Dewsbury Rams recently announced that Chris Annakin will be staying at the club for the 2021 campaign.
The second-rower is passionate about playing for his local side. He’s looking forward to what hopefully will be a successful 2021 season.
On staying at the Rams, Annakin said: “I grew up supporting Dewsbury, I watched them every Sunday with my dad and I have had a few loan spells with the club over the years and have always enjoyed putting the shirt on.
“Last year was my first year as a Ram and we started well and it looked as though we were going to have a special year.
“When I got the opportunity to stay it was a no brainer, I’m excited to see what we can do in 2021.
“Dewsbury is a great club to be a part of and I’ve always enjoyed my time playing for the club. But I think the Club has really turned a corner since Lee (Greenwood head coach) arrived and that was visible early this year.
“I am looking forward to seeing what we can do with another full pre-season together.”
On having the last few months off of Rugby, Annakin explained whilst he wants to get back, the break has done him good.
He said: “To be honest, although I have missed my rugby this year I have been thankful for the break. I ended my season with Wakefield with a bad injury and the surgery made me miss pretty much all of pre-season for the Rams.
“So I never really felt fully fit. I’m looking forward to getting a full pre-season under the belt and seeing what I can do firing on all cylinders.
“I think the team will benefit from another pre-season together, so I’m positive it will be a good year all round.”
Reflecting on the curtailed 2020 campaign, Annakin commented: “We had a great start to 2020 and that was down to the teams attitude. We know we are not a group of individuals and for us to compete with the bigger clubs in the league we have to do the basics well and beat them on effort.
“Which is what we did. We were a new team coming in to 2020 and I think the games we had this year plus another pre-season is only going to do us good.
“It takes time for the team to knit together and when we do we will be a tough team to beat.”
Finally Annakin wanted to leave the final message to the fans.
He said: “The fans last year were top class and I think as a team we did them proud.
“Another year together and we are only going to get better so I think it’s exciting times to be a Dewsbury fan.”
