Craig Lingard: Batley Bulldogs show ‘development pathway’ back to Super League

Craig Lingard led the Bulldogs to the Million Pound Game this month but they were ultimately denied a place in Super League for the first time in their history after being defeated by Leigh.

Reflecting on his side’s achievements this year, the record try scorer at the Mount Pleasant club said: “It’s the most successful season I have had as a coach.

“To get to a play-off final for promotion to Super League with a club like Batley with the players that we have got and with the finances we have got - whilst competing against teams that have got a bigger budget than us with potentially more star players - is just an amazing achievement.

“To see the success that the players have had was great but I was also pleased to see the players get the recognition in the build-up to the final.

"There was a lot more media attention around the club and around the players in the build-up which I think was great because Batley is not a fashionable club and players don’t always get the recognition or the spotlight that they deserve by playing for a club like Batley.

“So it was nice the players getting that recognition – and getting their work and successes highlighted.”

One player who has benefitted from the team’s success, as well as through his own performances, is Luke Hooley, who has signed for Super League club Leeds Rhinos.

However, Lingard believes this move just shows that the Bulldogs have the potential to get players “back into Super League”.

The head coach said: “We have always said - and Luke Hooley is a prime example of this - that if players who have come to us after dropping down from Super League, if we can get them back there and a club comes in for them, we will drive them there. We will put them in the passenger seat and drive them there.

“We want players playing at the highest level that they want to play at.

"If they’re happy playing at Batley, brilliant; if they want to go to Super League and somebody comes in for them and their performances merit that, then that’s outstanding for us because it shows a clear pathway of players coming to us and then going onto Super League, so it helps our recruitment.

“We haven’t got a lot of money so what we have got to do is make sure the things that we have got are right - the family values and hard working values at the club, that we’re honest, that players get paid on time and they get what they’re promised everytime.

"We don’t shortcut the players, they might not get paid a lot but they get paid on time and in full.

“And if we can show that development pathway, that we have got a proven track record of getting players back into Super League, then that is another added bonus for us.

“It’s about making the best of what we have got and showing the players that if you do drop out of Super League then you can always come to Batley. We will do our part to try and get you back there, as long as you do your part.”

The off-season usually provides rumours of not just players transferring to different clubs, but also head coaches. However, Lingard has insisted that he has not received any contact from any Super League club looking to secure his services for the 2023 campaign.

He said: “I have not applied for a job and nobody has rung me up! There is always speculation out there!

“Over the last three to four weeks I have got about four or five different jobs - I don’t know who they are speaking to but they are certainly not speaking to me.”