HALIFAX PANTHERS boss Kyle Eastmond wants his squad to learn lessons from their play-off bid – and put them to good use in 2026.
In his first season as a head coach, The Shay team chief surpassed the expectations of many simply by sealing a top-six finish, never mind making the semi-finals.
However having ended the regular season in fifth and pulled off an exhilarating 40-4 win in their elimination tie at Oldham, Halifax went down 30-18 at York.
With the Knights having claimed the Championship Leaders’ Shield and gone into the game on the back of 19 straight wins, a home victory was anticipated.
But while proud of his players’ efforts throughout the campaign, 36-year-old Eastmond was also disappointed at how it finished.
“We can talk about missed chances, and there were some, but being brutally honest, we deserved to be beaten,” he said.
“I think it was a bit of a lesson in how to handle these big games. We had been at the top of the mountain by beating Oldham, then came back down and couldn’t go up it again.
“It’s about working out how to approach these games with the right mindset and being disciplined enough to earn the right to win another, and we weren’t, so it’s a learning process.
“That ability to keep dealing with big games isn’t yet ingrained here, but it’s something we are working on.
“When you look at were we were at the start to where we are now, there has clearly been growth over the year, but we’re not yet where we want to be, and we have to keep moving forward.”
Eastmond also praised the contribution of his coaching team, which includes assistant Jy-mel Coleman, head of performance Tabo Madiri and logistics manager Dan Hare.
“It’s not about me – the people working around me deserve a lot of credit,” he added.
Meanwhile Halifax are being linked with New Zealand-born Scotland international centre or secondrow Bayley Liu, who is out of contract at Bradford.
The 29-year-old joined the Bulls from Sheffield in early January and made ten appearances, with one for Batley on loan.
Earlier in his career, Liu played for Central Queensland Capras, the old West Wales Raiders and Dewsbury.