Oldham ready to show off muscle

MUSCLE-UP... and that’s an order, was the command from coach Scott Naylor to his team after last season.

Naylor wanted a physically stronger squad this year.

To achieve it Naylor and assistant Lee Spencer tweaked training schedules and involved players in a lot more gym work.

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s first home league game, second-row forward Josh Crowley said: “We didn’t do much weight-training last year because we were all new to each other and in the time we had available there were too many other things we needed to work on.

“We weren’t a small side but there were odd times when opponents were a bit more physical. The boss identified that as something we needed to address. We are in the gym and on the weights as part of every training session now and I feel a lot stronger for it. I'm not on my own either.”

Former Widnes forward Crowley (22) hopes fans will turn up in force against Hemel Stags at Whitebank on Sunday (3pm) to cheer on Roughyeds to a better start than last year. The team lost only three games all season, two of which were the first two home games. A better start would have given the side promotion.

Crowley is confident that this time Roughyeds can turn Whitebank into home sweet home.