IT isn’t every day fans get the chance to hear the views of our club’s owner, chairman and chief executive Chris Hamilton, but full marks to Kasey Smith, who does an excellent interview with him on the club’s latest official podcast.
Kasey, host of the official @Roughyeds podcast ‘Talking Yeds’, talks exclusively to Chris about the club, its future, recruitment, stadium plans, off-field developments, rugby league’s financial problems and much, much more.
You can listen here and it’s a MUST for all supporters if you want to know, from the very top, where our club stands on various issues relating to club, team and the game we all love and respect for its honesty and integrity.
Preparations continue, meanwhile, for tomorrow’s (Sunday’s) big game against second-placed North Wales Crusaders at the Vestacare Stadium, kick-off 3pm.
Please note that there isn’t a curtain-raiser because of school holidays so turnstiles open at 2pm with usual admission prices applicable, ranging from FREE for under-16s standing to £16 for adults who wish to sit.
We currently stand in seventh place in Betfred League One – one place outside the play-off qualifiers – and last night’s surprise 24-0 home defeat for sixth-placed Hunslet by Midlands Hurricanes, their second loss in a row, means we are eight points behind them with two games in hand and the prospect of going head to head with them at the Vestacare Stadium on the last day of the regular season.
For now, though, all our thoughts are on the Crusaders and what their coach, Anthony Murray, a former Oldham player, might have in store for us. Our performances, and consequently our results, haven’t gone as we had hoped and expected this year, but we had a good 38-0 win at West Wales Raiders last week in wet and windy conditions which made good, open rugby difficult to say the least.
Crusaders are going for their fifth win in a row and are striving to build momentum and to cement their place as top team in the play-off five, while we need a home win to give our terrific fans something to cheer about.
Coach Stuart Littler said:
“When beaten in Colwyn Bay we showed glimpses of what we can do against them, but we must come up with an 80-minute performance. We need that, and consistency, to give ourselves a real chance. We need a good start, too.
“We do our homework on all our opponents and we know what we need to do. On top of that there are other reasons why we should do well individually and collectively, whether it be pride in the jersey, winning pay, contracts for next year or competition for places.
“It’s all there and we need to put our best foot forward and get the job done.”
When beaten in North Wales, the damage was done by the powerful finishing of left wing Rob Massam and his centre Gav Rodden. In last week’s 36-26 win against Hunslet, Rodden was back in the second-row and all the plaudits went to replacement forward Brad Brennan.
+ There will be a large Oldham Council presence at the game, headed by the Mayor, Councillor Elaine Garry and the deputy leader, Councillor Elaine Taylor, who has the Council portfolio for sport.
+ Several former players will receive personalised Heritage certificates on the pitch at half-time, but the latest information we have is that Bob Mordell may be forced to abandon his plans to travel from London because of problems with his car and current uncertainty on the railways.
