London Broncos coach Danny Ward is looking forward to seeing how the club’s new reserves team develops in 2020.
The club last week confirmed that the team’s first pre-season game will be at Coventry Bears on January 10.
The Broncos’ reserve team will be coached by former Bears coach Tom Tsang, and Ward says it has a big part to play at the club.
“This is a great step forward for us,” Ward explained.
“We held a trial that was pretty successful, and got four or five lads down that have been playing union, plus some top-age Academy lads and guys who had been in our system before going on to places like Coventry and Skolars.
“It’s fantastic to see it up and running again and I think we’ll have a lot of joy with it, even if it’s a couple of years before we see some ready to kick on for the first team.”
Ward has also been happy with how his first team has started pre-season training, though he has warned them they must adapt to different expectations in the Championship next year.
He added: “I’ve been really happy.
“The lads are back in training and have been gelling really well, and the lads that we’ve brought in have really taken to the club and city and how we do things here.
“We’ve signed some good players, although we’re always looking to bring more quality in.
“In the Championship, Toronto are out now and they’ve been head and shoulders ahead of others in terms of spending.
“In the three or four years I was involved it was a very tough, even competition with the clubs in the top half of the table all capable of beating each other.
“I’ve been massively impressed with the Championship the last few years and it looks like it will be very even again.
“There will be a lot of teams going for top spot, and it’s a big challenge for us because everyone will want to knock off the team that’s come down.
“That’s a different challenge in itself, as we will be going in as one of the favourites rather than being underdogs in every game.”
© League Express (Mon 16th Dec 2019)
