OLDHAM star Jordan Turner hopes an earlier-than-usual return for pre-season will help Sean Long’s side lay the foundations for a competitive campaign back in the second tier.
The hugely-experienced ex-Super League centre was a key player in the side that won promotion from League One at a canter (19 wins from 20 matches) last year, ending a three-year stay in the third section.
But the 36-year-old, who is with his hometown club after representing Canberra Raiders as well as Salford, Hull, St Helens, Huddersfield and Castleford, knows points are going to be harder to come by in the Championship.
Oldham begin their league schedule with two home games, the outings against York on Sunday and Batley seven days later forming part of a sequence of seven straight games at Boundary Park (two pre-season games and two in the Challenge Cup before, with Rochdale or Swinton arriving in round one of the 1895 Cup on the weekend of March 1/2).
Turner knows how valuable a strong start could be, but warned: “We are under no illusions as to how tough it’s going to be.
“It’s a big step up from where the club has been over the last three years.
“You look at the fixtures and see clubs like Bradford, Featherstone, Sheffield and Toulouse, who have all been strong for a number of years now.
“Widnes and York are looking good as well, and to be fair, the rest of the sides are all capable, so for us to compete with them would be great.”
Turner added: “We started pre-season earlier than we might have done otherwise to give ourselves a much preparation time as possible.
“That was helped by finishing last season relatively early and not having to go through the play-offs.
“We’ve added a few players, so they have had the chance to bed in and we’ve been able to work on our combinations, and now we need to bring it all together.”
