Kear warns players no place is safe
BATLEY Bulldogs go into their second Northern Rail Cup game, against London Skolars at Mount Pleasant on Sunday (2.30pm) with a warning from coach John Kear that no place is safe.
Kear was delighted with the effort and quality of performance in the opening win at Keighley last weekend and remarked: “We are finding out about each other at the moment.
“There were a number of very good individual displays but some did not perform to the standard I expected.
“There will be one or two tweaks to the team and they are all playing for places. No way can anybody think they are a fixture in the side.
“Before the game we had a training session with the players who weren’t selected for Keighley and several of them looked very sharp and are ready to challenge for a regular spot.”
Kear is wary regarding Sunday’s opponents. The Skolars are known to have had a major shake-up pre-season and now have strong links with London Broncos but they did not play last weekend because of the weather and are very much an unknown quantity.
He remarked: “It’s difficult this weekend. In Super League you can just go on the website and get a good look at opposing teams and individual players and study their style, that doesn’t happen at this level.
“London didn’t play last weekend and we don’t know anything about them, they could turn up with a very good side. Because of that you get a bit twitchy and have to prepare fully, there will be no question of complacency.”
The Bulldogs had just one injury worry at Keighley. Johnny Walker, one of three debut men to score – the others being Tom Henderson and Mark Applegarth – suffered a back problem which went into spasm but he was feeling much better in mid-week and is expected to be available. The rest are just feeling the usual early-season bumps and bruises.
Batley showed stamina and character at Cougar Park to come back from 16-4 down and beat a side containing several players with considerable Super League experience in recent seasons.
Kear observed: “We dominated the first 15 minutes and the last quarter, inbetween Keighley were on top and we saw little of the ball.
“I was very pleased overall, we worked really hard and played some very good rugby. We defended particularly well, in fact it was the defence which won us the game.
“The Cougars had a great deal of Super League experience and I still expect them to qualify for the knockout stages.
“There won’t be many teams in the regular season who will pick up points at Keighley so our effort last Sunday was all the more praiseworthy and we feel there is plenty to work on.”
The Bulldogs are to pursue the signing of winger Alex Brown, who was due back from a holiday in Las Vegas this week.
He is interested in returning to Mount Pleasant, where he had such a good spell in 2010, but it will be a matter of finance as Batley have used up their budget rebuilding their squad. An idea of the re-shuffle is that five players who were at The Mount last season, started in the Halifax team which won at Dewsbury.
Kear said: “Alex has expressed an interest in re-joining us but we have invested in players for the full season, which was the idea all along, so much will depend on his demands.”
n The Testimonial shirt for centre Danny Maun is being unveiled after the game and will be available for supporters to buy.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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