WORKINGTON TOWN coach Jonty Gorley has confirmed he will make a number of changes to his matchday 17 at home to Dewsbury in the 1895 Cup preliminary round two this weekend.
Town lost 60-0 to Super League Leigh in round three of the Challenge Cup on Friday, with those players who missed out selection set to feature against the Rams as Gorley’s preparations for the league campaign continue.
“Everybody wanted to play against Leigh, but in my head the game was another step on the ladder to get us to our first league game (at home to Cornwall on February 23),” said Gorley.
“I have told the lads who didn’t play on Friday that they will be playing against Dewsbury so that I can get a good look at everyone before the Cornwall game.
“I want the lads to make it hard for me to pick my team. I’d like to have a headache going into that.”
One player who definitely won’t feature against Dewsbury is winger Jonny Hutton, who suffered a head knock against Leigh.
Despite the scoreline, Gorley was pleased with the effort, conceding that the gap in standard between Super League and League One was too large for his players to deal with effectively.
“Leigh have quality throughout the squad so it was always going to be tough,” he added.
“I asked for effort from the boys and I got that, so I was happy. But there was just a massive gulf in quality, speed and calibre of players.
“We gave away 16 penalties, and I would imagine half of them were simply down to the speed and athleticism of the Leigh players.
“We were never way over the line on any of them, but a lot of the high shots were because we weren’t getting our body position right, or our feet close enough to defend, so the speed and steps from Leigh were just catching us out.
“They scored eleven tries and ten of them came of the back of a penalty or back-to-back penalties and the other one from a yardage error.
“I know 60-0 doesn’t look great, but boys will take some lessons from it.”
