Rochdale targeting consistency
Rochdale Hornets are after consistency when they take on Coventry on Sunday.
The Hornets beat Hunslet Hawks 28-18 last week.
“I was happy with elements of the performance,” Coach Alan Kilshaw said.
“We were disappointed with our start and we gave away a lot of penalties, especially in the first half. Some of our attack was off as well but in the second half I was really pleased with the character we showed.
“There are plenty of areas to build on but the nuts and bolts are there. The effort’s there and I was pleased to get the win, especially with some of the players who are still unavailable to us. It highlights the depth we’ve got.
“We won’t be complacent at all this week. Coventry had the toughest trip out of everyone last week and they would have got a little bit out of that in terms of on and off the field. They’ll be pinpointing this as it’s their first home game, so we’ll be expecting a battle.
“We played them in a friendly a few weeks ago and the first 40 minutes was tough, so we know what to expect. We know we need to turn up with the right attitude otherwise we’ll get turned over.”
Rochdale Back-rower/centre Alex Trumper could be back in the Hornets squad this week.
Coventry suffered a heavy defeat at Toulouse last week.
“Performance-wise I don’t think we did ourselves justice, we gave them too much respect in the first 20/30 minutes and we didn’t play how we trained,” Coach Tom Tsang said.
“It became evident that they were very, very strong through the middle, strong carriers. We were going up the middle in ones, which is not how we want to play.
|We were losing that middle ground very easily and they were very good at knowing when to move the ball and when to stick in the middle. They were very clinical, very fast and very strong.”
“It will be another tough game this week against Rochdale. We played them pre-season, hopefully the scoreline will be a lot different this time round. But we’re looking forward to it. It was a great trip last weekend and the lads will be much better for the experience.
“Toulouse are great hosts but it will be good to be back home.”
The Bears have doubts over fullback Joel James (hamstring), prop Elliott Liku (ankle), halfback Jay Lobwein (dead leg) and centre Eddie Medforth (groin).