Vikings defeat was a reality check, admits Thunder ace

NEWCASTLE Thunder will look to bounce back from last week’s ‘reality check’ with a win over Dewsbury Rams this afternoon, says star Ollie Roberts.

A 33-26 defeat last weekend at Widnes Vikings took the shine off the previous week’s thumping win against Bradford Bulls.

Today they host a side secondbottom in the Betfred Championship standings and need to respond with a win if they to break into the top half before the end of the campaign.

Roberts insists a reset of the team’s mindset can make it a third victory in a row at Kingston Park in their 3.00 clash.

He said: “I think we thought we would roll into the Widnes game off the back of the Bradford game without having to try as hard as we should do.

“We have had a bit of a reality check and you cannot go into every game just expecting to win.

“We need to go into every match knowing our role and bringing our best game to it. Victory is not going to be handed to us on a plate because the Championship is a tough competition, so we just need to work out our structure and how we need to play perfectly.”

That is arguably something Thunder have done in their last two outings at home, a 66-22 success over Workington Town backed up by the 53-10 defeat of the Bulls.

Roberts added: “We have proved we can do it - we did against Workington and we did against Bradford - but we just cannot be complacent with ourselves.

“Those wins mean nothing so if we beat someone 100-0 the week before that has been and gone, we need to reset and go out and win the next game.

“Every game is a must-win for us now because we need to test ourselves, better ourselves and build a platform for the future.

“We have a few home games now but they are against tough sides - but if we focus on what we are good at and just keep chipping away at it and I think we will do well.”