Bulldogs in Harrison talks – seven sign new deals
BATLEY Bulldogs have already signed seven members of the current squad for next year and hope to have others by the end of the week.
The players who have put pen to paper are Ian Preece, Danny Maun, Byron Smith, Craig Potter, Mark Toohey, James Martin and Chris Buttery.
In addition John Gallagher has agreed to stay but not yet signed but to have so many who were willing to re-sign before the current campaign has ended suggests there is a very good spirit at the club.
Mount Pleasant chairman Kevin Nicholas said: "We have set out to re-sign as many members of the squad as we can and then sort out the areas where we feel we need to strengthen."
There is also the matter of persuading coach Karl Harrison to stay on and Mr Nicholas is meeting him tonight to discuss his future and what players he feels are needed.
Harrison's success in steering the Bulldogs to the Northern Rail Cup success and the brink of the Co-operative Championship play-offs has attracted a good deal of attention from other clubs and he is likely to have other offers. But he seems to enjoy it at Batley, his business is conveniently in the town and he has proved a very popular figure.
The club are in talks with the agent of prop Sean Hesketh and have made an offer for scrum-half Gareth Moore to stay on but both are considering offers from other clubs and have ambitions of playing in Super League, which is no surprise.
Batley accept they have been slightly fortunate this time in that they have relatively few long-term injuries with only Preece and Mark Barlow out for any real length of time. This has enabled them to cope despite a much smaller squad than any other club but it has meant some players playing carrying injuries.
In recent weeks centre Maun has had a neck problem and second row man Jason Walton a hand injury which may need an operation.
It remains a minor miracle that Moore played in the Northern Rail final after suffering what seemed a bad shoulder injury, which initially caused him a good deal of pain. He was told he would probably be out for at least four weeks. As things turned out he played again after two and went on to have a crucial role in the success at Blackpool.
The Bulldogs are going to mark what has been an outstanding season by holding a celebration dinner, hopefully some time in October. This is in addition to the usual Supporters' Club player of the year awards, and both should be well attended.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Batley
Sunday 05 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 3 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 0 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North west
