PAUL Crarey expects the challenge posed by Toulouse Olympique to be another step up from what Barrow Raiders experienced against another of the Betfred Championship’s full-time teams last weekend.

The Raiders put in an encouraging display in the 20-4 defeat at home to Widnes Vikings and head coach Crarey saw plenty of aspects from his side they can take into future games against the teams at the top end of the division.

However, he is wary of the danger posed by the south-western French side, who made the rest of the Championship sit up and take notice with a 46-16 win at home to title favourites Toronto Wolfpack last Saturday.

That is not to mention individuals such as full-back Mark Kheirallah, stand-off Jonathon Ford, second row Rhys Curran and ex-Barrow hooker Dean Parata.

And Crarey is in no doubt his side will have to be at their very best to build on the positives of their last game.

“They just get you from anywhere,” said Crarey.

“I watched them against Swinton and they were so comfortable it was unbelievable.

“When Swinton scored, they just upped the ante and scored themselves.

“You’ve got Kheirallah, who is probably one of the best full-backs outside of Super League and when he wants to, he’ll score.

“Ford can take the game by the scruff of the neck at any time if you give him a sniff, and they’ve got Dean Parata around the ruck who is very quick and scoring almost every week.”

He added: “Hopefully it will rain all week when we go over there, but the logistics are a challenge themselves.”

Those challenges include several of the players having to get on the team bus at 5am tomorrow morning for the trip to the airport having only just come off working a night shift and not having much sleep until they arrive in France that afternoon.

It means the Raiders will not be able to have a team run before taking on Toulouse on Saturday and Crarey wants everyone to understand how tough it is for the part-time teams to compete on these overseas trips.

“You don’t feel right over there and there are not many teams who go over there and get a result,” said Crarey. “Widnes are one, but Toronto have bitten the bullet by a massive scoreline – and they’re spending millions of dollars on a team.

“We’re not making excuses before we go, but everyone has got to understand these full-time teams are just better than you and we’ve got to fight for our lives to compete with them.”