BATLEY BULLDOGS coach Craig Lingard says his team’s recent run of wins reflects an emptier treatment room.
The Yorkshire side, who are seeking a second play-off appearance running after making last season’s semi-finals, went into action at Workington on the back of a trio of triumphs.
Two-point returns at Barrow and Widnes came either side of a home Heavy Woollen derby victory over Dewsbury.
Those three results followed 20-20 home draw with promotion-chasing Featherstone.
Batley, who have a game in hand on every team other than Sheffield (their scheduled February clash in West Yorkshire was postponed and has yet to be rearranged) won their first two league matches, at home to Halifax and away to Newcastle, before defeats at home to York and at Bradford.
They have bounced back in convincing style, with Lucas Walshaw, Michael Ward, Luke Hooley, Josh Hodson, Johnny Campbell (2) and Alistair Leak all crossing for tries at Widnes, who were beaten 38-10.
“I’m obviously pleased with the results, but also the performances we’ve produced, and we need to keep that consistency, because there’s a lot of rugby still to be played,” said Lingard.
“Having the majority of the squad available of late has been a big thing, not just because we’ve had more options selection wise, but because the numbers at training have been higher, and that’s driven up the standard of the work we’ve been able to do.
“It’s ironic that over the last few weeks, we’ve been better off than we were at the start of the season. We only had 18 fit players for the Halifax game on day one.
“As recently as three weeks ago, we were down to 15 at one training session, whereas before the Widnes game, we had 26, and long may that continue.”
Batley have a blank weekend before their Premier Sports-screened home clash with Leigh on Monday week, May 16.
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BRADFORD BULLS have put assistant coach Mark Dunning in caretaker control after parting company with John Kear.
The hugely-experienced 67-year-old left by mutual consent following Monday’s 32-18 defeat by Featherstone.
It was a third successive home loss for Bradford after Barrow and Halifax, the latter playing with twelve men for 79 minutes, both won at Odsal.
Wales coach Kear had been at Bradford since December 2017 and guided the club to promotion from League One in his first season.
He also oversaw a memorable 24-22 home Challenge Cup sixth-round win over Leeds in 2019.
The former Bramley, Paris SG, Sheffield, Huddersfield, Hull, Wakefield, Batley, France and England coach insisted after the Featherstone setback that the Bulls can make the play-offs for the second year in succession.
They finished fifth last season, their highest placing since ending up in the same position in 2016, but lost 23-10 at Batley in the eliminators.
“Having been at the Bulls for four-and-a-half years, I feel that this move is the best one in order to take the club forward,” he said.
“I have enjoyed my time at Bradford, and should like to thank all concerned, especially the performance staff and players, for their support.”
Dunning took the team at Whitehaven, and with the next match not until the visit of York on Sunday week, May 15, chairman Nigel Wood will continue the search for Kear’s successor.
“We would like to thank John for his considerable efforts on behalf of the club,” he said.
“We met the morning after the Featherstone game and agreed that it was in the club’s best interests to make a change.
“On a personal basis, I am very pleased for John, in what turned out to be his final match as coach, that our performance was full of character and resilience.”
Bradford fear Aaron Murphy may be out until June after picking up a knee injury.
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DEWSBURY RAMS halfback Paul Sykes – the veteran ex-international whose shirt number 40 is the same as his age – says league points and his appearance tally are the numbers he’s more concerned with.
The former Bradford, London Broncos, Wakefield and Featherstone player, who made four appearances for England and one for Great Britain between 2005 and 2009, is assisting coach Lee Greenwood and his right-hand man Nathan Graham at the Tetley’s Stadium.
But he is also playing when needed, and helped his hometown team boost their second-tier survival hopes by beating Workington 19-18 in their round-nine game.
That was a 489th career appearance, and the Championship’s oldest player (he turns 41 in August) explained: “I’ve got a little goal that I want to get to 500 games.
“I just train the way I always have. My pace might have slowed a bit but it’s still all up there in the head where you need it most.
“You’ve just got to still be enjoying it. Since I was a young boy of five or six years old, Rugby League is what I’ve done. As long as I’m enjoying it, I’ll probably keep going.”
Speaking to Rugby League World magazine, Sykes, who came through the Bradford development system played his first senior game in 1999, added: “Coaching is something I didn’t mind delving into as I got older.
“Lee gave me the opportunity to be a player and a coach at the same time. I help with drills, with skills, with video.
“He said to me ‘you’ll be there if we need you’. Results have not been going our way and he’s thrown me back in there, which I don’t mind.”
Having visited London Broncos, Dewsbury now host Featherstone on Sunday week, May 15.
* For the full Paul Sykes interview, see the May issue of Rugby League World, available now by visiting totalrl.com/shop.
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FEATHERSTONE ROVERS coach Brian McDermott praised Brandon Pickersgill and Connor Jones for their response to being left out of the side in recent games and said: “It’s a collective squad effort his season.”
The promotion-chasing club recently snapped up Pickersgill’s fellow fullback Mark Kheirallah and have since signed his former Toulouse teammate, halfback Johnathon Ford and Castleford forward Tyla Hepi.
Kheirallah made his third successive start in the 32-18 win at Bradford, although Pickersgill came off the bench to face the club from whom he joined Featherstone during the close-season.
Meanwhile Australian Jones, having featured as a substitute in the 44-18 win over Sheffield then started in the follow-up 58-6 romp against Barrow, dropped out of the 17 for the clash at Odsal, where Matty Wildie played.
“With the talent we have, there are big decisions going on with team selection,” said McDermott, whose side recorded their eighth league win in nine (the other game was drawn).
“Obviously as a coach, you can only pick 17 you think have the best chance of getting the win and hope those who don’t make it handle it well.
“Brandon is a very good fullback. He is in a tough part of career at the moment, because he has had to stand down while Mark Kheirallah has had some game time.
“My decision to put Brandon on the bench for the Bradford game meant Connor Jones had to drop out of the 17, and I cannot give either of them any more credit, because they have handled things with class.
“They’re not happy that it’s happening but understand why and are responding positively. It’s a collective squad effort throughout the season, and they know that.”
Having hosted Widnes in the league, 1895 Cup holders Featherstone head to Barrow in the semi-finals of the competition on Sunday. The winners will meet Leigh or Sheffield at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, May 28.
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HALIFAX PANTHERS centre Zack McComb is happy to wing it as he tries to help his hometown club return to the play-offs.
The former Siddal junior who joined Halifax ahead of last season after spells at Oldham and Sheffield generally plays centre.
But the 26-year-old Ireland international, who helped Simon Grix’s men make the play-off semi-finals last year, moved wider out as part of a reshuffle during the recent clash with Barrow, crossing for two tries to contribute to a 40-18 success.
He claimed another try as Halifax won 30-10 at Newcastle, their fifth straight league victory.
“It’s always good to get over for tries, and when I went to the wing, I got a bit more of the ball,” he explained.
“I had some great service from Salty (Italy international James Saltonstall) – probably better than I give him!
“I don’t mind playing on the wing, I have a bit of experience there. If I had to go somewhere a bit more wild, like fullback or backrow, I’d be more worried.”
McComb continued: “I thought we were pretty solid in the first half against Barrow, and competed well, but in the second half, we went away from the plan a bit and let in a couple of soft tries.
“But a win’s a win, especially against a good side, and we’ll keep rolling on.”
Coach Grix said his players responded to his request for them to play a more expansive style.
“I asked them to throw the ball about a bit more,” he said. “We have some skilful lads and it’s how I like the game to be played.
“But to needs to be low-risk. You need to do it well away from the lines to give yourself a little bit of time.
“If you try to push it then you end up turning the ball over, which makes that style of play look cheap.”
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LEIGH CENTURIONS coach Adrian Lam believes both former Australia and New South Wales back Blake Ferguson and Fiji forward Ben Nakubuwai are great fits for the promotion-chasing club.
Ex-Cronulla, Canberra, Sydney Roosters and Parramatta player Ferguson, 32, a former Dally M winger of the year, had signed a deal to play rugby union in Japan, but was sacked in the wake of a drug-related arrest.
“He’s a great finisher and knows his way to the line,” said Lam. “It’s our job to give him the ball.
“He’s an explosive player and in every game, he gives 100 percent.”
Lam has beefed up his frontrow by signing the 6ft 4in, 17st former Salford powerhouse Nakubuwai, who helped his country reach the 2017 World Cup semi-finals (his father Pio played for Fiji in the 1995 tournament).
The 26-year-old came through the Melbourne Storm development system before joining Gold Coast Titans, who handed him an NRL debut in 2017 after he moved up from their Queensland Cup feeder team Tweed Heads Seagulls.
Nakubuwai spent 2018 and 2019 at Salford, making 41 appearances.
Last year, he featured alongside Leigh centre Nene Macdonald as Norths Devils, a feeder team for Brisbane Broncos, won the Queensland Cup title under recently-appointed Leeds coach Rohan Smith.
Having spent the 2021 pre-season with Brisbane only to suffer an injury, he played a trial game for the NRL club this year before returning to Norths and playing in their first five matches.
“We’ve been tracking Ben for quite a while and he is the sort of player who fits into the DNA that we want at this club moving forward, a really important acquisition,” said Lam.
“He is a big-body frontrower and will bring his powerful, agile running ability as well as his aggressive defensive nature.”
Leigh host Sheffield in the 1895 Cup semi-finals on Sunday having beaten them 34-6 in the league on Friday.
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WIDNES VIKINGS are seeking their third coach in less than three years after parting company with Simon Finnigan by mutual consent.
Ex-Widnes hooker John Duffy, out of coaching since leaving Leigh last June, experienced John Kear, who departed Bradford the same day as Finnigan left the Vikings, and ex-Sheffield and London Broncos boss Andrew Henderson, the director of rugby at Keighley, are among those already linked with the former Super League club.
Former Ireland forward Finnigan, who had two spells with Widnes as a player, left in the wake of a fifth successive league defeat (six in a row in all competitions), 38-10 at home to Batley.
The 40-year-old had been at the helm since November 2020, succeeding former World Cup-winning Australia coach Tim Sheens, who replaced Kieron Purtill in October 2019.
The ex-Salford, Bradford, Huddersfield and Leigh backrow previously worked as assistant coach at Leigh and Toronto and had two seasons in charge of Newcastle, guiding them to the League One play-off final in 2019 (they were beaten 18-14 by Oldham).
After Widnes finished eighth last season, Finnigan oversaw a squad revamp, and his new-look side started the current campaign with four straight victories.
But after losing 38-4 at Leigh in the fourth round of the Challenge Cup, and amid a string of injuries, they floundered.
Finnigan emerged from the Batley defeat to say: “It wasn’t good enough, and I’ll take responsibility.”
Widnes later said in a statement: “The club has parted company with head coach Simon Finnigan by mutual consent.
“Simon’s efforts are greatly appreciated, and he leaves with our best wishes for the future.
“The squad has been blighted by injuries in recent weeks, but we recognise that results have not been good enough regardless of the circumstances.”
Performance manager Ryan O’Brien took charge for the game at Featherstone.
Widnes don’t play again until hosting Whitehaven on Sunday week, May 15.
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BARROW RAIDERS coach Paul Crarey hailed his side’s efforts despite a 40-18 defeat at Halifax.
It was a second successive Yorkshire loss for the Cumbrians, who went down 58-6 at Featherstone on Good Friday.
And to make matters worse, star halfback Jarrod Sammut (neck) and forwards Ellis Gillam (calf) and Danny Langtree (bicep) had to go off injured.
“Sam Eseh (the on-loan Wakefield prop) was on the bench on his own in the second half,” said Crarey, whose team host York in a Premier Sports-televised game tonight (Monday, May 2).
“It was tough not being able to rotate against a rampant side, but you have to get on with it.
“We fought really hard and scored some nice tries in the second half with only one halfback (Jake Carter) on the field.
“(Hooker) Josh Wood moved in there and we were able to cause them some problems.”
Barrow were 20-8 down at the break and Crarey continued: “We went set for set for 17 minutes, then made an error and they scored from a missed tackle.
“We gave a penalty away on the next set and they scored off of that.
“We then competed and got ourselves back in the game, but 30 seconds before half-time, instead of getting a kick away on the left edge, we passed the ball and it ended up in touch and Halifax scored off of that play.”
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LONDON BRONCOS backrow Dean Parata knows the next couple of fixtures will be key for the capital side.
Having hosted fellow strugglers Dewsbury in round ten of the Championship, coach Jermaine Coleman has a blank weekend to prepare his team for games against Newcastle at Wimbledon on Friday week, May 13, and Batley in Yorkshire on Sunday, May 22.
It’s been a tough start to the season for London, who gained only one point, from an 18-18 draw at Barrow, in their first nine league games, a sequence which culminated in a 64-0 defeat at Leigh.
But Australian Parata, signed from Featherstone ahead of this season, believes there have been encouraging signs.
“The experienced boys know what we’re capable of, and our younger players still have the drive and determination needed to win,” said the 30-year-old vice-captain (to Will Lovell).
“Will has been a great leader. We work on the same page and that’s important if we’re to be successful this month.
“We’ve focused a lot in training on intensity. We’ve been playing in good and bad patches – it’s our collective goal to be consistent throughout the 80 minutes.”
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NEWCASTLE THUNDER have brought in another three loanees – Featherstone’s Callum Field and Wakefield duo Sadiq Adebiyi and Jack Croft.
Former Wigan player Field and ex-London Broncos man Adebiyi are both forwards while Croft is a back who recently played three times on loan to Barrow.
All three featured in Saturday’s 30-10 home defeat by Halifax, with Croft scoring two tries.
Kingston Park director of rugby Dennis Betts explained: “They add to our group.
“We’ve been hit by injuries and have also had players leave us after our full-time set-up turned out to not be for them, and all of this has had an impact on our small squad.
“Bringing these boys in will help us navigate those challenges but also gives us the opportunity to showcase the club, what we are about and what we can offer to players, which helps when we are looking to recruit.
“We’re looking forward to their time with us being beneficial for everybody.”
Newcastle are next in action at London Broncos on Friday week, May 13.
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SHEFFIELD EAGLES coach Mark Aston says there will no pressure when they return to Leigh for Sunday’s 1985 Cup semi-final.
The South Yorkshire side suffered a 34-6 defeat against a powerful Centurions team at Leigh Sports Village on Friday, but Aston insisted: “We had a dig, and we’ll do the same when we go back.
“They have quality across the board, but we didn’t just dip a toe in, we were committed and hard-working and we gave it a go. And there are areas we can improve on, such as our end of sets, which were disappointing.”
Aston hopes to have experienced trio, fullback Quentin Laulu-Togaga’e, halfback Anthony Thackeray and secondrow Liam Johnson, available for Sunday’s tie, explaining: “They weren’t quite there, so we didn’t risk them.
“They will help us be better next time, and it’s a first-class facility with a great atmosphere and a place we love playing at. We can come back with no pressure and get the shackles off, and you never know.”
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WHITEHAVEN coach Jonty Gorley says Dion Aiye’s experience and versatility makes him a key member of the squad.
While fellow Papua New Guinean Jessie Joe Parker left at the end of last season and is now coaching Hensingham in the National Conference League, Aiye is still going strong.
The 34-year-old, who made ten appearances for the Kumuls between 2009 and 2014, recently played his 150th game for Whitehaven.
Signed from Queensland Cup side Papua New Guinea Hunters, his debut for the Cumbrian club came as a secondrow in the 44-16 Championship defeat at home to Halifax in February 2015.
“Dion’s a great bloke on and off the pitch, and is popular both within the club and around the town,” said Gorley.
“He’s a really solid player who can cover a number of positions, halfback, hooker or backrow, and he’s a really useful member of the squad.
Having hosted Bradford, Whitehaven, who have taken 6ft 3in teenage Hull winger Harvey Barron on loan, are next in action at Widnes on Sunday week, May 15.
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WORKINGTON TOWN have given their survival bid a double boost by bringing in twins Connor and Curtis Davies from French Elite One side Villeneuve.
The 25-year-old forwards are both Wales internationals who started out at Halifax, where they graduated from the Reserves to make their first-team debuts in 2018.
The pair have played three times for Wales and represented the country in the 2019 World Cup Nines in Australia.
Workington, who went into their home game against Batley still seeking a first league win, have also extended the loan of Warrington back Luke Broadbent for the season.
But forward Hanley Dawson, signed from Millom ahead of the 2020 campaign, has decided to return to the community game.
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YORK CITY KNIGHTS coach James Ford is keen to carry on scouring the local Rugby League scene for fresh talent.
His current squad includes young Heworth products Myles Harrison, AJ Towse, Brad Ward and Toby Warren and ex-York Acorn man Joe Porter.
Now he has taken prop Ben Barnard on trial from National Conference League Heworth, based two miles away from the the Knights’ LNER Stadium.
“Ben is only 19, but has come through what is a really good club and played in their first team,” explained Ford.
“We feel he has potential and we are taking a really good look at him and giving him an insight into how we do things.
“Later down the track we will know a little bit more about one another and we will see where we go.
“There is a pathway for young players in the area to come and play for the Knights. We want York lads in the team.”
Ford’s side visit Barrow for a Premier Sports-televised clash tonight (Monday, May 2) seeking a sixth straight league win.
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