OLDHAM winger Jake Bibby says no one at the Roughyeds will shirk from the challenge of competing with London Broncos this year.
The capital outfit, full-time and with a new-look squad bankrolled by Australian owners Darren Lockyer and Grant Wechsel, are firm favourites to take the Championship title.
Jason Demetriou’s men underlined their prowess by beating Oldham 25-8 at Wimbledon in round two of the league.
Former Super League player Bibby accepts London are the team to beat, but insists Oldham, along with other second-tier sides, are capable of doing that.
The pair meet in the return fixture in mid-August, by which time the Roughyeds will hope their recent upheaval is firmly in the past.
Alan Kilshaw has just stepped up from assistant to coach following the departure of director of rugby Mike Ford, who had been pulling the strings, in the aftermath of the London match.
Meanwhile the club are in dispute with landlords Oldham Athletic Football Club over their use of Boundary Park, with both of this year’s home games so far, in the Challenge Cup against Orrell St James and Dewsbury, being played at Bower Fold in Stalybridge.
Bibby, who has crossed the Pennines after three seasons at Huddersfield, says the players are focussed on developing under the new coaching set-up.
“London have brought in some good Australian and Papua New Guinean players, and they are in a good spot at the moment, they’re the team to beat in the Championship going forward,” accepted the 29-year-old who started at Salford then had a spell at hometown Wigan.
“I don’t think we played as well as we can down there, but we competed, so coming out of that game, we can take some confidence going forward.
“We need to concentrate on ourselves, keep working hard and make sure we have developed by the time we play them next.
“But it’s not just London. This is a good competition, there are some good teams about and there’s going to be test in every match.
“That’s what the Championship is all about, but we need to welcome that and we know with the squad we have, there’s no reason we can’t do well.”