Seibold wants Scorpions respect

South Wales coach Anthony Seibold is keen to rid his side of their “new boy” reputation and gain respect as they look to make progress in Championship 1.

The Australian, who has Scorpions to three wins in their first seven league games, admitted he was taken aback by the reaction to his side in recent games.

On his blog on the club’s official website, Seibold said: “We are a very competent team who have shown that we belong in this division in a short space of time, collectively we have worked hard and this has shown by our performances on the pitch.

“It was interesting from my perspective to note that after the past two games that I have had comments from match officials surprised at how well we play the game, how well drilled we are and how well we are competing in this competition.

“I find it very condescending to hear those comments after the game as in both cases they have sounded surprised. Why? What did they think we would be like before the game? A team of misfits? We have worked damn hard to compete and get to the stage where we are starting from scratch.”

After a good start to the season, they have fallen to narrow losses at Oldham (16-22) and Swinton (14-20) in recent weeks, but are looking to bounce back against high fliers Blackpool, who have won a club record 10 successive games, on Bank Holiday Monday.

Seibold added: “I hope we can go into each game this season without any preconceived ideas of who should win the game against the ‘new boys’ to the competition as I expect every coach and team would hope for.”