Oldham debuts for Leeds pair

Oldham boss Tony Benson has confirmed that on-loan Leeds Rhinos youngsters Callum Casey and Danny Bravo will make their home debuts against high-flying Whitehaven at Whitebank on Sunday.

Benson is playing it cagey, so much so that he has announced his 20-man squad in alphabetical rather than positional order, but the two 21-year-olds from the Rhinos’ conveyor belt of up-and-coming talent will definitely figure in the 17.

At Gateshead last Sunday, Bravo played the full game in the second-row, while Casey made his bow off the bench and adopted the role of a midfield link in the style of a third half-back or an old-fashioned ball-playing loose-forward.

“He’s a very gifted player, no doubt about that,” said club skipper Neil Roden. “He sent in John Clough for a first-half try with a pass that had ‘class’ written all over it.

“It was good to have a talent like that in the middle of the field, but I’ve got to admit that it seemed strange to think I used to be in the same Oldham team as his dad Leo ten years ago. We were both in the 2001 Grand Final team, Leo at prop and I was at scrum-half.”

Benson has given a vote of confidence to the squad that won 52-16 in the North-East, adding only Valu Bentley and Ben Wood to the 17 who played plus Michael Ward, who travelled as reserve.