Rugby league: Dons' coach prepared for 'huge' game against Widnes
Doncaster RLFC’s Betfred Championship title credentials are expected to be tested when they face former Super League side Widnes Vikings at the Eco-Power Stadium on Sunday (3pm).
Widnes will arrive at a stadium where they claimed a hard-fought victory 12 months ago to the day, holding down second spot in the table after winning five of their six league games. Their only league loss this season was a 44-12 defeat away to unbeaten leaders, and title favourites, London Broncos in the capital on the opening day of the season.
“It’s a huge game because you know that they are one of the teams who are going to be up there at the end of the season along with the likes of London, Sheffield and Oldham,” said head coach Richard Horne. “We need to be beating those teams if we want to achieve what we set out to do at the start of the season.
“I watched a bit of their game when they played Goole at home the week before we played them but Goole will be the first to admit that they didn’t start well and they were 16 or 18 points down before they started to play.
“Tom Gilmore pulls the strings and kicks really well. Their middles (forwards) are going well and the team plays some really good rugby as well as defending well and scrambling for each other so we know it’s going to be a hard game.
Although he will be forced to change his back division with centre Brad Hey suffering a shoulder injury in the win over Goole, Horne is confident that they will again produce the goods.
“We know we’ve got pace in the side; we just need to use it at the right times,” he said. “I think sometimes we shift the ball just for shifting’s sake.”
Horne, who hinted he may make changes to his pack, will be checking on several players before naming his squad.
He said: “I thought we worked well with the middles being quick and mobile against Salford and I wanted us to try and do that against a bigger team. But we went away from the game plan against Goole at times.”
Concerned that the Dons allowed Goole back into the game after leading at half-time, Horne warns: “We can’t have periods during a game where our intensity drops because momentum in rugby is huge.
“Unlike last season when there were no easy games it’s a bit different this year as a result of the Championship and League One being amalgamated. We’ve spoken all season about having the right attitude and playing at the right tempo no matter who we are playing.”