Long unfazed by Law Cup cancellation

Roughyeds boss Sean Long is not letting Sunday’s Law Cup cancellation disrupt his preparations for the Halifax game this weekend.

Long’s men are set to start their season in the 1895 Cup this Sunday at Boundary Park when they take on the current cup-holders Halifax Panthers.

Oldham will go into the game not having played since Boxing Day - but Long is not fretting.

“Obviously, we were disappointed it got called off because the boys were really up for the game,” he explained.

“Halifax have played twice and we’ve only played once, but I’m not too stressed about that.

“We’ve ramped up the intensity this week because of having no game on Sunday, and the boys will be raring to go come Sunday.”

The postponed game would have given the Oldham boss another chance to take one last look at his men before narrowing his side down to a squad of 17

“One of the reasons for these games was to have a look at what everybody has to offer and eventually pick a starting line-up out of them,” said Long.

“Unfortunately, I’m just going to have to go off my instincts and what the lads have already done in training and in the Keighley game.”

As it stands, when the Law Cup can be replayed is up in the air and will depend on how far each club progresses in the respective cup competitions.

Should Oldham or Rochdale progress all the way to the latter stages of both cups, finding a free weekend where both sides are not playing becomes increasingly difficult with there being little leeway in the League One calendar.

Long has ruled out playing the game mid-week due to his men needing recovery time between games.

Oldham are set to find out their opponents in the Challenge Cup this Monday (January 29) as the third and fourth round draws take place on the BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website.

The draw is set to get underway at 6:30pm with the third round set to be played on the weekend of February 10-11 and the fourth round across February 24-25.

Meanwhile, local man Kieran O’Reilly, a 21-year-old steeped in Rugby League and commercial work, is the newly-appointed full-time marketing man at Oldham RLFC.

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