MATCH INFORMATION
HUNSLET RL v KEIGHLEY COUGARS - BETFRED LEAGUE ONE ROUND ELEVEN
FRIDAY 7TH JULY - 7:30PM KICK OFF
SOUTH LEEDS STADIUM - LEEDS - LS11 5DJ
REFEREE - MR ANDY SWEET (CASTLEFORD)
ADMISSION:
ADULT - £15
CONCESSIONS - £10
UNDER 16s - FREE
PAUL ROYSTON: "IT'S TIME TO MOVE ON"
THE rebuilding process at Keighley Cougars starts with tomorrow night's clash at Hunslet, according to Paul Royston.
Cougars' head of strength & conditioning says it is now time to draw a line in the sand following the shock sacking of head coach Craig Lingard last month and for the club for move on during the second half of the season.
Keighley have a West Yorkshire derby tomorrow night at Hunslet's South Leeds Stadium (7.30pm kick-off) following a blank weekend due to the Coral Challenge Cup quarter-finals.
Now Royston says he has been encouraged by the response in training of the Cougars' squad since they were thrashed 52-12 by Oldham Roughyeds in their last match in Betfred League One on May 25.
He conceded the players were shocked by Lingard's departure, but the arrival of former coach Phil Larder has given everyone a boost. Royston says Larder has been encouraged by the squad's work ethic during training.
Larder, who was coach during the days of Cougarmania in the mid-1990s, this week returned to the club as director of coaching.
He will work alongside the club's existing coaches, Royston and Rhys Lovegrove.
Larder has extensive experience in both rugby codes including as England Rugby Union's defence coach under Sir Clive Woodward.
Cougars have been handed a further boost by the return of talisman Benn Hardcastle after he served a three-match ban, a spell which featured three league and cup defeats. Playing Gary Thornton's Hunslet is a tough challenge for Cougars as they lie in fourth place after winning six of their opening nine games.
Cougars themselves, who have won five and drawn one of their opening nine league games, will be aiming to get into positive points, after being one away for the last few weeks. This follows a 12-point deduction during pre-season for their change in ownership.
Royston said: "The boys have responded well to the Oldham defeat in terms of enthusiasm in training and working hard.
"There are good preparations in place this week for the Hunslet game.
"There has been that much instability in the club. The lads were a bit shocked after Craig went. It does have an effect. That can upset the rhythm.
"We're hoping Been being back will make a big difference.
"We want to get back to putting in a positive performance. People are always looking at the performances. If we can get a result at Hunslet we will be back into positive points. It gives us a short-term goal.
"I know a lot of the Hunslet players. They are a good, solid outfit. They are a top team in this division.
"Playing them is definitely a good yardstick to judge us by.
"When we came against Oldham we let ourselves down badly. That's why it's good that Rhys and Phil have got to know the players. We can start to rebuild again.
"Phil was with us for training last Thursday. He met the group. He said he was pleasantly encouraged by their work ethic in training."
TEAM NEWS
Rhys Lovegrove and Paul Royston have made changes as they named a provisional 20 man squad ahead of tonight's trip to Hunslet.
Benn Hardcastle returns to the side after missing all of May's fixtures through the three-game suspension he was given by the RFL in late April.
Dom Horn is called up from the reserves squad after his impressive form and is included in the 20-man squad.
Matt Welham and Matt Nicholson (both Concussion) are also named in the squad following their respective head injuries.
Alfie Seeley (Arm) and Lewis Wray (Concussion) both drop out of the squad that was named prior to the Oldham defeat, as has Luke Million.
Billy Gaylor (Ribs), Reece Williams (Arm) and Aaron Levy (Appendix) are all still on the sidelines through their respective injuries.
COUGARS: Bailey; Cooke; Coventry; Cullimore; Dixon; Feather; Hallas; Hallett; Hardcastle; Horn; Lynam; Miller; Moran; Muranka; Nicholson; Parker; Prell; Sheriff; Thackray; Welham.
Gary Thornton is forced into two changes ahead of the visit of the Cougars.
Halifax dual-registration pair James Woodburn-Hall and James Saltonstall are unavailable from their parent club and are replaced by Dale Bloomfield and Danny Nicklas.
Adam Robinson (Ribs) is named in the side despite still recovering from injury.
There is a number of former Cougars to keep an eye on with former captains Mike Emmett, and Josh Tonks and iPro Sport Cup winning tryscorer Charlie Martin all named in Thornton's squad.
HUNSLET: Bloomfield; Braham; Chappell; Dean; Dixon; Emmett; Halafihi; Haley; Heaton; Hema; Lee; Martin; Nicklas; Southernwood; Potts; Robinson; Straugheir; Tonks; Watson.
VIEW FROM THE OPPOSITION CAMP
HUNSLET ARE homing in on the Betfred League One leaders.
After occupying pole position in the early weeks of the season, the Parksiders have slipped to fourth.
Victory over visitors Keighley Cougars this evening (7.30pm) would lift them into second spot, just a point behind Whitehaven.
After six away fixtures in the opening nine rounds of the league campaign, Hunslet will play at South Leeds Stadium on successive Fridays and coach Gary Thornton is aiming to make home advantage pay.
“It’s good to have a home game, it has been a while,” Thornton said.
“We are looking forward to it and we need to play well.
“We picked up a great win at Newcastle [two weeks ago], but we’ve not been particularly good at home so we are looking to turn that around and put in a good performance on home soil.”
Hunslet lost their most recent home league match, to London Skolars and were also beaten by visitors Workington Town in the 1895 Cup.
Thornton admitted: “Our last two home games were poor and we’re looking to improve on that and put those to bed.
“We’ve had a couple of slip-ups and we can’t afford any more.”
Cougars are bottom of the table, on minus one point, but have won five and drawn one of their nine games so far.
“Without their points deduction they would be just behind us,” Thornton pointed out.
"We can’t take them lightly."
“They have got some good wins under their belt; they haven’t performed particularly well the last few weeks, but before that they knocked off some good teams.
“We have got to take everybody seriously and be on top of our game every week.”
The long turnaround was not ideal for Hunslet after their win at Newcastle.
Thornton said: “I hope it’s not a negative, we have worked hard on some stuff we needed to improve.
“It’s always nice to keep the momentum going when you’ve had a win, especially a good win like that, but it has given Adam Robinson extra time to get his rib injury sorted and we’ve not been resting.
“We’ve been working hard and we are looking forward to it. We won’t have the Halifax dual-reg boys this week, but just about everybody is fully fit now.”
LARDER: "WHY I CAME BACK TO COUGARS"
PHIL Larder admits the chance to give back to Keighley Cougars was too strong to resist after making his return to the club.
The 74-year-old will don a Cougars tracksuit once more after stepping in as the club's new director of coaching.
Larder, who has worked at the top in both rugby codes, says he wanted to repay the faith Cougars and chairman Mick O'Neill showed in him from his days as coach in the mid 1990s. Under his guidance Keighley won the Second Division Championship in the 1994-95 season.
However, when Super League was created the following year, Keighley were excluded.
Fast forward to 2019 and the former schoolteacher Larder will act as a mentor to young Australian coach Rhys Lovegrove, but admits he has a burning desire to see the club reach the heights they cruelly missed out on more than 20 years ago.
Larder said: "Mick phoned me up and said he wanted a chat. I didn't know what it was about.
Larder said: "Mick phoned me up and said he wanted a chat. I didn't know what it was about.
"I have a big soft spot for Keighley from when I was last there. I have a lot of respect for Mick O'Neill and Mike Smith. On Mick, of all the people I have come across in rugby league or union he is up there with Clive Woodward as one of the best. I had a brilliant time at Keighley.
"I always felt when I was coming towards the end of my career, that if I put anything back in the game I would put it back at Keighley.
"I always think I need something to occupy my mind and this all fitted in well.
"I owe Keighley and Mick O'Neill and the fans who were fabulous with me.
"When Mick said 'come and help' I was only too pleased to do so.
"I know what I'm like, I'm very ambitious. Mick wants me to be ambitious.
"One of the things we need to do is to bring one or two more players in. I've been out of rugby league for quite some time and I don't know the players any more."
Larder almost has the ultimate CV in both codes. In league, he coached Widnes, Cougars and Sheffield Eagles. He went on to international acclaim, guiding England and Great Britain.
Meanwhile, in union he worked as England's defence coach under Clive Woodward, moving onto Leicester Tigers where the team won four consecutive Premiership titles and two Heineken Cup. He also had two spells at Worcester Warriors and worked as defence coach on the 2001 and 2005 British and Irish Lions tours.
Larder added he is looking forward to the task ahead of not only helping Lovegrove but also trying to get Cougars out of the game's third tier.
Larder said: "I think that Rhys is a young coach, he's very enthusiastic and knowledgeable.
"He is under a hell of a lot of pressure. The team is bottom of the league. This puts a lot of pressure on the coaches and the players. I am there to help relieve the pressure. I'm an advisor and mentor to Rhys. I'm just going to support Rhys and don't want to tread on anyone's toes.
"When I went to the Oldham game I sensed a lot of frustration.
"Cougars are in a tough position and they're not sure they are going to get out of it. The players at times on the pitch had their heads down, which is fully understandable after what had happened.
"I can lift them up and help them play to the best of their ability.
"I am aware the team has been thrown together at the last minute and not had a pre-season. When I was last here at Keighley I had had a full pre-season. I want them to be exceptionally fit.
"The chances of us getting promotion this season are against us, but not impossible.
"We've got to start building for next year and start building a backbone and start recruiting players and start pre-season early and ten we can win the league next year.
"I'm away on a pre-booked holiday for two weeks from this Sunday, but after that I am fully committed to Cougars."