MIDLANDS HURRICANES boss Mark Dunning believes everyone wanting the same success for the club has more than played its part in creating a strong bond amongst his players.
The Hurricanes, who host Workington tomorrow (Sunday), started their league campaign with a hard-fought 14-16 win at Goole.
They also enjoyed a big win over Whitehaven in the 1895 Cup, before losing by a single point to Keighley in the next round, and pushed Salford hard for long periods of their Challenge Cup tie.
“The connectivity between the boys and the way they have formed bonds has been great,” said Dunning, who admits the team spirit on show has been one of the most pleasing aspects of the early stages of the season.
“We’ve had quite a few new additions coming in so it was important that we formed those bonds and partnerships as early as possible. I feel like we have done that and are really connected as a group.
“I know that we have got some great players here and I know we can play rugby, but we set a real focus in pre-season on coming together as a team and forming some really strong bonds so I am really pleased with how the boys have delivered on that.
“We didn’t really do anything special to get us to this point, we just emphasised our culture, what playing for this club means, why we’re doing it, what we’re doing it for and who we’re doing it for.
“We hooked in on the family aspect of the club which is really important to everyone and just worked hard.”
Dunning also confirmed that Sam Bowring, who featured in the Whitehaven game but not since, is set for a spell on the sidelines with a knee injury.
“Sam needs a meniscal clear out so we’re probably looking at him being out for a couple of months,” added Dunning.
“It’s certainly not as bad as we first feared, because there were questions of it being an ACL or an MCL injury.
“But fingers crossed they look to be fine and we just have to wait for the specialists’ report and then take the advice from there.”