Jowitt angered by ‘rubbish’ rumours

Earlier this week a newspaper report linked Dewsbury with an unnamed player who would raise a few eyebrows.

An angry Jowitt strongly denied the rumour, saying: “It’s a load of rubbish and I don’t know where it has come from,” but then joked: “Maybe it’s me and I’m playing!”

Jowitt has been considering another dual registration signing from Wakefield but it is one of the Wildcats’ young players and not a star man.

Having lost last week’s Northern Rail Cup semi-final at Leigh, the Rams must now turn their attentions to the battle against relegation, starting at home to York on Sunday in what Jowitt describes as ‘our biggest game of the season.’

Jowitt said: “Leigh have good players across the board and while realistically we may not be expected to beat them, we should be competitive.

“We managed to compete in the second half but we tend to fall asleep for the first 20 minutes and that’s frustrating.

“When we wake up, we are competing and causing sides problems, including Leigh and Featherstone, but the side is young and lacks maturity.

“Against Leigh, we only had the ball 12 times in the first half. We dropped it four times and Leigh scored on the back of those mistakes. We also handed them three penalties for holding down on the fifth and last tackle.

“That gave Leigh seven opportunities and, again, the majority of their tries came from kicks.”

Three players who were unavailable for the cup tie come into contention for Sunday’s vital clash.

Powerful prop James Walker has completed his five-match ban while dual-registration men Elliott Hodgson and French international William Barthau, also come into the reckoning.

Dewsbury lost 30-26 at York on May 1 and cannot afford a repeat display as they bid to pull clear of the relegation zone.

The Rams are third-bottom, level on 10 points with York and one ahead of Toulouse, who are exempt from the drop this season and Jowitt is fully aware of the importance of Sunday’s game, adding: “This is a must-win game.

“Although I consider all our league matches to be must-win, this is certainly our biggest of the season.”

The good news for Dewsbury is that victory over the Knights on Sunday would be enough to move them out of the bottom three as Hunslet, who are just two points above them, do not play this weekend.

Dewsbury’s destiny is still very much in their hands as five of their remaining eight matches are at home. Hunslet visit Tetley’s Stadium on August 14 a week after the Rams travel to France for another crucial game against Toulouse.

World Cup inspection team visit Rams: Page 66.