Championship preview: Dewsbury v Featherstone (Sun 3.00pm)

Dewsbury Rams coach Glenn Morrison will check on the fitness of Jobe Murphy (ankle) and Callan Beckett (hamstring) before finalising his team for Sunday’s opening Kingstone Press Championship fixture against Featherstone Rovers.

Morrison said: “We’ve had a good pre-season, we’ve got some good games under our belt and we’re going into this match with a bit of confidence.

“With five teams getting relegated this year you don’t want to drop any points, and even a bonus point could be the difference between a top-eight finish and a relegation spot.”

He added: “Featherstone have got a new coach and some new players, but judging by their pre-season results they look like being the team to beat. We’ve got to make sure we’re ready to go come Sunday.”

New Featherstone coach John Bastian is without Matty Nicholson (knee) and Liam Walmsley (broken arm).

But Bastian remains confident ahead of the start of the new campaign.

Bastian said: “We’ve had some good results against some good quality teams in pre-season, but the real stuff starts this week.”