Ex-Salford Red Devils man makes ‘potential’ claim after Championship club’s recruitment push

Oldham are in a good spot as they ready themselves for the start of the Championship season. That’s the belief of Elijah Taylor, who is confident that the club’s new signings can help the Roughyeds make an impact on their return to the second tier.

Taylor knows exactly what it takes to compete at the highest level in the NRL, Super League and Championship having spent time in the three competitions prior to joining Oldham ahead of last season. However, the former New Zealand international isn’t the only high profile name in Sean Long’s side for 2025 with the club pushing the boat out in the recruitment market.

Gil Dudson, Adam Milner and Josh Drinkwater have made the move down from Super League to represent the Roughyeds, while Iain Thornley and Matty Ashurst certainly know their way around the top flight too, despite playing in the Championship last time around.

It means that Oldham, who won League One at a canter in 2024, boast a squad that most believe will be competitive in the Championship and Taylor will certainly have a key role to play.

“We’ve got a good squad here, we’re laying the foundations for our season coming up,” he told the club’s Youtube channel. “We’ve got a lot of potential on paper but we need to get the chemistry right, our fundamentals right and most of all we need to get our work ethic right.

“Things are going really good, the intensity of training has definitely stepped up because there’s more competition for spots. That’s healthy, it’s a good thing and a good problem that Sean [Long] will have when it comes to team selection.

“Everyone is training hard and pushing extra to make the starting 17, it’s a good problem to have and it’s raised the standards of our intensity at training which is exactly what you want at this time of year.

“[The new signings are] going to add to our team and push the standards in training just with their experience. For a lot of those it’s their first time playing Champ as well, so it will be beneficial for us, especially the young lads who are aspiring to get up to Super League.

“The majority of them played Super League last year so they know what’s required week in, week out. They are going to set the standard, set the platform and it’s up to all the young lads and all of us to meet them and work as hard as them and push for a spot in the 17.”