IF Emmerson Whittel is in the Oldham 17 for Sunday’s home game with derby rivals Rochdale Hornets at the Vestacare Stadium (3 pm kick-off), he will reach the milestone of 100 career games — always a big game for those who make it and one he will remember, win, lose or draw, for the rest of his life.
The second-row forward would love to remember hitting the century of games with a win, but it will be a tough encounter (Rochdale coach Matt Calland’s description) and fourth-placed Rochdale have shown their promotion intentions — they make no secret of that — by signing two loan players this week.
Joining them, and both in line for Sunday’s big derby, are young Warrington forward Jacob Gannon, a 20-year-old from Warrington Wolves, and winger Jy Hitchcox from Leigh Centurions, an Australian who returned to the club this week after playing two games for Hornets on a short-term loan earlier in the season.
This time he’s at Rochdale to the end of the season and chairman Andy Mazey has described the return of the former Castleford, Toulouse Olympique and Bradford finisher as a “massive coup” for the club.
Back to Whittel and his 99 career games up to now comprise 36 for Oldham; 16 for Keighley; 46 for Gloucester All Golds and one for Bradford Bulls.
In the Roughyeds jersey he made 24 appearances in our promotion season of 2019, including that never-to-be-forgotten Promotion Final against Newcastle Thunder, and then he went off to Australia where he played in Perth on the West Coast and then in Cairns,high up in Far North Queensland on the East Coast.
This year, he has played in 12 games for us up to now, making 36 in total, and he remains one of our most consistent performers.
Congratulations on the milestone achievement are offered in advance to ‘our Emmy’, who never really wanted to leave us in the first place and who was delighted to return to the club on his return from Australia.
You can buy match tickets on line or at the turnstiles for an important game for both clubs in terms of the play-offs.
Roughyeds are currently in seventh place, one outside the play-offs but they need to haul back a six-point deficit on the team immediately above them, Hunslet, in order to figure in the end-of-season five-team play-off.
The champions, currently looking like Keighley with 12 wins from 12 games, will go up automatically and the next five will compete in the play-offs. As of now, they are Swinton Lions, North Wales Crusaders and Rochdale Hornets, all on 18 points, and then Doncaster (16) and Hunslet, on thirteen.
Oldham have a game in hand on all those above them, but with only nine games left it will be a big ask to claw back the deficit on Hunslet, a big ask but certainly ‘do-able’.
Under-16s standing continue to go FREE and even a seat will cost them only £2. Other prices are as follows: Adults, standing £15, sitting £16; Concessions, standing £13, sitting £14; students, with ID, standing £4, sitting £5.
