Newcastle v Batley preview: Bulldogs ‘desperate’ to go deep in 1895 Cup

The Bulldogs make the trip to the north-east on the back of a heartbreaking last-gasp drop-goal defeat at Salford in the Championship.

And Ford knows that his side are in for a test against a Newcastle outfit who have an eye-catching partnership with Super League new-boys York Knights.

Ford told the Reporter Series: “We got what we deserved at Salford. I was thoroughly disappointed to lose the game but I was also disappointed with large parts of our performance.

“The first two sets pretty much epitomised the game. They rolled us 55 metres, dished us up and then we got our kick charged down and they scored. We knew Salford would be a stronger team than what people think they are but I know we are a much better team than what we displayed.

“Some of the tackles we ran past and the lack of effort to win collisions, I just didn’t see coming. There were some tough conversations at training on Tuesday and training will be full-on all week and it will stay that way until I am happy with how we are defending.”

He added: “Newcastle are a completely different animal from previous years. They are closely linked to York and, therefore, can - and have - been fielding a full-time team that trains over in York and compares like a Super League team.

“When they play you can see that they are really athletic, have lots of leg speed and they are good in contact. But do you know what, brilliant, because we were rubbish in contact (last week).

“We will be testing ourselves against a side that is based around physicality so let’s aim at demonstrating our improvements this week against a good team.”

Ford came agonisingly close to lifting the 1895 Cup trophy when he was head coach at York, only for his side to be defeated 41-34 by Featherstone Rovers in the 2021 final.

Batley then got even closer in the 2023 showpiece event only to be edged out by Halifax Panthers, 12-10.

Can Ford and the Bulldogs both go one better in 2026?

“We are just trying to win every game we play,” he said. “So whatever competition it is is irrelevant - whether it’s the Challenge Cup, 1895 Cup or the league, we just want to turn up every week and try to win as many games as we can. Our fans deserve that as well.

“We want to win every game. There’s not an abundance of competitions and trophies that players at this level can win. There’s the league and the 1895 that Championship clubs are realistically shooting after.

“We want to progress in this competition desperately. But to do that we have got to perform a lot better than what we did on the weekend.”