FEATHERSTONE ROVERS coach Marie Colley is hopeful a handful of key players will be available to her once the league season starts in mid-May.
Brogan Churm, Charlie Blackburn, Olivia Harris and Ash Prescott, along with new signings Beth McMillan and Kasalaini Gaunavinaka, all missed the club’s pre-season games against Sheffield and Huddersfield, with Colley expecting them still to be sidelined throughout the group stages of the Challenge Cup.
“They possibly won’t be ready for the cup, but hopefully for the start of the league season we’ll be able to look at bringing some of those bodies back,” said Colley.
“Some of those girls have been key players for us over the last few years so it was good to see how we went against Huddersfield without them on the pitch.
“We also had a couple of players in that game like Dani Waters, who hadn’t really played much for quite some time, and Holly Waddington, who’d only had five sessions with us.
“It was good to take a look at some other players and how they’re adapting to what we’re throwing at them.
“And it gave them a chance to lay down a marker and push themselves forward for a starting shirt or a spot in the 17.”