Dickens: Rovers focused on improving

Long serving Featherstone skipper Stuart Dickens says Rovers are focused as they look to go one step further than their Grand Final appearance last season.

Featherstone were the form side in the Championship for much of the season, as an early exit from the Northern Rail Cup forced them to turn their attentions to the league campaign.

Dropping just four points all season, Rovers were eventually beaten in a thrilling Grand Final by Halifax.

Dickens said: “You can’t expect results, but you can work towards them and that’s where our collective expectations lie. Last year was memorable for all sorts of well documented reasons.

“We lost Gareth Swift. We went through the season almost unbeaten and we did it in style. We reached a Grand Final, a game that was within our grasp but lost.

“We acquitted ourselves well in the Challenge Cup against Super League opposition. So what do we say to ourselves ‘we expect to better than that and win every game, beat a Super League team in the Cup and win the Grand Final? No we can’t.

“If we all look back at the way we performed last year as a team and as individuals, we all know that we can improve: and that’s where our expectations lie. We can realistically expect to improve our performances. As athletes that is what we are supposed to do, and you can be sure that’s what every other team in the competition will have done.”

Featherstone start their Northern Rail Cup campaign against Doncaster on Friday February 4th.