Featherstone Rovers laid down a real marker last night with a 50-0 thumping of Keighley Cougars, a side many expect to impress in 2023 after an invincible campaign in League 1 last year and some major signings such as Luke Gale.
But next up for the Rovers is a side who finished third behind the second place Rovers in the last two seasons: Halifax Panthers.
They also have designs on promotion, and speaking to Rovers TV ahead of this clash, coach Sean Long described it as “like a Grand Final dress rehearsal.”
“We need the fans to come down on Sunday and get behind us,” he said as he called on the fans to get their in numbers for the clash against Halifax.
They were here tonight and that gave us that extra drive to get over the line. But we need them to come down on Sunday against Halifax.
“Ultimately this could be like a Grand Final dress rehearsal, you don’t know. Two good teams on paper who are both fighting for promotion, so we need the fans to get down and get behind us and hopefully we show a good brand of rugby.”
This came after he spoke to Viaplay TV about the DNA of his side in the win over Keighley:
“I’ve got very high standards, a lot is effort-based. What holds us together is our DNA of us as a town, and ultimately it comes from hard work, being tough and being grafters. That’s what our standards are built on for this year.”
Asked ‘how long do you celebrate before you look ahead’, Long revealed he already had an eye on the Halifax fixture: “We’ve already looked at Halifax, me and Leon did on the way over here, there’s no time to celebrate.”
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