Championship preview: Barrow Raiders are ‘doing a Batley’ as ‘overachievers’ visit underperforming Bulldogs

Batley head into the Championship contest after four defeats from their last five games, where they have conceded 50 points on two occasions - including their most recent outing at fellow strugglers Sheffield Eagles last Friday night (50-18).

“It wasn’t a Batley performance,” a frustrated head coach, Mark Moxon, told the Reporter Series. “We have got some soul searching to do and we have got to find some reasons as to why we aren’t playing well at the moment.

“The result is one thing but not performing and playing as badly as we did is another thing. That’s what’s bothering me the most at the moment - the performance and the lack of accountability we are taking for each other.

“At the moment we are not playing well but we have got to stick together and find ways to put it right.”

And Moxon says there will be a focus on defence in their preparations for the Barrow game.

He said: “Our D was terrible on Friday. It was a really poor defensive performance. We’ll be doing some hard work in training because we have got to get to the bottom of that. And until we do we can’t move forward.

“We struggled coming out of yardage but that was because Sheffield defended a lot tougher than we did so we struggled to get out of our own end.

“It all boils down to desire and toughness and that will to dominate your opponent.”

The Raiders, meanwhile, are turning out to be the division’s surprise package after six wins from their opening eight games have left them in second place just two points behind leaders Halifax Panthers.

“They are doing a Batley,” Moxon admired. “They are overachieving, they are really together, they are really dogged and they are turning teams over. They can’t wait for the next Sunday to come around to have another crack at somebody else.

“That’s where we’ve been in the past but we’re certainly miles from that at the moment. We need to match that to give ourselves any chance whatsoever.”