Head coach Paul Crarey is pleased to see that training with Barrow Raiders has already had a positive effect on the amateur players who have been training with their squad.

Eight amateur players have been part of the Raiders’ pre-season friendlies against Oldham and North Wales Crusaders, as they try to earn a dual registration deal, although Barrow Island pair Sam Jones and Ben Garner sat out the latter.

That was because they were both involved with their parent club in their Challenge Cup first round tie against Rhondda Outlaws, in which they ran riot.

Garner scored four tries in the 84-6 rout of Island’s Welsh visitors, while Jones crossed the whitewash once himself on top of converting 12 of his team’s 15 tries, meaning the duo finished with 44 points between them.

Crarey said: “Training with us will definitely help them - I was speaking to Carl [McBain] and he was saying this is the fittest he’s been and that will help all the clubs because they’re there if we need them.

“It will also benefit them players training with our fellas in a quicker, controlled environment and then going back to play for their clubs.

“There’s no sort of animosity between the clubs and the players, so they can walk in and play for their clubs and they can also play for us, that’s the agreement.

“I looked at the result last week, and looked at the points scored, and Ben and Sam are good players anyway, so for them to get 40-odd points was absolutely outstanding, but the relationship we’ve built with the amateur clubs is really good. The longer they’re in our environment the more they’ll get out of the game and that’s beneficial for both the amateur game and the professional game.”