Our dressing room is buzzing – Joseph

PHIL Joseph blasts through another tackle

PHIL Joseph wants to prove the doubters wrong by helping the Roughyeds gain promotion.

A vital part of an Oldham squad that has shown an inner strength over recent weeks, the determined former Huddersfield loose forward was thrust into an unfamiliar centre role for the final eliminator at York — the team’s third play-off tie in three weeks.

Thanks to a superb 44-14 win which featured plenty of typically powerful bursts from Joseph, the 24-year-old now has the chance to end a “horrible” season in the best possible way by gaining promotion to the Co-operative Championship.

“It was a fantastic result for us against York and I think we will do the same against Keighley,” said a confident Joseph, who is optimistic about overcoming a niggling hamstring injury which saw him withdrawn as a precautionary measure towards the end of the game at the Huntington Stadium.

“Everyone here is confident and the changing room is buzzing.

“We have spoken about starting well in the last couple of weeks, completing sets early on instead of trying silly offloads.

“We knew if we got that right then we had the potential to blow teams off the park — and that is exactly what we have done in the last two games against Hunslet and York.”

Joseph refers to the earlier 54-30 home win against the Hawks at Boundary Park which earned the side a crack at York.

With the club’s third play-off final in a row lying in wait this Sunday, most observers feel that a repeat performance of that produced against the Knights could send the Roughyeds up. Fearless Joseph is certainly of that opinion.

“I believe that if we had played like we did on Sunday against Dewsbury we would have beaten them,” he said of the unbeaten Co-operative Championship One side.

“We have hit our form right at the end of the season.

“If you look at someone like (19-year-old centre) Ben Heaton, I personally think he deserves to play in the final after producing a performance like he did at the weekend.

“It shows how everyone is absolutely buzzing at the moment, but we realise at the same time that there is still a long way to go.

“We have to win on Sunday and then we can celebrate properly.

“It has been horrible at times this season. But the best thing for us is that we are determined to prove people wrong.

“We were written off after we lost the players to Barrow, but now look where we are.

“To win the final would be a massive achievement.”