Cornish lads hooked on the Roughyeds!

Sam, left, and Thomas will be leaving the picturesque Cornish coast for a trip to watch Roughyeds

TWO primary school boys from Cornwall will make a 650-mile round trip to support the Roughyeds in Sunday’s derby clash with Rochdale Hornets at the Whitebank Stadium.

Nine-year-olds Thomas Steer and Sam Bryant, from Fowey, will then stay in Oldham next week to learn the rudiments of the sport on a Roughyeds coaching camp for children to be held at Whitebank each morning from Monday to Thursday.

Thomas’s father Michael, a secondary school teacher and a qualified rugby union coach and referee, will travel with the boys to watch his third Oldham v Hornets derby in the last three years.

Sam’s father Paul is similarly qualified in rugby union. Together they coach the under-9s and under-10s at Lankelly-Fowey RUFC but they regularly watch the 13-a-side code on TV and enjoy its speed and intensity.

Michael said: “We are Cornish people with absolutely no connection with Oldham whatsoever, but we like watching both codes of rugby and it was purely by chance that we came to adopt the Roughyeds as our northern team.

“We were on holiday in York a couple of years ago and I wanted to take my son to his first rugby league game while we were up in the north.

“The only game on that night happened to be Oldham v Rochdale at Boundary Park so we drove across from York to get our first glimpse of rugby league live and we were absolutely blown away by it.

“The people of Oldham were so warm and welcoming and we had such a great time that we decided to adopt Roughyeds as our team and to travel north each year to watch the derby clash with Hornets.

“I’m keen for my son to watch the northern game because the core skills are the same as those in rugby union and it is good for him and his friend to sample the warmth, the friendliness and the camaraderie that exists in both codes of rugby.

“As luck would have it, this year’s derby is in the school holidays and the Roughyeds coaching camp for youngsters starts on Monday so both boys are booked on that and they are really looking forward to it.”

Thomas and Sam will have a special day on Sunday because they will be joint Roughyeds mascots for the day and they will lead the Roughyeds team out on to the field.

“I think they are going to remember the next few days for the rest of their lives,” added Michael.

Said Roughyeds chairman Chris Hamilton: “It’s fantastic that Michael and the boys are travelling so far to support the Roughyeds. I’m sure they will have a great day and a great week to follow on our summer camp. I know our fans will give them a real Oldham welcome.”