FEATHERSTONE ROVERS coach Marie Colley has been left satisfied by what she has seen from her newly-promoted side ahead of their opening game next month.
The West Yorkshire side face a tough start to the year with Challenge Cup games against holders Wigan Warriors at home, followed by the long trip to face Championship outfit Cardiff Demons.
But after seeing her side in action against both Sheffield Eagles (22-0 win) and Huddersfield Giants (20-26 defeat) in pre-season fixtures, Colley is confident they are on course to give it their all this year.
“The first game against Sheffield saw a lot of new players and new positions as well as a lot of chop-and-change with substitutions, so it probably didn’t really give us the flow we were looking for,” admitted Colley.
“But it got everyone some game time and got some minutes into the legs. So to still defend for a nil scoreline despite all the changes was really pleasing.
“We did a big review of that game and worked on a few things ahead of Huddersfield and it was very pleasing to see that we applied all that we’d been working on and that it was working within a game as well.
“It’s pre-season, so really the scores are irrelevant, but what was important was the attitude, the effort and the game plan we were working towards.
“When you look at some of the players Huddersfield have signed and the fact that they are looking to chase the top four, to only be six points away from them, even in a pre-season friendly, speaks volumes about the work we’ve been doing.
“We have still got some fixing up to do, some more video reviews to go through and some plans to put into place ahead of that Wigan game. That’s what all our preparations are heading towards now so the sessions will start to look different too.
“So far in pre-season the sessions have been quite heavy and intense, but now we’re looking more structurally about how we fix things and go about things on the field.”
Brogan Churm, Charlie Blackburn, Olivia Harris and Ash Prescott, who all featured for the club as they gained promotion last season, are currently sidelined through injury, as are new signings Beth McMillan and Kasalaini Gaunavinaka.
And while they may not be available for the Challenge Cup matches, Colley is hopeful they should be fit for the majority of the league campaign, which gets underway with a trip to Leigh Leopards in mid-May.