Kingstone Press Championship Preview: Hunslet Hawks v Leigh Centurions

Despite the 28-14 loss to Sheffield Eagles last week Hunslet Hawks coach Barry Eaton was proud of his side’s effort in difficult circumstances.

“We lost Andy Kain in the warm up with sickness and then lost three players by half time through injury so we only had one interchange for the whole of the second half and had players playing out of position. With that in mind the effort was great from the boys,” he said.

On Friday’s game against the league leaders he said: “Leigh are unbeaten and only lost one last year so we know how formidable they are but it’s also an exciting prospect.

“To be the first team to topple them that would be a fantastic achievement for us but we know it’s a formidable task.”

Leigh Centurions coach Paul Rowley said: “Hunslet did pretty well against Sheffield. They absorbed a lot of pressure and were resolute defensively.

“I think they’ve probably surprised a lot of people due to the quality of signings they’ve made. They’re certainly a good team and have come up with a couple of good scalps.

“Any games they have lost, it’s been a tussle, they’ve made a real fist of it so it will be a difficult fixture. We were excellent last week, we played really well. We aim to continue that level of performance going into Easter week.”