FEATHERSTONE ROVERS captain Charley Blackburn admits that while they were disappointed not to progress past the group stages of the Challenge Cup, the extended break it gave them allowed them to regroup before the league season got started.
Having lost 78-6 to holders Wigan, Featherstone travelled to Championship side Cardiff Demons knowing a win would still see them through to the quarter-finals. But they went down 24-12 and faced a month without any further action before last Saturday’s league opener, a 34-8 defeat to Leigh Leopards.
“Travelling to Cardiff in the Cup and losing wasn’t ideal for us going into the start of the season, but we picked up five injuries that game,” explained Blackburn.
“With that, and the pre-season games we picked up a lot of early injuries, so we’ve had to regroup a lot. Having a bit of time off between the Cup and the league starting has allowed us to do that.
“We’ve faced a lot of challenges already, but we’re very resilient. There has been a lot going on behind the scenes at the club since we got promoted, and at one point we didn’t know if we’d even be allowed to play in Super League.
“But now we are we’ve just got to keep going and pushing for our end goal.”