WARRIORS GO FOR HAT-TRICK OF WINS
With two wins behind them, Co-operative Rugby League Conference Midlands Premier division leaders Gloucestershire Warriors entertain Redditch Ravens at Chosen Hill this Saturday (kick off 2.30pm).
Having defeated Coventry Bears and Birmingham Bulldogs in their opening two games, the Ravens will provide a challenge of different proportions.
Redditch were promoted to the Midlands Premier division this season and enjoyed a creditable 22-22 draw against Leicester Phoenix in their opening game. However, they were brought down to earth with a massive bump last weekend being annihilated 122-0 by the Bears at home.
Warriors captain Ronnie Haines warned the side of complacency. “We haven’t played Redditch for a couple of years and so they are a bit of an unknown quantity. We know that they were short of numbers last week with many of their regulars unavailable and given the result, they will be out to restore their pride.”
“We need to pick up where we left off against Birmingham last week. Training has been going well and confidence is high. If we take what we are doing in training into the game, I’m sure we’ll get the win”.
The Warriors have only faced the Ravens once before, in 2006, when they recorded a club record 104-8 win. “We can’t set much store by that result”, added Haines. “We were playing well at the time and they were a relatively new club. We need to concentrate on our game and the result will look after itself. If we start getting into bad habits then we could come unstuck”.
Redditch are in the process of building a solid club off the field, based on working hard to introduce the game to local schools, breeding a culture of rugby league that will bear fruit in the years to come.
However, this weekend, the Warriors will be favoured to maintain their winning run and strengthen their position as league leaders.
“This division is so tight, anyone could beat anyone so we must be on our game every week. We’ll treat the Ravens with due respect, prepare properly and if we do that I am confident we have the talent and skills to take the points”, concluded Haines, who needs just half a dozen more games to record the highest number of appearances for the club in its 12 seasons.
“It will be a nice record to have,” said Haines. “But I’m looking more on the team performance on Saturday. That’s my focus at the moment.”
BANK HOLIDAY BONANZA
There is more rugby league at Chosen Hill over the Bank Holiday weekend as the venue will host the Southern Tri-Regional Championships on Monday 25 May (kick off 12noon).
Three regions, South West, West Midlands and London & South East, will compete in a round robin tournament of 50-minute matches, which are a trial for the South of England and Midlands squads that will be competing in next year’s Skanska Cup.
Before then, the South of England and the England Lionhearts team that will contest the Four Nations Championship later this summer will be chosen and players have the chance to force their way into contention for the representative games this summer. The winner of the Four Nations tournament will receive the Cheltenham Regency Cup inaugurated in 2002.
The Warriors play at Chosen Hill FP RFC, Brookfield Road, Churchdown and kick offs are 2.30pm.
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Chris Wilson
Media Manager, Gloucestershire Warriors RLFC
Tel: +44 (0)1684 850903
Mobile: + 44 (0)7905 931033
Email: gloswarriors2004@aol.com
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The Gloucestershire Rugby League is an organisation for local rugby league clubs in Gloucestershire. Our main activity currently is to promote rugby league through the County and give useful information about our sport to the public of Gloucestershire.
