Gallagher looking for Lions victory
Tommy Gallagher would like nothing better than to put one over Dewsbury Rams on Sunday.
Not just because it would put Swinton into the fifth round of the Carnegie Challenge Cup and raise the prospect of a lucrative tie against a Super League club.
The Lions loose forward is from Batley, just down the road from Dewsbury, and there is no love lost between the two sets of fans.
“There is a big rivalry between Batley and Dewsbury,” he said.
“When the draw was announced I was quite happy with it because as a Batley lad they are a team I’m not very fond of!”
Gallagher is back in contention for a place in the starting line up after recovering from a knee injury and believes this game against a team from the league above will be a test of just how far Swinton – unbeaten in Championship One – have come this season under coach Steve McCormack.
Gallagher said: “Steve said this week what a test it will be to see where we actually are and whether we are ready for this company.
“Our focus for this season is to get promoted and challenge ourselves week in week out and hopefully we will come away with a win.
“We plan each week for the game we are playing but this one is a bit of a bigger game against a team from the division above.
“There is definitely a gulf between the two leagues. They play against teams who probably train more often than us and are maybe fitter than us and it is a higher standard.
“But with the quality we have in our team it shouldn’t be too much of a step up.”
Gallagher says he is not surprised by Swinton’s seven game unbeaten start in Championship One but believes they still have to keep improving.
“We turn up for every game expecting to win,” he said. “In some games we have been exceptional for periods but we have still got a lot of work to do.
“We are conceding too many points but we are doing some good things in attack and scoring some good tries.
“There are definitely some things to work on.
“We are 100 percent so far so we are not doing too bad but we are not the finished article by any means.”
Scrum half Ian Watson is doubtful for Swinton while Neil Holland and Dean Thompson return from injury.
