FIVE days to go . . . and Stu Littler has confirmed that tearaway forward Jordan Andrade will be up for selection when Roughyeds go head-to-head with new club Cornwall RLFC at the Vestacare Stadium on Sunday.
In a history-making game, Cornwall will make their first visit to Oldham after displaying what head coach Neil Kelly said were “many positives” in their opening three defeats at North Wales Crusaders, at home to Midlands Hurricanes and then at Doncaster.
Their first home game at the Memorial Ground in Penryn attracted a crowd of more than 1,400.
They have a dual-reg agreement with Bradford Bulls with which they welcomed Odsal trio Coby Nichol, Joe Burton and Jay Myers into their squad to face Doncaster where they lost 52-16.
Kelly, who is looking to strengthen his squad all the time, said:
“We’ve got a decent team, but you don’t achieve anything with a team; you achieve it with a squad.”
In the Oldham camp, powerhouse prop Andrade, a Jamaica international who is hoping to play in the World Cup later in the year, will be available to go into the selection ring after missing the Rochdale Hornets derby because of his honeymoon, which was pre-booked and which the club was aware of before he signed.
However, half-back Dave Hewitt suffered a recurrence of hip trouble, which forced his withdrawal from the derby in the second half.
He will be assessed by the club’s medical team at training tonight (Tuesday).
Second-row Jason Muranka, concussed in pre-season and still to play his first league game, had his latest scan last Sunday. Results are awaited, but as he hasn’t played for so long he will need a week or two of full training before he is available for selection.
Commenting on the Rochdale game, Littler said:
“We didn’t complete enough sets and made too many errors with ball in hand and early in sets . . . like twice on tackle zero and twice on tackle two, both in good-ball positions.
“Their substitutions off the bench made a big difference, but I thought we were the better side overall in the first half and at half-time (12-12) it was there for the taking.
“We let ourselves down a bit in the second half when Penkywicz and Chase caused us a lot of trouble. Rochdale grabbed the initiative and we struggled to get it back.
“We are still a work in progress, but with only 11 teams in the division there isn’t much room for manoeuvre so we have to smarten up – and smarten up quickly.”
It all starts again at the Vestacare Stadium on Sunday when Littler and his men will be hoping to build on their 18-try performance in their last home game which resulted in a 100-4 win against West Wales Raiders.
