SHEFFIELD EAGLES coach Craig Lingard has an extra reason to want a Challenge Cup run in 2025.
The new coach believes his side, which will host West Bowling or Wath Brow Hornets in round two on the weekend of January 25/26, needs all the games it can get in the opening months of the season to help get up to speed.
That’s as they adapt to the reign of the former Keighley, Batley and Castleford team chief, who has brought in backrower Jack Bussey from Keighley, Craig Huby as his assistant and Paul Royston as head of strength and conditioning.
Lingard was appointed at the start of this month after Sheffield confirmed a new commercial and ambassadorial role for his predecessor Mark Aston as he appeals an 18-month ban from any coaching involvement in Rugby League, with the 57-year-old due to eventually become director of rugby.
The timing means the Eagles are inevitably playing catch-up in terms of their pre-season, with the fact that Lingard, 47, is putting his own stamp on the side adding to the potential length of the transition.
“With Mark being here such a long time and a lot of the players having worked with him, I guess the easiest thing to do would have been to change as little as possible,” said Lingard.
“But given the unusual nature of the situation and the emotion attached to it, I thought the best thing would be to draw a line under the episode by making a fresh start.
“It means we are all going from square one, both for me and the new and old players alike.
“But things may take a bit longer to embed, and we obviously started later than might have been the case, which is just something we have to deal with.”
Sheffield have pre-season games against Lingard’s former employers Castleford and Doncaster before the cup-tie, and Lingard added: “As a new coach, you gain a lot from games, so the more we have the better.”
