injuries which can always affect you.
But when we have got there, something has always seemed to happen to knock us down again and we are left picking up the pieces from scratch. It has happened two or three times now.
It has been very difficult in that sense, particularly for the players and it has affected us far more than I think people realise.
Subconsciously, you just try and block things out and get on with it.
We have had good times as well, where it has been fun, and the idea now is to try to maximise the impact of that by building it back up again.
Any team wants to be winning the competition but for that to happen, the three elements — coaching, players and directors — have to be right for 90-per-cent of the year.
There have been games where I haven’t, or haven’t been able, to put out the right team in terms of combating the opposition or compensating for injuries.
There have also been times when players have played despite carrying injuries.
But it is important to realise that this season has been different to previous ones at this level, as so many teams are capable of winning the play-off competition we now find ourselves involved in.
If you look back at the last couple of years, it wasn’t difficult to pick out those sides you would expect to be competing in a play-off final.
In 2009, you can hardly separate the six clubs involved.
It has certainly been an extremely competitive year.
As for next season, we are trying to put plans in place but it is difficult at the moment, as the club needs to be in order before we can really get down to doing that.
tonybenson@oldham-chronicle.co.uk
