Hornets
2012 SquadAfter a much deserved break, the players and staff are just a week away from returning for pre-season training in preparation for the 2012 season.
Excitement seems to be high amongst the players, and from the conversations that
I have had with a few of the lads, it seems that there is a feeling of hunger already. Obviously we were all disappointed not to achieve promotion last season, but we will all return to Spotland with a positive frame of mind for our Official Squad meeting on Wednesday 23rd November.
I am anticipating a really interesting evening, with 20+ new faces likely to be in attendance, and I'm sure the new faces will keep the established players on their toes, which can only be a good thing for when we start our activities.
Names to keep an eye out for in 2012 will be:
Loughead (FB), Knowles (W), West (C), Taylor (W), Duffy (HB), Chadwick (HB), Moore (FR), Brown (H), Lucas (FR), Jones-Lake (BR), Reid (BR), Schofield (BR), Hudson (H), Giles (W), Agbo (FR), Johnson (FB), Devlin (HB), Clarke (FR)
This pre-season, is likely to be different, in terms of what we have done in pre-season in 2009/2010 and 2010/2011, with a much larger group and with the likelyhood of us running an Under 23's squad in 2012, I have had to consider the best way of moving the club forward.
I strongly believe that for Hornets to take the next step, we have to build that bridge between Super League U20's, the local amateur game and our own First Team Squad, in order to develop our own players in the short and long term. There are so many benefits to this, non more so that creating a pathway for young players to re-enter the game, after they may have felt like their opportunity had passed.
It is with this in mind that I have been heavily involved over the past few months in scouting young players who will come and join Hornets with a view to impressing myself, Houghy and Rammy, in our pre-season friendly fixtures. I currently have 16 players, including 5 from Rochdale, that will be involved in our games against Rochdale Town Team, Oldham and Keighley, throughout December, January and February.
We have also had another friendly requests from a Summer Conference side and also a Super League side, both of which are currently being looked at in terms of venues and dates available. I hope to have some news on these soon.
In terms of the First Team Squad, I believe we are in very good shape and despite not having a large number of players, I am delighted to say that I managed to retain everybody that I wanted to keep. I also managed to pick up signatures of a handful of players that I feel will definately add pace and agility to the team.
The current squad is as follows:
Paul O'Connor, Jonny Leather, Dean Gorton, Casey Mayberry, Dale Bloomfield, Paul Crook, Steven Roper, John Cookson, Phil Wood, Adam Bowman, Dayne Donoghue, Mark Hobson, Gary Middlehurst, Steve McDermot, Danny Ekis, Dave Newton, Chris Hough, Anthony Stewart
I am also in the process of finalising the details with three more outside back's, as well as two more front row forwards, all players having had extensive experience at this level.
As soon as the ink is dry on the contracts, I will be delighted to let all of our fans know the names of these targets, but for now, I'll keep those card's close to my chest!
Stanky
Coach
Rochdale Hornets
"Bringing Fans, Club and Community together".
OHLC is proud to partner Rochdale Hornets
www.hornetsrugbyleague.co.uk
