CONSISTENCY will be Featherstone Rovers’ watchword for the remainder of a 2025 season which has gathered impressive momentum over the last three weeks.
Comprehensive back-to-back wins over Oldham, booking an 1895 Cup final date with York Knights at Wembley on Saturday week, and Batley Bulldogs in the Betfred Championship have turned what had hitherto been a mediocre season around.
Delighted head coach Paul Cooke is now concentrating on this weekend’s trip to tackle Barrow Raiders with all talk of Wembley on the back burner until next week.
“We, as a coaching staff, have been consistent in our messages to the players about how we wanted them to play since word one when we arrived and that has not, and will not, change,” said Cooke.
“If a switch has been thrown over the last couple of games, it has come from having a stronger squad available with more depth and the recruitment of players in key positions.
“We now have a strong spine to the team and talented players added in Ryan Hampshire, James Glover and Nathan Wilde, who showed their work against Batley.
“We’ve always known that Glover and Wilde won’t be available at Wembley, but their absences will offer opportunities for other players in the squad to step up and increase competition in the squad going forward to Barrow, Wembley and beyond.”
With his squad fully focused on the task facing them at Barrow, Cooke is preparing his players for a tough task in Cumbria.
“I watched Barrow’s last game against Toulouseand I was impressed with what I saw from them in the game. They were tough and disciplined and we will need to reproduce the kind of display we came up with against Batley to come away with a win and the points.”
Club captain Danny Addy looks set for a recall at Barrow after he was rested against Batley but Connor Wynne, who is recovering from a back strain, looks likely to miss Sunday with Wembley on the horizon.
“We’re managing Gadwin Springer’s issue to keep him playing and elsewhere in the squad, we have a couple of guys available again for the Barrow game.
“The challenge facing every player in the squad this weekend is to grab their chance to hold their hands up and make our selection decisions for Wembley as tough as possible.
“We’ve set ourselves the target of bouncing into Wembley on a winning run and in good form.”