London star Elliot Kear has admitted Denis Betts’ controversial pre-match comments have helped further motivate the Broncos ahead of their do-or-die clash with Widnes.
Betts, the Vikings head coach, claimed in his pre-match press conference that not one London player would make his side.
The comments quickly made their way to the London players, who already have plenty to play for with their Million Pound Game aspirations hanging by a thread.
Andrew Henderson’s side have impressed in the campaign despite narrowly missing out on several victories, and Kear admitted the Broncos were keen to prove Betts wrong in the contest.
“It’s just more motivation than anything else,” he said.
“It’s created a little bit more pressure on himself and the lads playing for Widnes.
“Everyone is wondering why he said it, maybe he didn’t think about it, but it adds fuel to the fire for us.
“We certainly don’t see ourself as any less of a team than they are.”
The Welsh international has been an ever-present during the Qualifiers campaign, which has seen London pick up just one win.
They will have to defeat Widnes and Leigh next week to reach the Million Pound Game, but Kear insisted they are not fazed by the challenge ahead.
“It’s do or die for us now,” he said.
“We know what we’ve got to do and it’s in our hands at the minute. We’ve just got to get this game ticked off and then we move on to the next.
“When we’ve looked back at the games we’ve said we can’t make the same mistakes and just missing out, but at the same time we have to take great confidence that we’re competing with teams like Warrington.”