Liam Finn expecting ‘step up’ in opposition as Dewsbury Rams face Midlands Hurricanes

The Rams have started the season in comfortable fashion thanks to a 18-38 away victory at North Wales Crusaders before progressing into the third round of the Challenge Cup with a 38-8 win against amateur side Ashton Bears.

The Hurricanes will also be joining Dewsbury in the next stage of the Cup courtesy of a 4-50 triumph at Hull Dockers. This followed a routine 40-6 success at home to Cornwall in their opening league game of the season.

Ahead of Sunday’s game, Finn said:

“They are a decent team and they like to throw the ball around. They play an attractive style and like to challenge you on the edges.

“They have got too big, strong centres who they like to get the ball to but they can also play a little bit and release their fast wingers. The half-backs are pretty sharp too.

“They are a challenge across the board and they are obviously going to be confident after two convincing wins. It is going to be a step up for us this week.”

But while Finn warned against the Hurricanes’ strengths, he also wants his players to “focus on our own style.” He said:

“We do our homework on the opposition and let the lads know what threats are coming at them. But, at the same time, we like to think that the way we play we will challenge them as well.

“We try and get the balance right of how much attention we give to the opposition and make sure we focus on our own style of play and what we want to do.

“You spend two and a half, three months trying to work out a way to play so there’s no point chopping and changing week-to-week for opposition when you’ve only got two or three sessions to put things into place.”

The club has also announced a dual registration partnership with Wakefield Trinity, which will allow the Rams to use members of the Super League side’s squad when they are not selected.

“We need to iron out how it is going to work but I am pretty sure it will be a good thing for both clubs,” revealed Finn. “We haven’t got a big squad so at some point we are going to need some help.

“There are some fringe first teamers there who are going to need to play some rugby at some point. Hopefully we will work well together and with a bit of luck we might be able to send a few of our lads who need a bit of game time to play in their reserves.

“Fingers crossed it should be a pretty good relationship.”