Bulldogs in talks with five key squad men
BATLEY Bulldogs are still busy talking to members of the current squad and will then switch their attention to outside players as they build for next season.
Among those still to re-sign are captain Paul Handforth, who is due to meet Mount Pleasant officials again tonight, hooker Kris Lythe and fellow forwards Jason Walton, Ash Lindsay and Dave Tootill.
Handforth has been a key figure in the last season-and -a-half, while Lythe was the only player to appear in all 31 matches this time. The other three were also regulars as Batley coped with a remarkably small squad and Walton also scored 13 tries.
The Bulldogs' success in winning the Northern Rail Cup has also encouraged many outside players to show interest and the club are finding agents are eager to offer the services of their clients.
Batley are well aware they have to strengthen and accept they were fortunate to get through last season with only Ian Preece and Mark Barlow suffering lengthy absences through injury and that is unlikely to happen again.
The future of coach Karl Harrison will probably be announced at the club's Player of the Year awards night at The Frontier on Friday, September 17. The club will be open at 7pm for an 8pm start and there will be entertainment from the band The Solicitors. Children will be allowed up to 11pm.
Tickets at 25 are now being sold for club president Ron Earnshaw's celebration dinner at Zucchinis restaurant on Friday, October 8. There is a limit of 150.
Meanwhile Batley showed a welcome increase in attendances for Co-operative Championship league matches in the season just ended.
This was despite a disappointing mid-season run when six of their league fixtures attracted less than four figures.
The Bulldogs' average went up from 895 last year to 1,068 and, while this is by no means enough for the club to really flourish, the rise was pleasing at a time when many sporting organisations are feeling the crunch.
The big difference came from two factors. The game against Halifax drew the highest attendance of 1,837, a rise of more than 400 compared with the previous year when both games were played on a Thursday night and were televised.
The second factor was the boost by the return of the league fixture with Dewsbury Rams after their promotion.
the game brought an attendance of 1,484, which was the second highest of the campaign.
Whatever the feelings of both sets of fans, regarding the fate of their local rivals, the derby fixture remains a necessary part of the season for both clubs.
The enthusiasm at the Rugby Football League for the inclusion of French teams was not shared by the spectators, Toulouse have proved no sort of attraction in the Championship and their two visits to Mount Pleasant have brought turn-outs of 689 this year and 662 - on Easter Monday last year -with, of course, no visiting supporters.
This year's game had to be played on a Tuesday night but it did follow Batley's outstanding win at Leigh in the Northern Rail Cup semi-final less than a week earlier, which whipped up interest considerably.
Surprisingly Whitehaven are another to have proved a poor attraction in the last two years with 627 and 666.
Another reason for the overall increase in attendances was the fact that twelve months ago the Bulldogs launched a cheap season ticket for early buyers and this helped lift sales. Tickets for 2011 are now available at 120 for adults, 60 concessions and 30 for children and ex-players.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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