AFTER a fortnight of turmoil off the pitch and with not being able to train or even name a side until Saturday it was so good that we put in such a polished performance to comfortably see off an in-form Hunslet team.

There was so much to be pleased about. The young players like Connor Terrill, Charlie Emslie and Ryan Johnston were exceptional and we had our X-factor players Hakim Miloudi and Tee Ritson return to torment the opposition.

Things are brightening up on the injury side and we should have four of our seven Covid absentees back in contention this weekend as they have not had any long-lasting symptoms whilst the other three need a little more time to get over the effects. Adam Walne should also return from a shoulder injury, Shane Toal from a foot problem and Gary Wheeler is probably only another week away with his calf strain. All in all the squad is starting to look very strong again and there could be some disappointed players when it comes to selection.

The RFL were considering extending the season now that the World Cup has been postponed to get in some of the games that have been lost but nothing concrete has been confirmed. We currently sit on top of the league and our view is that it is ours to lose. We just have to take one game at a time and hopefully we will be strong enough to stay undefeated.

With a restructure on the horizon, it is vitally important that we give ourselves the best opportunity to make strides in the game. There is a lot of nervousness amongst fellow clubs, but we have a really positive attitude and will continue to grasp opportunities as they arise.

Our crowds have continued to hold up and we are delighted that our average is still above 2,000. We have aimed to provide a day out and encourage the whole community to attend. Our mini raider sessions have proven very popular and the mini rugby sides have enjoyed being part of our curtain raisers. With our Ladies match being postponed at the weekend we were fortunate that Hindpool under 16s stepped in to provide the entertainment. We had over 600 fans in attendance before 1pm and it is great that these youngsters get to play in front of a much larger crowd than usual.

Paul Crarey and a few of our players attended a Hindpool mini coaching session as a small payback to their club and that was again very well received. We think that it is great that the links with the community clubs is a strong as ever.

We have been having daily summer camps throughout the holidays and there is still an opportunity to book your children onto the sessions with a couple more weeks to run.

Furness Raiders, our under 19 team, have resumed their preparations for the season and coach Dave Cairns has added to his off-field team with Steve Perry, Martin Aspinwall and Paul “Tadge” Taylor helping with the preparations and things have been going really well. My opening paragraph referred to how pleased we are with the progress of our youngsters at first team level and that pathway remains open for these kids to progress.