Kingstone Press Championship Preview: Hunslet Hawks v Bradford Bulls

Barry Eaton, the Hunslet Hawks coach, took plenty of positives out of the loss to Featherstone Rovers.

“We were good again last week without any reward,” he said. “We played some of the best stuff we’ve played all year.

“We had a slow start to the game but showed remarkable resilience to come back from 12-0 and 24-6 down. Certainly the second half performance was as good as we’ve been all year.

“We were outstanding offensively but maybe just that start they got in the first half proved the difference in the end.

“The short turnaround won’t affect Bradford because they are full –time. We certainly don’t expect that to be a problem for them.

“We’ll be ready for a backlash and for Bradford being at their best, they are potentially the best team in the competition. But we’re looking forward to it. It will be one of the biggest games Hunslet have staged over the last few years so we’re solely focusing on giving a good account of ourselves.”

Hunslet are still missing James Duckworth, Luke Briscoe, Liam Mackay and Callum Casey.