Don’t hold back, Naylor tells players

SCOTT Naylor expects his players to go flat out in Sunday’s Law Cup derby clash at Rochdale.

The coach bills this pre-season head-to-head with the Kingstone Press Championship One neighbours as “massive” for Roughyeds fans, “enormous” for chairman Chris Hamilton and a key pointer to what lies ahead for himself and right-hand man Lee Spencer.

“There’s no such thing as a friendly in rugby league,” said Naylor. “Players might turn up a little bit more relaxed than usual for the sort of game we’ll be involved in at Rochdale on Sunday, but once they cross the whitewash and start to play they’ll crave to be the best they can be.

“The last thing on their minds will be the status of the game or what, if anything, is at stake.”

The clubs have agreed to operate with seven subs each and no restriction on the number of replacements — which means Naylor can showcase all his available players.

“It would be nice to carry on where we left off against Salford and get another win, but we have a lot of hard work to do first,” said Naylor.



Clubs in Championship One have a new trophy to play for: the Northern Rail Bowl.

It will be contested by the teams finishing top of the two Northern Rail groups and it will form a double-header at The Shay, Halifax on July 20 with the Northern Rail final.

If a Championship One side reaches the final of the Cup, the team second in its pool would play in the Bowl final instead.