COACHING STAFF and players at Oldham Rugby League Club have assured fans they are ready and primed to tackle head-on, in July, some of the biggest challenges of the season.
Described by coach Scott Naylor and chairman Chris Hamilton as a “massive” month in terms of a full season’s work, July will see Roughyeds go head to head with three of their biggest rivals in the battle for promotion from Kingstone Press Championship One.
Only the winners of a top-five play-off go up, but the higher a club finishes in the final league table the easier is its potential route to the knock-out final.
Naylor’s men waved farewell to June on the back of seven wins out of eight and holding second place in the table to leaders York only because of their inferior for-and-against record.
Oldham have suffered only two league defeats all season – no other club in the division can match that – and they take on Gloucester All Golds at Whitebank on Sunday, July 13 as the only team out of nine in competition to still boast an unbeaten record on home soil.
Gloucester, in fourth place, have had a remarkable run since taken over by new coach Steve McCormack in May. Prior to McCormack’s arrival they had lost four of their six league games, but they went on to win five of the next six under their new boss, their only defeat during that run being a 30-22 loss at home to Oldham.
Among their scalps were high flying York at home and Hunslet away, the very teams that Roughyeds face next in this decisive spell.
“Our next three games will definitely determine where we finish up in the jostle for pole position in the play-offs,” said chairman Hamilton.
After Gloucester at Whitebank, Oldham go to leaders York on Sunday, July 20 and then entertain Hunslet, pre-season promotion favourites, on July 27.
Only Hunslet and Hemel have beaten Roughyeds in the league, so the Hawks’ arrival at Whitebank at the end of the month should get supporters of both clubs in a flap.
An indication of the type of rugby Roughyeds are producing can be gained from the list of the division’s leading try scorers.
Outside of Oldham, there isn’t a winger in the division in the top few places. Oldham don’t have one up there, they have two. Left-wing Dale Bloomfield is joint top on 14 and right-wing Mo Agoro is joint second with 13, all but one of which have been scored by the former Leeds Rhinos youngster in a prolific run of nine games.
He’s scored at least one try in every one of those games, a run that can’t be matched by any other player in rugby league, from Super League down to Championship One.
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