James Webster delighted with Featherstone recruitment ahead of new season
Featherstone coach James Webster is pleased with the calibre of players he has at his disposal ahead of the new Championship season.
Rovers have enjoyed an impressive recruitment drive ahead of the 2021 campaign, brining in the likes of Craig Kopczak, Nu Brown, Kris Welham and Tom Holmes.
Webster believes the Championship will be a great competition to watch this year and is happy with how his squad are shaping up ahead of their quest for Super League.
He said: “I’m really optimistic. I think it’s a great competition. I think everyone’s talked about how many teams are in there to win it.
“I’m going to be honest, I haven’t spent a huge amount of time analysing other squads. I spent the first month or six weeks of the original lockdown this time last year watching every game from the Championship to get myself better acquainted with the names and the styles and the grounds etc. Since then, I’ve just worried about Featherstone and what we can do to improve and become the leading force in the Championship.
“I think we’ve recruited not only some experience but I wanted some young, hungry people that wanted to make rugby league their future and I think we’ve been able to mix that in. We’ve got some young kids who have had a taste of it, and want to go harder and stronger at it.
“All I can say is we’ve got a really good squad here. Don’t get me wrong, every team needs luck and some luck with injuries. I’ve got a lot of faith in what we’ve recruited. As soon as you can get into the ground it is going to be hard to get a ticket because I think we’re going to show some really good rugby and we’re going to go out there and we’re going to definitely try and take this on as hard and as tough as we can.
“We want to be the best team in the comp and I think we’ve recruited players that are going to give us a chance.”
READ: Featherstone announce 2021 squad numbers
With no dual-registration in 2021, Featherstone have acquired plenty of depth in their squad for 2021, with 31 players on board so far.
Webster added: “I think if you look at the spine of our team we’ve got Brown, (Dane) Chisholm, Holmes, (Craig) Hall. We’ve got two good hookers in (Connor) Jones and Brown so we are well versed to be able to use the ball but then we’ve got some good size.
“We’ve got (Dale) Ferguson, (Brett) Ferres, (Junior) Moors, (James) Lockwood, (James) Harrison. We can mix it up in the middle as well. We are going to play the style we need to win games. In saying that, I’m an ex-half-back so I like to try and chance my arm a little bit but what we need to do to win games is going to be paramount.”
Rugby League Nostalgia is here! Get involved with Love Rugby League’s new group on Facebook to share all your rugby league nostalgia and celebrate the rich heritage of our sport.