Skolars Director of Rugby mark Croston takes a look back at an eventful week in the world of Rugby League and looks forward to the coming weekend . . .
As expected, London was awarded a Super League licence for a further three years, which is great news for the sport, London RL and definitely the Skokars.
Making the long journey north to Cumbria on Saturday were two members of Harlequins SupercLeague squad, Lamont Bryan and Dave Williams. Alongside Ben Bolger and Rob Thomas we have fielded one, two or three of them almost every weekend this year.
They add some depth and experience to what is still a young yet emerging squad. They have been thoroughly professional and the partnership with Harlequins is enabling more London players to be tested at the highest level possible. Still, we weren’t quite good enough to match a strong Workington outfit who made us pay for an uncharacteristic error strewn opening. At 18-0 down Jaroslaw Obuchowski was held up millimetres from their line and we are all convinced we would have gone onto win if he had gone in for his fourth try in four games.
Jaroslaw has been one of our most improved players since joining the Co-operative Championship squad. He is a great example of the wealth of talent coming through our junior ranks. Joe Mbu and Paul Thorman launched our Elite Development Programme last week bringing together the most talented Skolars between 16 and 18. Joe tells me there will be many more players coming through to first grade year on year, which will help to deepen our homegrown pool of players. Good luck to:
Tuoyo Egodo (under 14)
Ben Cary (under 16)
Aita Kuniyoshi (under 16)
Jack Clover (under 16)
Jack Avery (under 16)
Theo Danko (under 16)
Sahid Kpaka (under 16)
Uzair Abbas (under 16)
Cameron Furlong (under 18)
Dion Chapman (under 18)
Louie Sutherland (under 18)
Iliess Macani (under 18)
Bradley Edwards (under 18)
We didn’t get the win we needed in Workington – and with Oldham winning convincingly, our play off hopes are almost gone.
However, we look to bounce back this weekend and the visit of Swinton gives us a perfect opportunity. Our home form has been good throughout the year so we are all looking forward to the visit of the league leaders.
We are also looking forward to our remaining fixtures and are fully focused on giving our loyal and faithful fans a lot more to cheer about.
