DARREN Carter enjoyed the chance to get back out on the training ground after taking charge of the first Furness Raiders session of the season.

The team kick off the 2017/18 College Rugby League campaign away to Pontefract next Wednesday and are aiming to build on a successful first year.

Carter will take more of a background role this season due to work commitments, with Barrow Raiders prop Joe Bullock stepping up from overseeing the under-16s elite squad to Furness’ head coach.

But with Bullock away at the League One end-of-season awards night, the former Barrow stand-off put the team through their paces ahead of the season getting under way and was impressed with the standard.

“We were really pleased and it was a great turn-out,” said Carter. “I took the session and I’ve been away from the game with work, but I really enjoyed it and I got a bit of a buzz from it.

“There were a lot of kids come in who are new to it and some of them looked really good as well.

“We’ve made it a little bit more professional and it was a really good session.”

Those changes designed to mirror the professional set-up include Paddy Maher returning as strength and conditioning coach, and recently-appointed first-team physio Martin Williams joining the set-up as well.

In total, Furness have a squad of 32 players for the coming season, with those still involved from last year joined by a large number stepping up from under-16s level.

And there are likely to be plenty of opportunities to impress in the opening weeks.

“We’ve picked a big squad because there are a lot of games and the commitment is quite big with getting out from college and work,” said Carter.

“There were so many good young players as well, so it was hard to choose and we’ve brought a big number of the 16 and 17-year-olds in this year.

“We’re going to be a bit disjointed for the next few weeks because there are some county games and Dalton under-16s still have some fixtures to fulfil, so we’re not going to be playing their players in the first couple of games.

“But the future is looking very good and I was really impressed with the young kids who have come up.”