Doncaster travel to North Wales Crusaders on revenge mission

Halliday picked up the man-of-the-match award against the Hawks following a two-try display.

The former Dewsbury man has rediscovered the form which made him one of the standout performers in the second half of the 2021 campaign in recent weeks after finding himself out of favour at the start of the league campaign.

“To be honest, I didn’t play well in the pre-season games,” he admitted. “I was making errors and I was generally disappointed with the situation.

“I was told to use my feet more, come looking for the ball and try and find some gaps which I did last season. It’s going well and I’m enjoying my rugby.

“We had a good result last time out, to end what has been a bit of a mixed first half of the season, and hopefully we can build on that going forward starting with the game against North Wales.

“I think we all had higher expectations at the start of the season and we’ve probably lost games that we didn’t expect to do and we are hoping to put the record right in the return games starting with North Wales, who beat us 46-0 at home.

“We’ve had a bit of a break, though personally I prefer to be playing every week, and it’s given those players who were carrying knocks time to get over them. It has also given those almost ready to return from long-term injuries another couple of weeks to build up their fitness.

“When we get everyone fit and available we’ve got a strong-looking squad and there’s going to be competition for places which is always a good thing.”

North Wales recently lost their unbeaten home record against title rivals Keighley and also surprisingly lost at Hunslet last time out.

“It’s the first of four successive away games, which is not an ideal situation, but something we’ve no control over and hopefully we can pick up a few points,” he said.

“The top two might be a big ask but I certainly think we are capable of finishing in the top three.

"If we do then hopefully we can go one better than last season, losing in the play-off final.”