Kingstone Press Championship preview: Sheffield Eagles v Hunslet Hawks

Hunslet had a tough Challenge Cup game at University of Gloucestershire All Golds last week but coach Barry Eaton believes his side will be all the better for it.

““We prepared ourselves for a tough game down at Gloucester and we certainly paid them the respect they deserved,” he said.

“We knew they were going to challenge us with the ball in hand but we probably had a little too much power and pace for them but they certainly gave us a good test.

“It’s put us in good stead for the next couple of weeks because we’ve got a real tough period coming up. I was able to rotate the squad a little bit and give some players some game time that had not played much so far.

“The bulk of the squad have now got a real tough competitive game under their belts and they’re going to need it.

“We’ve got three massive games in eight days, I’d be very surprised if we were able to go with the same 17 in all three.

“Sheffield have only had one defeat and are right up there. We know we’re going to be in for a tough battle but we like a challenge and we hope we’ll be able to exploit some weaknesses in Sheffield’s game that will give us a chance.”