Rhondda wander focuses the mind

Scott Naylor: utilised squad in busy spell.

ACCORDING to the AA it’s 212 miles from Whitebank to the new home of South Wales Scorpions at Mountain Ash in the Cynon Valley.

Oldham have made three trips to play Scorpions in Scott Naylor’s two seasons at the club and have won them all. Kingstone Press League One budgets don’t stretch to overnight stays so the Roughyeds part-timers will be up early on Sunday to face a 16-hour day and then back to work on Monday morning.

“It’s a big ask. We’ve a few long trips, but this is the longest and it’s a journey that we definitely have to factor into our preparations,” said the Oldham boss.

“It’s largely a mental thing. It isn’t easy to be up early, then to be on a coach for five hours or so, including stops, and then have to switch on and play a tough game of rugby. It’s something we speak about and focus on.

“We try to make the trip as easy and as comfortable as possible and when we get there it’s then up to the lads to forget about the journey and to get on with the job. It’s been a strange couple of weeks for us. Routine was broken by the run-up to Easter and then the Good Friday game; then we had the cup semi-final in midweek, which we are not used to; and now we’re off to South Wales.

“It hasn’t been an easy period — three games in 10 days — but in winning two and narrowly losing the cup tie I used every player on the books, which showed we have a squad that can compete well in this division.”

Scorpions have lost eight games in a row, stretching back to July last year, but Naylor is not expecting an easy ride at a small-town rugby union venue deep in the Valleys, which Roughyeds will be visiting for the first time.

He added: “We are preparing for a tough game. There are no strolls in the park in this division. You’ve got to be 100-per-cent ready for it no matter who you are playing, especially away from home at the end of a long journey.”