FEATHERSTONE ROVERS coach Paul Cooke says the ‘gallant losers’ tag will never be acceptable to him or his staff – and shouldn’t be to his players.
After a sluggish start to the season, with the club parting company with James Ford and Cooke stepping up from his role as assistant to take charge, Rovers have racked up eight wins in their past ten league games.
The two defeats were to leading teams York and, by a 24-22 margin, Toulouse in France.
With tries by Caleb Aekins, Gareth Gale, Derrell Olpherts and James Glover and three Ben Reynolds goals, Featherstone were 22-18 ahead with an hour gone at the Stade Michel Bendichou.
However Benjamin Laguerre’s 69th-minute try and Jake Shorrocks’ crucial conversion tipped the game in Olympique’s favour.
And former Doncaster player-coach Cooke, who has the play-offs firmly in his sights, was highly frustrated before seeing a return to form on Sunday with a 36-18 win over London.
“It was an opportunity to come home with two points that we fully expected to get, but we lost a game which was there for the taking,” he reflected.
“We put in a great effort, but that doesn’t earn points. As a group, we went to France with one goal – to win. But we didn’t get the job done, and in our view, handed the game to Toulouse with four poorly-conceded tries.
“If anyone thinks that we’ve come a long way after a poor start to the season and that pushing Toulouse close is enough, then they’re at the wrong club.
“Myself, Ged (Corcoran) and Ian (Hardman) as coaches don’t accept us being gallant runners-up in any game.”
Featherstone face a further six regular-season fixtures, starting with Sunday’s trip to Batley.
And Cooke continued: “We have to stay united, put the team first and work hard to become winners in every match.”