Dewsbury Rams head coach Lee Greenwood insists this Sunday game against Bradford is a good opportunity for players to force their way into his thoughts.
“It’s a good attractive game and a lot of the lads who will take the field Sunday will be looking to take the field against Leigh Centurions. Either that or get themselves into the reckoning for the early part of the season.
“Looking at some of them now, you could say some aren’t quite ready for Championship rugby. However that could change with one good performance on Sunday.
“I am looking for little bits for us to improve on as a team. However it’s probably more for individuals this one really, whether that’s lads that will play against Leigh stepping it up themselves in this friendly. Or it’s for some lads to really force themselves into the side for the Leigh game which hasn’t been picked yet. So I’m more looking forward to that really and seeing how players react.
“Bradford will be bringing a good side here on Sunday. So the lads will be out to prove they can do it against a Championship outfit. In that respect for some of these lads who haven’t got a spot nailed for the Leigh game they can go out there and get it.
“I don’t expect everyone to be at their best Sunday and be perfect. However if one or two turn up and grab a shirt then good.
“Certainly our attacking sets in pre-season haven’t been good enough. Players sometimes coming away from the plan and doing their own little thing. Coaches would much rather players stick to the plan first and if it doesn’t work then come back to us and we’ll change it.
“We haven’t quite put the attacking plan into action yet. This could be due to a number of things, either the players haven’t listened to the plan, don’t believe in it or the plan isn’t very good. We’ve done some video this week just showing the players where sometimes they have gone and done different things and it spoils it a bit. However we are hoping to be a bit more organised on Sunday.
“This is all about people grabbing a shirt for the first league game against Leigh.”
Whilst the friendlies might not have gone totally to plan. Greenwood has been pleased with how the team has come together off of the pitch.
“I have been more pleased with things away from the games. The lads have come together well, there is a good work ethic and attitude in this group. They are all sound lads who get on well, there are no bad eggs in this team. We are now hoping that transfers to the pitch.”
“We know it’s unlikely that we’ll be winning the Championship or doing well just because we have a good set of lads. There is still a lot of rugby to be improved on. However I really hope that we see what the lads are like behind the scenes and on the training pitch come out in games as we go on.”
Finally Greenwood gave us an update on whether there was any injuries going into Sunday’s game.
“No injuries to report, by the end of Sunday everyone will have played a part in at least two friendlies except for Jason Walton who’s still recovering.”
