‘We have been Featherstone’s bogey team’ - Craig Lingard hoping Batley Bulldogs can continue good form against Rovers

The Bulldogs remained undefeated in three Championship encounters during the 2022 season, drawing the home game 20-20, before winning the reverse fixture 28-20.

Batley, astonishingly, then went on to beat Rovers at the Millennium Stadium again, this time in the play-off semi-final, 32-28.

Lingard said: “We were the only team to be unbeaten in the league against Featherstone last year because they beat Leigh in the first game of the season. We had a really good year over them in the league, although they pumped us convincingly in the Challenge Cup.

“We have been Featherstone’s bogey team over the last year and hopefully it will continue into this season as well. But we are under no illusions that it is going to be a really tough game.

“They are unbeaten in the league, seven from seven, and they are going to come to us all guns blazing. I think they will still have some sore wounds from last season’s semi-final and they’ll be looking to put in a really good performance against us and try and get a bit of revenge for that.

“But I don’t think any team in the league is unbeatable. Consistency is massive in our division and Featherstone are going to be more consistent more often than not, but they are not the Leigh of last year who were just so far ahead of everybody else.

“However, we know that they are still a very, very good team regardless of the 17 who they throw together from the squad that they have got and we know that we need to be better than what we have been in any game this season to even get close to turning them over.

“But our guys always seem to get up for the big games.”

Asked if having a week off due to being knocked out of the Challenge Cup last month will work in Fev’s favour, Lingard responded:

“It’s a difficult one because it depends where they are, squad-wise, with shorter term injuries, like Thomas Lacans who missed the previous game, it has given them an extra week to get ready.

“But Craig Kopczak will now miss our game through suspension because if they had played in the cup he would have served his suspension then and been available for the league game against us. There are pros and cons to missing a week.

“The recent results and performances sometimes dictate whether you want to have a week off or get straight back on the horse. I’m sure they will be refreshed and ready from having that week off.”

Batley run in 15 tries against Hunslet ARLFC in the fourth round of the Challenge Cup last weekend and Lingard believes that has helped the “confidence” of the squad going into the game against the league leaders.

He said: “It is a big game. It is a slightly different proposition to what we faced at the weekend and we know that.

“But the win at the weekend does show that we are clicking now offensively and it has given us a bit of confidence going into this game against Featherstone.”

Lingard has reported no injury concerns ahead of the highly anticipated contest and insists everyone is “raring to go.”