Coach wary of Thunder threat

SCOTT Naylor has described this Sunday’s game against Newcastle Thunder as a “massive challenge” - and rival coach Stanley Gene says the game will be a benchmark for a Thunder side with big backers and big ambition.

Both teams have won five of their first six league games. Oldham, whose only defeat was at Barrow last time out, will be out to preserve an unbeaten league record at Whitebank stretching back more than two years.

Naylor said: “I know Stanley well. He’s a good coach and a good bloke and he gets his lads well organised and fired up. He gets the best out of them. They’ve made some good signings this year and Sunday’s game is going to be as tough as they come.

“I watched Thunder at Swinton in the iPro Sport Cup semi-final and though they lost, they did a lot of things extremely well. “From what I can gather they’ve been playing a lot better since that semi-final so it’s going to be a massive challenge for us. I’m hoping the disappointment of losing our first league game at Barrow will make the lads determined not to suffer another setback.”

Former Bradford and Hull KR star Gene, one of the best and most popular players ever to come out of Papua New Guinea, said his side’s 58-12 win at Hemel last weekend was one of Thunder’s best performances of the season.

“Oldham are tough, physical and always difficult to beat at home,” he said. “They will be up near the top at the end of the year, so it’s a game I’m looking at as a benchmark to see where we’re up to in the pecking order.”