We’re all set to cause some big surprises

HELLO all and welcome to the first of my regular columns in which I will be updating you on our preparations for the upcoming game, and also on the work the Foundation is doing.

Firstly, I would like to extend a warm welcome to Dewsbury Rams for our Kingstone Press Championship opener this weeekend, in what is set to be an exciting start to the year.

Pre-season has gone very well and our performances in the friendlies and the Law Cup have given us optimism for the new campaign.

We are under no illusions that it will be a very difficult, relentless competition this season with each and every game being a difficult task, however we are confident we have a good group and will surprise a lot of teams along the way. I feel we are still a bit of an unknown at the start of the season so we must take advantage of this from the off.

It was a great pleasure for us to be competing in the Law Cup again last month and it’s always good to win the trophy and even better on our rivals home turf. We had a good following at the game and hopefully this will continue on our travels this season.

Last week’s narrow loss to a Warrington side which featured six of their grand finalists, including two internationals, was a good measure to show how far we have come because we came away disappointed we were beaten by two points. Games against Salford and Warrington have shown us a level of intensity we need to aspire to in the next few months and if we can do that and sustain it we will be a very hard side to beat.

Manchester Rangers were very kind to let us use their facilities and we wish them well with there application to come into league one, as another local derby would be good on the calender.

We have got through pre-season almost unscathed and long term absentees Dave Cookson and Michael Ratu are on track with their rehabilitation. Jono Smith is unavailable for six games now which has been well documented, however we are fortunate to have Danny Bridge in the short term which softens the blow of Jono’s unavailability slightly.

I am really optimistic that we will have a big number of supporters this season, especially at home. I feel the town should get behind the players and the club, and the standard of Rugby League on show in the Championship won’t disappoint.

We have a good group of players with an average age of 24, so it’s a young team that can hopefully build on last year’s success with another positive season. I’m sure everyone will agree if we finish 10th it will have been a successful season, however we are hoping to do better than that.

As you may know I am also the Community Manager of the club’s brilliant Sporting Foundation which does great work within Rochdale and the surrounding areas.

Already this year we have seen great numbers attend both our Touch RL and Wheelchair RL sessions, and during January we hosted a coaching seminar with Warrington coach Tony Smith, which saw aspiring coaches come from far and wide to pick his brains. Tony answered all the questions which were thrown at him and was an inspiration to those who showed up.

We have also kicked off our Level 2 Coaching Course at Matthew Moss High School which the Foundation funded 50% of for Rochdale-based coaches. That meant they could take up the great opportunity to gain their badges for just £100, as the course saw 20 people booked on after originally becoming full booked.

During this week we also took our League 1 Championship trophy on a tour of local businesses, supported by partners TBD. I’d like to thank Katie Bowmer for organising the tour, as she joined Michael Ratu and our new CEO Adam Bates in parading our silverware.

I hope to see you out in numbers at the Crown Oil Arena tomorrow to support the lads, as we look to begin our 2017 campaign with a positive result.