At long last - Sunday's Coming
Ah, the famine is over. With only a meagre Law Cup game - supplemented by
a couple of Kiwi tests and a trip to see Strela Kazan fail in the Challenge
Cup on Humberside - it's good to have Rugby League that means something back
on the menu.
But it's a pretty low key start in the new Arriva Trains National Cup (insert
your own 'running late' / 'leaves on the line' gag here). Instead of a mouthwatering
local derby clash, we start the campaign hosting the team from outside of
our 'group of death' Workington ToWn.
Yes, yes, someone had to start with this 'out of group' fixture - and
the ToWn faithful will be mightily peed off with a long trip down the M6
to kick off their season (particularly as that's hw they finished last season
with their incredible collapse in the 'Qualifying Grand Final).
So, not only do Workington find themselves in National League 2, they've
not had the best of pre-season preparations. Club stalwart Paul Penrice resigned
as coach in November after only five players reported for training. Always
one to wear his pride in ToWn o his sleeve, this lack of commitment to the
cause was more than he - or any coach for that matter - could bear and he
walked. Seemingly, though, his show of principle paid dividends - the
players bucked their ideas up and he went back to Derwent Park to put a competitive
ToWn side together.
But he's had to do it without Tane Manihera - who's left for Barrow - and
Steven Wood - who's gone down the road to 'Haven.
No doubt Hally would have hoped for a slightly better preparation too. There
were flickers in the Law Cup that Hornets have one or two tricks up their
sleeve, but it was a disjointed performance that highlighted the new faces
in key positions - and the lack of a couple of old faces that we could rely
on.
But we plough on. Hally's gone on record saying that he wouldn't have signed
if he didn't think that we could go better than third - and I'm prepared
to believe him. Martin feels that - bar a couple of positions - we'll
be a much stronger prospect than last season and with the undoubted reinforcement
in the pack, we'll certainly have a good foundation to build on.
If we had to chance our arm on a starting line-up, we'd pick:
1. Owen
2. Cooper
3. Bunyan
4. Nanyn
5. Mayberry
6. Wood
7. Watson
8. Southern
9. Pachniuk
10 Stephenson
11. Larder
12. Smith
13. Ball
14. Long
16. Grundy
17. Price
18. Ayres
Here at rochdalehornets.com, we reckon that's as good a line-up as you'll
find in National League one and one that can cause quite a bit of damage.
After a long, dark winter of the soul it's back to business - another long
season and another untapped well of expectation. Sunday's game is a great
chance to get our show on the road in style - so don't miss it. See you there.
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