Viva Dewsbury! Rams ‘can’t wait’ for Barrow Raiders test as players return from Las Vegas ‘life experience’
Dewsbury Rams head coach Paul March has said he “can’t wait” for his players to “test themselves” against Barrow Raiders this weekend, with four members of his squad returning from a “life experience” in Las Vegas.
Craig McShane, Jack McShane, Louie Walker and Harvey Roberts all flew to America for the Vegas Rugby League 9s competition, finishing third, as the sport took over Sin City at the end of February.
Now with all four back, and “fully fit”, the Rams, who did not play last weekend, are ready to welcome Barrow to FLAIR Stadium this Sunday, March 8 (kick off 2pm) for a Round 6 Championship contest, with both sides having identical league records with three wins and one defeat in their opening four games.
March told the Reporter Series: “It was a life experience for those lads and an experience they will never forget.
“They have come back fully fit and the week off also gave players like Jacob Bateman time to get fully fit too, so he will feature this weekend.
“We are in a good place and we can’t wait to test ourselves against an established Championship side.”
The Raiders have the meanest defence so far in the Championship, with only 26 points being conceded across their four games so far.
Asked if he thought it could be a tight contest this weekend with the Cumbrians, March replied:
“I think it will be a tight game anyway with the condition of the field. It is going to be a forward battle and Paul Crarey has them playing to their strengths all the time.
“They have got some big fellas and they have got speed outside with Ritson (Tee) on one of the wings, so we have to be on our guards.
“This game is about where we are standards-wise. The last game against Goole, I thought all the effort was there, we were just a bit unlucky not to win. But we can’t let that derail us because we want to test ourselves against the best and Barrow are one of the top teams in the division.”
On the Rams start to the season and the team’s goals, March said:
“The aim is to make sure we finish as high as we did last year or even go one further. We have set ourselves up nicely but we have some tough games coming up.
“If we are going to compete then we will have to compete in the right areas - the effort areas. We can’t be out-enthused and it’s pleasing that we haven’t been out-enthused or out-efforted in games this season, apart from at Oldham.”