By Ben Guzdek
Oldham RLFC will face Championship favourites Hull Kingston Rovers without dual-registration support.
Dual-registration is a popular arrangement in Rugby League where a player can be registered to play for two clubs. This was put into place in 2013 to help strengthen the game.
In this case, Oldham had made an arrangement with Huddersfield Giants to register Tyler Dickinson (prop) and the centre Sam Wood. But with the Giants now suffering from injuries, it is doubtful the Lancashire side will be able to feature the youngsters, who had settled into the club for the past few weeks after receiving some game-time.
Coach Scott Taylor spoke to the Oldham press team ahead of the match and said: “A lot of money has been made of the money Rovers have spent compared to what we’ve spent, but at the end of the day it’s all down to what happens on the pitch.”
Meanwhile, Tim Sheens and his Hull KR side have confirmed their team to face the Roughyeds. Three changes have been made as Liam Salter, Danny Addy and George Lawler were sidelined during this week’s training sessions.
In their place are Ben Cockayne, David Hodgson and George Milton, who all recently played for the reserves team against local rivals Hull FC.
Sheens spoke to Yorkshire Voice and said: “Danny Addy’s a big part of our structure and one of our main ball-players in the team. He’s been in our starting 13 in each of our three games, but James Donaldson will come in for him. He’s been working with Danny in the loose forward role and has been itching to start, so he’ll get his chance”.
Sheens also commented on the Roughyeds visit to KC Lightstream Stadium and said: “It’s fairly hard to understand form and how teams have been playing at this stage of the season because we’re only three games in and lots of teams have dual registration players who come in and out of the side.
“Oldham’s form has been steady and they’ve been unlucky not to win or get a draw from their last couple of games. They hit the goal post from a penalty from almost in front and I believe they did something similar the week before, so they’ve been there or thereabouts.
“They’re up for it each week, they’re big and strong and they’ve got a bit of talent there. They’ve got some good kids who have come in from other clubs and they’ve got a good kicking game.