ROUGHYEDS boss Stuart Littler has praised his players’ versatility in the win over London Skolars on Sunday.
With key men out, as well as an in-game injury to Gregg McNally, Littler was forced to switch his men around but, barring a 15-minute flurry from London Skolars in the second half, they adapted well.
“There were a lot of boys chopping and changing positions today. Pat Ah Van has gone from wing, to middle and then back to wing. George Hirst, on his debut, carried strong and looked really good throughout the game,”
said Littler.
“Jordan Paga scored four tries while flipping between half and full-back, too. In terms of injuries, we’re low on bodies at the moment, but the beauty with that is we’ve got versatility within our squad where the lads don’t just fill in, but are very competent and have an impact in whatever position they play.”
Littler also lauded Roughyeds resilience after they withstood a tough period in which Skolars scored two tries on the back of four Oldham errors, while he acknowledged they can be better.
“The game flipped a little bit and, great credit to London, they came out of the blocks and dug in at the start of the second half where we had a fifteen minute blip ourselves," he said.
“I say it every week, if you send enough invites out someone turns up to the party. But credit where credit is due - I’ve been told I’ve got to smile a bit more - we have won and we’ve got to embrace that.
“Generally, I’m happy with the 80 minute performance, but we’ve still got stuff to work on. It’s early in the season and combinations are still being put together.
“I did think we were a lot better connected in our edge defence, so we are getting better with that and we have to keep striving to be better as the weeks go on.”
There is three week break before Roughyeds return to action against North Wales, which allows time to get men back fit
Last year’s Player of the Year, Emmerson Whittel, will also be back for the game on March 26 after serving the four-match ban he incurred during last year’s play-off defeat to Rochdale.
“We’ll get stronger in the coming weeks with Emmerson back into contention now. It will, no doubt, give a boost to the playing group and to the club as a whole,” he said.
“He’s in our leadership group for a reason and I’m expecting big things from Emmerson on that note.”
