Refreshed Roughyeds set out plans for their 2020 campaign

It was a meet-and-greet affair at the Vestacare Stadium on Tuesday night when preparations began for Oldham RL Club's assault on the Betfred Championship in 2020.

New head coach Matt Diskin and his right-hand man Brendan Sheridan introduced themselves to the players at a short meeting before the squad went out on the pitch.

The group that's been assembled so far - there will be more to come - can be split into three lots:

Players who were at Oldham last year

These are players who were at Oldham last year and have either signed new deals or are still on existing contracts. They include Danny Langtree, Dave Hewitt, Kyran Johnson, Danny Bridge, Cameron Leeming, Gareth Owen, Jack Spencer, Matty Wilkinson, Liam Bent, Phil Joy, Ed Smith and Ben Davies.   

Players who were on loan last year - and have since signed

These are players who were Roughyeds on loan last year but have since signed deals to become fully-fledged Oldham players. They are Declan Kay (from Rochdale Hornets), Harry Aaronson (from Swinton Lions) and Adam Brook (from Halifax).

New signings

These are brand-new faces to Roughyeds' fans like James Worthington, Lewis Charnock, John Hutchings and Jode Sheriffe.

Worthington and Hutchings, both aged 20, are young outside backs from Wigan and St Helens respectively.

Charnock, 25, is a tough-as-teak outside half who has seen service with St Helens, Bradford Bulls (on loan) and Barrow Raiders.

Unlike most other members of the squad, Charnock is starting life with the Roughyeds on a two-year deal.

Sheriffe, 33, is a hugely-experienced prop  from Dewsbury Rams.

Half-way through two-year contracts are Danny Langtree, David Hewitt and Kyran Johnson, who couldn't train on the opening night because he had suffered a setback to the ankle he dislocated in the Promotion Final.

"It was coming along nicely, but then I went over on it again and that's put me right back," said Johnson.

Diskin was more than happy with the way things went on his first evening at the club.

He said: "We all got to know each other and blew away a few cobwebs. A lot of hard work lies ahead."

​First test for the new-look Roughyeds is a pre-season warm-up at Barrow on Sunday, January 5 (2pm).

The Championship programme kicks off with the visit to Bower Fold of Widnes Vikings on Sunday, February 2 (3pm).

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