AROUND about the same time as many school pupils across the country will have been sitting mock examinations for their GCSEs and A-levels, Paul Crarey has been putting his own students through preparations for an upcoming test.

They will sit that test this Sunday at Mount Pleasant, when the head coach will find out whether the months of toiling away running up and down the sand-dunes at Roanhead and the hill leading up to the cenotaph in Barrow Park, not to mention three tough friendlies against Oldham, Whitehaven and Wigan Warriors, will have been enough to earn a pass.

Should they do that against Batley Bulldogs in the first match of the 2019 Betfred Championship season, it will set the Raiders up well for further examinations they will face in an expanded, but no less competitive, 14-team division.

And Crarey is eager to see how much his side have learnt since walking back through the gates of Craven Park to start training last November.

“It was a like preparing for an exam – and the exam is at Batley,” said Crarey, reflecting on pre-season.

“The first week against Oldham was all about attitude and we didn’t turn up, and – even though we weren’t a million miles away – we got beaten.

“It wasn’t about winning, but it was about our desire, our principles and our kick chase, and we didn’t have any.

“We had a harsh video review and we came out against Whitehaven and fixed a lot of defence up, and then we came out against a strong Wigan side and put 18 points on them in the mud.”

As any pupil or teacher will tell you though, results in the mocks count for little when the time comes for the real exam.

Crarey has been in rugby league long enough to know it is the same for pre-season games as well. Indeed, he has seen Barrow teams blitz those matches in the past, only to falter when the league season begins.

So the emphasis this year was firmly on performances and getting the new signings integrated into the team’s structures and systems, with Crarey pleased with the improvements made from the loss to Oldham, via the win over Haven and last Saturday’s mud-splattered draw with Wigan.

“As a coach, you haven’t got to be suckered into wanting to win all of your friendlies, and patting yourself and your team on the back because it does you no good whatsoever,” said Crarey.

“The defeat against Oldham was good for them, but good for us as well because it was all about attitude.

“It’s about putting some balance and structure in place, adapting to conditions and integrating the PNG boys, who are going to be outstanding and I can see that.

“We’ve learnt it’s not all about win at all costs in pre-season, it’s about working hard, keeping everybody’s feet on the group, not being complacent and developing game by game.”

With the 2019 season now looming large, Crarey has sensed a renewed optimism about the Raiders’ propsects around Barrow, particularly with chairman Steve Neale and the board having brought some big sponsors on board.

“The town is behind us, people who haven’t sponsored the club for a long time are sponsoring us and we’ve got some big players in the town getting behind us,” said Crarey.

“It’s the first time in four years I’ve seen light at the end of the tunnel for this club to push forward and the time is now.”