Injury woes continue for Batley Bulldogs ahead of Swinton Lions trip
Batley Bulldogs are set to be without a trio of key players for the remainder of the season as they look to end a five-game losing streak at Swinton Lions this Sunday, August 2 (kick off 2pm).
Head coach James Ford has confirmed that Josh Woods, Lucas Walshaw and Liam Kirk will all be “probably” sidelined for the Bulldogs’ last five matches of 2026.
However, the enforced absences could present an opportunity for the younger players at the club to get some valuable minutes.
Asked how the injury situation was at Mount Pleasant, Ford replied: “It’s terrible. Josh Woods has broken his fibula so he’s done for the season. Kirky is probably done for the season, and Lucas Walshaw is done for the season.
“What it does, however, is force my hand. I did say I wanted to play some of the younger players and put them out and let them play and grow. Sometimes when you have 25 or 26 players you can hide behind that.
“I feel there is a positive in that they are going to play. They need to play to improve and here is the opportunity.”
Batley head to Heywood Road on the back of yet another narrow defeat, with Doncaster coming out on top 22-10 last Friday night, meaning their last three losses have been deficits of just 12, four and six points.
“It was a really close game,” Ford reflected. “We were coming into the last ten minutes and it was 16-10 and we created a couple of half opportunities and if we’d have got one then it would have been an incredibly exciting finish to the game.”
On how his side have been competitive despite the run of defeats, he added: “It is something that I have spoken with the players about. If you look at our results across the season we have handled ourselves pretty well on a consistent basis. Obviously there have been one or two scorelines that have gotten away from us, but when you look at the context of playing against full-time teams and stuff, there is some mitigation for that.
“I don’t think we are far away from being a really good team. We could have beaten Oldham at Dewsbury, the best team lost. The game was in the balance against Doncaster, and we should have beaten them at home.
“I feel like we have come an awfully long way this year. The core of the team is really young and if we can keep them together and add the right bits and pieces around them then I think we can have a really exciting couple of years.”
On this Sunday’s opponents, who have lost their last four outings, Ford said: “Swinton are a decent team with some good individuals. Samy Kibula is an handful, Gav Rodden is as quick as any back-rower in the division, and the full-back Louie Roberts is a very talented young player.
“They have got some threat and they competed really well against a full-time team in Newcastle. We know that we will need to have the same fight and guts on display as we did against Oldham twice and Doncaster to keep moving on our journey and improving on certain aspects of our defence.”