A FEW HOURS TO GO . . . and the countdown is nearly over. At 3pm this (Sunday) afternoon we start our Betfred League One campaign and our 25th Anniversary season with an intriguing game against Keighley Cougars at the Vestacare Stadium, kick-off 3pm.
There will be a big Australian involvement in the game, but at Oldham we are out-and-out English (well, almost) — and hugely proud of it.
We’ve a head coach from Lancashire (Leigh) and an assistant team boss from Yorkshire (Dewsbury) and of the 21 players named in Stu Littler’s initial squad for the game, 13 were born in Yorkshire, seven in Lancashire and one, centre Calvin Wellington, in Wales.
By way of comparison, Cougars chairman Mick O’Neill lived on Queensland’s Gold Coast for ten years and took out Australian citizenship, although emphasising his continued love of and loyalty to Keighley, Yorkshire, England and its cricket team, the Bronte moors, the Keighley people — and mushy peas !
To back up all that, he’s been awarded the MBE for his services to Rugby League, the Keighley community and local charities.
Unlike our own chairman Chris Hamilton, whose recent stay in hospital was NOT Covid-related, Keighley’s leader has been in hospital after testing positive for Covid. It goes without saying that Oldham RLFC wishes both club chairmen speedy recoveries and quick returns to their respective duties.
At Oldham, we don’t know what we would do without Chris — and the Cougars faithful will certainly speak in similar terms about Mick.
In a similar vein to his chairman, Cougars’ new Head of Rugby Andrew Henderson was born in Torquay and played in two World Cups for Scotland, but he was brought up on the Central Coast of New South Wales and speaks with a strong Australian accent.
Head coach Rhys Lovegrove can go further than that; he’s a thoroughbred Australian, although he has lived in England for several years, having played for Bradford Bulls, London Broncos and Hull KR before landing the Keighley job nearly three years ago.
On the field, big-name signing Jake Webster, a Kiwi, has played in the NRL, while another Big Cat in Cougar ranks, Branden Santi, is an Aussie of Italian descent, who grew up Down Under and famously captained the crack Australian Schoolboys side.
On top of all that, match referee James Vella comes from Sydney and one of his touch-judges, Clint Sharrad, also comes from Australia originally, although he has lived in this country for many years and has been refereeing and touch-judging in England for an equally long length of time.
Both teams bowed out of the Betfred Challenge Cup at the first hurdle, thus facing an unusually long off-season, described by Roughyeds vice-chairman John Roddy, in a tweet, as one of the longest-ever.
He and Roughyeds have coined a couple of slogans — one relating to today’s game and the other to the future.
Regarding today, the club is urging fans to: “Bring a mate and double the gate”.
Looking to the future, and its partnerships with other rugby league organisations and groups in the town, the club says it is: “Building the YEDS together” — a slogan that embodies the name of the new Supporters’ Group, that is already playing a key role in much of what is going on behind the scenes.
We face a new beginning and a fresh start with players who are mainly new to the club; a new head coach; a new vice-chairman; some new sponsors and a new fans’ group YEDS.
It all kicks off today — Mothers’ Day, the first day of British Summer Time and the day Oldham RLFC started a new chapter in the story of its 25-year commitment to the cause of Rugby League and the proud traditions of the town we love and treasure.
Hope to see you at the Vestacare Stadium this afternoon.
