WORKINGTON coach Leon Pryce has described his side’s clash with Oldham at the Vestacare Stadium tomorrow (Sunday) as a finely-balanced ’50-50 game’.
“They don’t come much tougher than Oldham away,”
said the former Bradford Bulls star who played alongside Scott Naylor at Odsal.
They have a high regard of each other and high respect is clearly mutual.
Naylor on Pryce:
“He did a fantastic job in his first year as a coach and took Workington to within 40 minutes of promotion.”
Pryce on Naylor:
“He is a very, very angry man. He needs to smile now and again. Joking apart, he is a very good coach, astute, has his side well-drilled. I’m 100 per cent sure Oldham will be in the top three at the very least.”
The OuRLeague app interviewed Pryce, having chosen Oldham v Town as their Betfred League 1 team of the week.
He picked out Richie Hawkyard as the Roughyeds player to watch and named his own star man as half-back Jamie Doran, Town vice-captain and a former captain of the Wigan Warriors Academy squad.
Of Hawkyard, he said:
“He’s been consistently good for a number of years. He runs the ball strongly, he’s difficult to stop and he likes to scoot from dummy half.
“We’ll be watching for him.”
He added:
“We’ve signed some good players; had some big wins (last year) and we’re moving in the right direction.
“I’m expecting a tough, close, physical game. It’s 50-50, but it’s always good for confidence to get that first win and we’ll be going for it.”
Town’s 19-man squad includes centre James Worthington, a youngster from Wigan Warriors who was signed on a month’s loan on Thursday.
He links up with another Warriors loan man, Caine Barnes, but there is no room in the 19 for full-back Ryan Fieldhouse, who has a shoulder injury, or newly-signed Welsh prop Sam Hopkins, who is unavailable for this one.
The squad still has loads of experience, however, and includes the likes of Oliver Wilkes, Colton Roche, Sean Penkywicz, Karl Ostrom,Tyller Danny Tickle and Carl Forber.
TOWN (from): Oliver Wilkes, Jamie Doran, Tom Curwen, Andrew Dawson, Colton Roche, Caine Barnes, Sean Penkywicz, Karl Olstrom, Reiss Butterworth, Gordon Maudling, Danny Tickle, Carl Forber, Stevie Scholey, Jonathon Walsh, Perry Singleton, Elliott Miller, James Worthington, Scott Rooke, Tyller Mellor.
Oldham’s 19 will be announced later today, following this morning’s Captain’s Run.
