Roughyeds Report: Planning for life after promotion

oldham roughyedsHAVING FINALLY won promotion from rugby league’s third tier after nine years of trying, Oldham are already planning to put themselves in a position from which they will be able to consolidate in the Championship.

To jump from a division in which nearly half the teams were southern-based development clubs to one in which several are full-time professional outfits is recognised as a similar quantum leap to that of Championship clubs heading off to Super League.

It requires a massive leap of faith, not to mention heaps more investment in the squad and a drastic reassessment of realistic goals and targets.

On their way to a double trophy triumph – League Leaders Shield and Championship Rose Bowl – Scott Naylor’s men won 19 of their 22 regular league games, including 13 in a row plus victory in the promotion final against Keighley, producing a run of 14 consecutive wins, a record for Oldham RLFC (1997) Ltd.

That won’t happen next year and one of the squad’s main challenges will be to learn how to remain upbeat and competitive when wins and winning pay are significantly harder to achieve and the squad needs to accept defeats in a positive and professional manner.

“We won’t have happy, smiling faces every single week,” said club captain Lewis Palfrey. “We won’t be expected to win every game. We’ll be targeting certain games and striving to hold our own and consolidate, but it’s going to be a whole new mental challenge for us and it’s something we’ve got to get to grips with.”

Named League One player of the year in 2015, Palfrey is one of several members of the current squad to sign new deals for next year, alongside Danny Langtree, Tom Ashton and Adam Clay.

Others will re-sign as well because Naylor, League One coach of the year, has a great belief in squad stability and continuity and he has publicly expressed the desire to keep hold of the core of the squad that has served him well over the past three years.

“Our challenge in year one is to stay in the Championship and then build from there in subsequent years,” said Naylor, adding: “If we finish in mid-table they might give me a knighthood!”

He has already shown his hand by strengthening the squad with three additions from outside – winger Jamel Chisholm, whose last club was York City Knights, second-row forward Craig Briscoe, from Barrow, and experienced half-back Danny Grimshaw from Hunslet Hawks.

Chisholm is reputed to be one of the quickest wingers in the game, while Briscoe already has considerable Championship experience with Leigh and then Barrow, although he is still only 22.

Grimshaw, who has had six seasons at Hunslet, is the most experienced of the three and at the age of 29 he is keen to make a fresh start at a new club.

Added Naylor: “Danny is fast, exciting and unpredictable – just the qualities we’ll need at half-back in the Championship. I’ve been trying to get him for a while because he’ll offer us something very different to what we’ve had up to now.”