Working hard to right wrongs

AFTER a week away, welcome back to my column which has a lot to update you all on.

Since my last update we made history in the snow against Bradford Bulls, picking up our first win at Odsal for 46 years which was pointed out to me by our chairman Mark Wynn after the game. To see the delight in his face at such an achievement was a special feeling as everyone knows just how much this club means to Mark and his whole family.

The game itself was a

‘I know the lads are capable of more and they weren’t at their best on Sunday’

stark contrast to the game against Dewsbury, as we had to do it tough in the terrible conditions on the day. It wasn’t the greatest game to watch, however our boys dug deep to find a way to win and saw out a famous victory which made it back-to-back wins.

I’d also like to thank the Hornets fans who braved the conditions, as they were heard loud and proud above the voices of a heavily one-sided crowd of 4,000, you continue to motivate the players and coaching staff week in, week out.

We then welcomed Hull Kingston Rovers in a top of the table clash, something no-one could have imagined before the season started. There was a crowd of over 2,000 which was brilliant to see at Spotland, and we believe it is a record attendance for the club since we became fan owned.

I was disappointed with the result, which may seem harsh considering we came up against a fulltime side with a budget of £1.1million, however I believe we should have won the game. We went away from our game plan which we had worked on in the build-up to the game and made far too ●●Gavin Bennion celebrates with try-scorer Gary Middlehurst after Hornets took the lead against Hull KR at the Crown Oil Arena on Sunday many errors in dangerous positions which were always going to be punished by a side of KR’s calibre.

I know the lads are capable of more and they weren’t at their best on Sunday, but I still believed with 10 minutes go and with just two points in it that we should have gone on to clinch a win. It wasn’t to be though and in the bigger picture we can be proud of our efforts as we showed an abundance of effort, aggression and desire, but we will never be happy in defeat.

This week we have worked hard on putting our wrongs right so that we can go into the Halifax game in the best possible shape. We have a 48 hour rule in place where the previous game is put behind us once we have reviewed it on Tuesday, and we are fully focused on the next test ahead.

Halifax have been under some pressure and they showed a great response with a convincing victory over Sheffield Eagles and will go into the game on a high. It’s now all about how our lads respond to their first defeat of the campaign. I have seen how they have handled all the pats on the back from their wins and the media coverage we have been receiving, however it is now about how they react to a loss.

This group has a lot of desire and showed some great resilience at times in the defeat to Hull KR, and knowing them as well as I do I know they will react well this Sunday. We’re looking forward to the challenge and we’re hoping to see another big crowd, as this season is going to be huge and we want you all on this journey with us through the highs and the lows.

Meanwhile, our foundation is continuing to do great things in the community and is something we can continue to be proud of.

Recently we came together with Rochdale Borough Council and GMP Rochdale to raise awareness of disability hate crime with a wheelchair RL session to mark Let’s End Hate Crime Week. It was a great event to be a part of and Michael Ratu was heavily involved in the organisation and implantation as he continues to do some great work with wheelchair rugby league.

Jay Lobwein has also been busy with Beech House Primary School, delivering session which have helped improve the ability of students from year 3 through to year 7.

Our junior elite training programme, or JETs, launched this week and was a huge success as kids from under-12s to under16s had the chance to gain coaching from myself, our strength and conditioning coach Miles Greenwood and coaches from partner club Warrington Wolves. It was a great opportunity to showcase the talent of our youngsters to a Super League club and also to help improve the development of the young players too.

If you haven’t already joined the growing group of Touch RL participants then you are missing out! Every Monday evening we host an hour session from 7pm at the Soccer Factory which is open to everyone, no matter what your skill level. It is a great way to socialise and get fit, and best of all it costs just £2 to join in. It would be great to see the numbers rise even more so come and spend your Monday evenings with us.