Despite another competitive performance last week against Whitehaven, Swinton Lions are still searching for their first win in the Championship. Coach John Duffy: “We were very unlucky again. We had the chance to kill the game off. We had a try disallowed, which was a bit upsetting, then we had a penalty kick near the posts which we missed near the end then two drop goal attempts. We’re creating opportunities all the time it’s just our final execution, which we’ve been working on.
“It will be a tough game this week against Featherstone, they’ve got some good professionals. Their half-backs Thackeray and Briggs are superb, they’ve got Ellis at nine and Craven at one so they’re dangerous all over the park. Griffin at prop has been leading the pack so it will be a real tough game but one that we’re up for.”
A late drop-goal gave Featherstone Rovers a 21-20 victory over Dewsbury Rams last week. Coach Jon Sharp expects another stern test this week. “They are an attacking threat, averaging almost 20 points a game so we know that they can score,” he said. “Our challenge is to defend against a team that play attacking rugby but we have to be an attacking threat ourselves and improve on what we’ve done last week and the week before.”