THE professional game’s sole Welsh representative missed out on the League One play-offs in 2024 by just two points after finishing seventh during the regular season.
That came with the Crusaders having reached the play-offs in each of the previous three years, including being just 80 minutes away from promotion in head coach Carl Forster’s first campaign at the helm in 2023.
At 32, Forster is the youngest boss in the division, but is entering his sixth season as a head coach having also taken charge of Whitehaven and Rochdale Hornets in his 20s with some success.
Off the field, the Crusaders were taken over by the EggChaser group towards the end of last year and steps have already been taken to put an academy pathway in place to develop homegrown Welsh talent.
For now, it will be down to the current crop of players, led by captain Chris Barratt, to bring success to Colwyn Bay and the surrounding region this year.
Watch out for… Jamie Dallimore. The half-back returns to the Crusaders after three years out of the game due to serving a ban for an out-of-competition anti-doping rule violation, and is eager to put that firmly behind him. Dallimore previously featured for North Wales between 2013 and 2016, and will be aiming to show he can be a key contributor for the Crusaders again at the age of 36 after his enforced break from playing.
Squad: 1 Lloyd Roby, 2 Jack Holmes, 4 Matt Reid, 5 Patrick Ah Van, 6 Toby Hughes, 7 Jordy Gibson, 8 Jack Houghton, 9 Pat Rainford, 10 Chris Barrett, 11 Sam Wilde, 12 Cole Oakley, 13 Olly Davies, 14 Joe Baldwin, 15 Shaun Costello, 16 Ryan Ellis, 17 Matty Unsworth, 18 Liam Cooper, 19 Josh Eaves, 20 Jake Spedding, 21 Ollie Brookes, 22 Jamie Dallimore, 23 Paddy Jones, 24 Jamie Jenkins, 25 Lloyd Evans, 26 Owain Abel, 27 Ben Evans.
Rugby League World predicts: 9th
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 505 (February 2025)