Quiet section of the season is a cause for our concern

I AM very concerned about the lay-off we are currently in the middle of, to be honest.

It is difficult to know quite how it will affect us. One week without a game can either help or hinder you, but it will have been three by the time we play against York.

And that game represents only our second fixture in two whole months.

All we can do as a group is work as hard as we can inbetween our matches.

Training, rather than playing, at the weekend means the contact element and intensity aren't at the same level as they would be in a competitive game.

After a pretty serious team session last night, we will have an opposed session against the reserves tomorrow night. Replicating a game situation is difficult but we need to try to get as close as possible to it.

What this relatively quiet period does give us is the chance to break things down and start again in order to keep us fresh. It provides the opportunity to move away slightly from what we have been doing constantly for weeks and look at things from different angles.

We have got hold of a few DVDs of York games from this season and will be looking at them this week. The Knights are clearly a very strong side — one that is only a point behind us in the Championship One table — and have a very big squad at their disposal.

The March twins (Paul and David) are very experienced and what's more, they are able to put plans into place while actually on the field themselves rather than issue instructions from the touchline.

The game a week tomorrow represents a different type of challenge for us. Going away to play a side like York is just a step for us within the league season, and is part and parcel of what we and every other side has to do.

But every game is a big one now and we train to win all of them, as ever.

We have got a full round of games left against every other side in the division apart from Swinton. There are still games at home against Keighley, York (twice) and away at Dewsbury, plus trips to Blackpool and Hunslet, who have both been spending cash on players lately.

We have to be ready for the challenge, which you could describe as being like having nine cup finals left to play.

Looking at England’s 66-12 thrashing of France, it is clear that Salford scrum-half Richie Myler is a star in the making.

He is very talented, but you can’t inject experience into him — he just has to get it himself, by playing.

It can be difficult, though. If you look at Sam Tompkins at Wigan, he made mistakes with the ball recently and the fans got onto him, which can be hard for a young player.

It has to be a slow building process and nobody should get impatient with young talent.

o Got any questions to put to Tony? Simply email the address below:

tonybenson@oldham-chronicle.co.uk