SHEFFIELD EAGLES coach Craig Lingard believes the connections between his players will come as the campaign continues, bringing more victories.
His side will head to Featherstone for their third Championship match on Sunday in tenth place in the embryonic standings after defeats by Halifax (28-14 at home) and Widnes (10-8 away).
While disappointed with those outcomes, ex-Castleford coach Lingard pointed out: “We’re a team in a transition period.
“I wasn’t appointed until December, so we were a behind when we started pre-season, and when there is a change of coach, that’s even more telling.
“We’re all getting used to working with one another, and it was always going to take some time to get consistency in our performances.
“Certain things we did well against Halifax weren’t so good against Widnes and vice versa.
“I knew we’d still be gelling and learning in the early competitive games, and while we don’t want to lose matches, neither do we want to panic.”
Lingard added: “We also have a new spine, with (fullback) Jack Walker and (scrum-half) Morgan Smith added as well as (halfback) Jack Mallinson, and two new hookers in Corey Johnson and Reiss Butterworth, who has been injured.
“They are all learning how to play together and with the rest of the team, and that takes a little bit of time.
“The Championship is very unforgiving if you are a little bit off it, which we have been, but there’s no worry at this stage.
“We’ll keep working hard, those combinations will come, and we’ll start to play with more consistency and build a bit of momentum.”
Prop Eddie Battye reached 300 career appearances against Halifax, with 113 of them for Sheffield, where he is in his second spell.
The 33-year-old has also played for London Broncos (111 games) and Wakefield (76).
Having been released from a Sheffield contract which ran to the end of this season, frontrower Mitch Clark has joined York.