Mark Moxon hopes player loyalty reflects Batley Bulldogs’ culture

BATLEY BULLDOGS coach Mark Moxon believes the Yorkshire club should talk up their milestone men even more.

Last season, both versatile forward and captain James Brown and second rower Dane Manning passed 200 appearances for the Fox’s Biscuits Stadium side.

Prop Michael Ward reached 150 games, while second rower Lucas Walshaw, stand-off Ben White and centre Kieran Buchanan all got to three figures.

While 25-year-old ex-Hull player Buchanan has joined second-tier rivals York – with no hard feelings from the Batley coach – the other five remain part of the Bulldogs squad.

Club chairman Kevin Nicholas recently hailed the continuation of Fox’s sponsorship of the ground into an eleventh year, while noting that the front-of-shirt deal with another local firm, K & M Metals, goes back to 2010.

Nicholas has been around for more than 25 years, and reckons stability is at heart of the success of a club that is noted for punching above its financial weight.

And he has the agreement of Moxon who, while he is approaching his second season in the top job, has been on the coaching panel since September 2011, assisting John Kear, Matt Diskin and then Craig Lingard.

“There’s certainly a lot of loyalty here, and that’s shown by those players who have been around long enough to reach those appearance landmarks,” he said.

“We try to mark all the milestones, and I sometimes think they deserve a little bit more recognition for their long service.

“Hopefully players feel comfortable in the environment we have tried to create and they feel valued by everyone behind the scenes here.

“We don’t pay the big bucks, and we wouldn’t criticise players who move elsewhere, because at the end of the day, they are professionals who are usually mixing rugby with another job.

“But we try to offer them that bit of flexibility, perhaps around mixing training with work and family commitments, which maybe helps keep them here.”

Batley visit Newcastle in round two of the Challenge Cup on Sunday.