FEATHERSTONE ROVERS coach Paul Cooke hammered out a simple message as he gave his players some time away from the club: “Recharge, refocus and return and make sure the back two-thirds of the season are better than the first third.”
A Rovers bye round will be followed by next Sunday’s trip to Widnes, then an 1895 Cup semi-final at Oldham.
And the boss believes his players are capable of overcoming patchy form so far, winning both and kick-starting a season which promised much but has so far fallen flat.
After a busy winter of recruitment, including Cooke leaving his position as an assistant coach at York to take up the same role at Rovers, team chief James Ford stood down just two league matches in, with the former Super League and England halfback stepping up.
The 44-year-old followed a spell as player-coach of Doncaster to end his career at Rovers in 2015, and has also worked on the staff at Leigh as well as in rugby union, and is aiming to use that experience to get things back on track.
Cooke hoped the 24-22 home Easter win over York, his first in the Championship at the fifth attempt, had provided much-needed impetus.
But his charges then lost 18-10 to visitors Toulouse, a fifth defeat in seven in the league in all, and he admitted: “While we tried hard, we need to execute the basics better, and we looked a tired team. Toulouse came into that game off a bye, and I think a tough few weeks caught up with us.
“We’ve been missing players through injury, some of them from the spine, and while it’s not an excuse, it’s a factor. With more options and pivotal people coming back, we have what’s needed to be okay, I’m sure.
“The bye round has provided the chance of a break, but the players know they now have to really focus on what’s coming up, starting with Widnes.”
