Benson sees the potential in his squad

Chris Baines: Set an example last season which coach Tony Benson hopes others will follow this time.

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TONY BENSON has hailed the Roughyeds’ recovery under new supremo Chris Hamilton and can’t wait for the season to get underway.

Now armed with a young, hungry squad within a club keen to embrace its support, the Kiwi coach is hoping to inject a sense of enjoyment into the operation after the trials and tribulations of last season.

The club is still keen to find a new home venue within the borough in time for the start of the new season in 2010 and Benson — who has chosen to return for a second season on a reduced pay package — is clearly excited about the challenges ahead.

“It has been going well and we are all pretty positive,” he said, ahead of a pre-season friendly programme which starts with the Law Cup clash against Hornets RL at Spotland on Sunday, January 3.

“Chris Hamilton has worked so hard behind the scenes to put everything in place and I believe we have come back a better club than we were, with a whole new way of looking at things.

“The plan is to get fans closer to the players and to get us enjoying life as a club again.

“We want to put together a full package where enjoyment and fun is behind everything we do and where everyone is really together as one big team.”

Benson admitted the tussle for ownership between Hamilton and previous majority shareholder Bill Quinn, which culminated in a stand-off prior to a winding-up order over unpaid tax being heard in the High Court, had been difficult for everyone concerned.

Now, with a more modestly-rewarded playing and coaching staff, Benson hopes to lay some solid foundations for success.

“It was definitely a worrying time,” added Benson, who was home on a family holiday in New Zealand as the perilous situation at the club played itself out.

“Chris (Hamilton), Bill Quinn and the Inland Revenue all had different agendas. Chris was trying to save the club, Bill was trying to do the best for himself and the same went for the Revenue.

“The very positive thing here now is that a number of players turned their backs on much better offers to come back and play for us.

“We are all on far less money now, but it is credit to how Chris operates and the situation he has set up that the players have chosen to stay with us.

“We are going to miss players like Tommy Goulden, Chris Baines, Thomas Coyle and Craig Lawton.

“But what it does mean is that as a group, we have to get the best out of everyone and work even harder.

“What we will miss is those individuals who can make something out of nothing.

“If you look at Bainesy, before last season he wasn’t starting many games and was on the edge of things.

“He put in the hard work and look how he turned out in 2009. I am sure we have more players here with the potential to improve as much as he did.”

Pre-season training has taken place at Cardinal Langley school in Middleton, both outdoors on the 3G pitch and inside for cardiovascular work, while intense conditioning sessions — for example, running on the Strinesdale hills — have been the routine on weekends.

All has gone well so far but with tough competition in the form of Blackpool, Hunslet and Swinton in the Co-operative Championship One next season, Benson isn’t about to make any predictions.

“I am not going to make any rash calls,” he said.

“We have more of a young side this time, without any individual stars.

“But we do have the potential to improve us on last year.”