Watson – Wolves mauling behind us

Ian Watson reckons Swinton have fully recovered from their Challenge Cup mauling against Warrington.

The Lions assistant player-coach admitted confidence was rocked after the record 112-0 mauling at the hands of the Super League leaders and Cup holders.

But Swinton ran in 11 tries at bottom club Gateshead for a 62-16 victory on Sunday to open up a six point gap on rivals Keighley who went down at home to Rochdale.

Watson said: “The last two weekends have been really good for us.

“Our win against Oldham last week was massive and Keighley have slipped up which has opened up a gap and is a real bonus for us.

“We have had some tough physical games and I think the defeat to Warrington in the cup affected the confidence.

“But one game at a time we are getting that back.”

Swinton led 22-4 at half time against Gateshead with tries from Ian Mort (2), Richard Flooks and Darren Hawkyard.

They slipped into overdrive after the interval with Flooks completing his hat-trick with Warren Thompson, Dana Wilson, Gavin Dodd, Alex Hurst and Karl Ashall all touching down.

Mort landed nine kicks for a personal tally for a personal tally of 26 points.

Watson added: “We started off a bit patchy but once we got into our structures and kept our shape we came flying through.

“We are on a good run but we are just taking each game as it comes.

“We have a bit of a break before the Rochdale game and we will try and freshen everyone up.”