WATERHEAD Warriors crowned a memorable season by winning promotion from National Conference League, division three.
And it followed on from winning the BARLA Open Age National Cup and Standard Cup early in the season which joint coach Jon Perks believes were pivotal to the league campaign which saw Warriors finish runners up.
“The cup runs galvanised the club and set the tone for the rest of the season,” he said.
Warriors, who won 18 of their 22 league matches, secured promotion with three games to go following a hard-earned 24-16 victory at play-off chasing Shaw Cross Sharks.
Perks said: “Sharks had to win to keep alive their play-off hopes so it was a competitive game.
“We lost James Perks and Ciaran Dean through injury early on and found ourselves behind at one stage.
“We showed character as there have not been many games this season when we have had to dig deep.”
With promotion secured, Warriors cut loose in their next league fixture beating Millom 84-16 as they ran home 16 tries, Jenson Hamilton and Dale Lowe both scoring hat-tricks.
Warriors were left to reflect what might have been as they came within one match of being crowned champions.
During the early part of the season, Warriors were forced to field their A team for two league fixtures which clashed with National Cup ties.
They lost both and ended up with four defeats to three from champions East Leeds.
“Looking back in hindsight, we could have been champions which would have been nice,” said Perks.
“I would not have changed anything because winning the National Cup put us on the map.”
Perks admitted promotion was always the main objective.
“When you look at the quality we have in the side, we needed to go up. The big thing was getting out of this league,” he continued.
Warriors welcomed back former players Gareth Owen, Phil Joy and Danny Bridge after they left Roughyeds. They also had Brad Jinks and Danny Yates returning from the pro game.
Perks added other than Yates, who is leaving to play in Australia, the rest of the players have already committed for the 2023 season.
“The second division will be tougher, but that is where we want to be,” said Perks who was delighted with the successful season which had followed some bleak years for the club at first-team level.
“As we had some hard times, we are savouring this season. It is great for those lads who stuck with us to have success.”
With Saddleworth Rangers relegated to division two and Oldham St Annes in the division play-offs, Perks said there is the mouth-watering prospect of having six potential Oldham derbies next season.
“Saints are the best side we have played other than East Leeds, so good luck to them in the play-offs,” he said.
Warriors are off to Benidorm on September 20 for an end-of-season trip with about 40 players and club officials.
They are also planning a pre-season training camp in Spain in mid-January in readiness for next season.
• Warriors’ Callum Murphy and Scott Parnaby are currently in Italy playing for England Community Lions Under-19s in the Euro Rugby League Championships.
• It was wall-to-wall rugby in the Warriors Weekend on August 27-28 with tournaments from U8 to U16s.
The event attracted junior teams from the North West Counties League as well as others from Yorkshire.
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