Roughyeds gearing up for League One opener

Oldham's League One campaign officially gets underway this Sunday, March 5, against London Skolars at the Vestacare Stadium (3pm kick-off).

Behind the scenes, plenty of work has been done with more investment into the playing squad.

Players who have been there and done it - Gregg McNally, Pat Ah Van, Matty Wilkinson, Deane Meadows, Jack Blagbrough to name a few - have arrived as the club looks to secure a return to the Betfred Championship.

Last week in the Challenge Cup, against Oldham’s promotion rivals, there were four separate try scorers, demonstrating Roughyeds threats across the whole 17 starting squad.

In the cup and all three of Roughyeds warm-up games, there has been an average of 26 points scored.

It’s shaping up to be a cracking year at the Vestacare Stadium, and club captain Martyn Ridyard echoes that sentiment.

“We’ve got some great attacking players out wide and especially with my old mate Gregg McNally coming back into the team, he’s a massive threat when we do things right,” he said.

The club has also secured a dual-registration partnership with Wigan Warriors, a club renowned for having one of the best academies in rugby league.

With such a short season - only 18 games - every point is crucial and when injuries bite, such is the case at the moment, the partnership can be advantageous as shown in the Doncaster game.

“The dual-reg will be massive. Last year, Logan Astley and Tom Forber played for us and they ended up making their Super League debuts last year, the same with Alex Sutton,” said Ridyard.

“Young Harvey Makin was really good against Doncaster and Kieran Tyrer, who I used to watch play at Leigh Miners, was really good.

“So, if we can keep hold of some of these good young kids it’s only going to be good for the squad.”

Sunday’s opponents London Skolars have had a slow start this year with losses to recently-relegated Workington and Rochdale already.

The odds are stacked heavily in Oldham’s favour with London never having won away to Roughyeds in 12 attempts.

They are no pushovers, though, as proven last year when they won six games and beat Oldham 38-16 with the head coach, Joe Mbu, nominated for League One Coach of the Year.

“At the end of the day it doesn’t matter who you play in this league, if you don’t turn up on the day and don’t give them enough respect, you’re going to get beat,” said Ridyard.

There’s plenty to shout about off the field, too, with Amari Plastics as the club’s new shirt sponsors in a substantial two year deal. 

Oldham is also moving forward with its plans for a women’s side after bringing in ex St Helens Women’s assistant coach Ste Fitzmartin.

The club is, once again, offering free entry to all nine home games to under 16s in a bid to grow the game.

Admission prices for the Skolars game are £16 for adults and £5 for students and tickets can be bought by clicking here

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