Dewsbury Rams v Batley Bulldogs preview: Mark Moxon aiming to claim Heavy Woollen ‘bragging rights’ in Good Friday derby

It is a fixture which the Bulldogs have dominated in recent seasons, claiming seven victories out of the previous eight league meetings.

And head coach Moxon is aiming to add another one to the list as they look for their first Championship win of the season following defeat in round one at home to Featherstone Rovers.

He said: “It is a massive fixture. We want to make the fans proud and give them the bragging rights for the first half of the year. We will be doing our best to get the victory on the board.

“It is always the same. It is going to be a tough game. Derbies always are. At Dewsbury it is a small, tight little ground.

“It is going to be a war of attrition so we are expecting a tough game. But we will be ready and the boys will give 100 per cent as they always do.”

The Bulldogs enter the game after an encouraging display against Super League outfit Castleford Tigers in last Saturday’s Challenge Cup defeat.

“I was really pleased with how the boys played,” Moxon said. “We need to take that into the Championship now and get our first win on the board next week.

“It was a great atmosphere and a great crowd. We want more afternoons like that up here. I’d ask the fans to come up and support the lads this year because they give 100 per cent every single week and it’s a proud bunch of players who will give good value for money.

“But Dewsbury is a huge game for us now. We haven’t had time to review the Castleford game so I threw it onto the group chat for them to look at in their own time as I wanted to focus on Dewsbury.

“We need to get our first win on the board on Friday.”

Asked if Dewsbury’s recent schedule, in which they have only played one competitive game in six weeks, could help the Bulldogs, Moxon replied:

“It can kind of work two ways. They’ve had a week off this week as well. They’ve had a break, then a game, then another break again. So they can be fresh and be bouncing and ready to go.

“Or they could be a little bit rusty. We’re certainly not rusty. We’re a little bit bruised and a little bit battered but we are certainly not rusty and by Friday we will have a team up and ready to go.”