Jukes calls for togetherness at Leigh

Leigh coach Neil Jukes has acknowledged that his team did not stick to their pre-match game plans when they lost away to Batley on Sunday.

The Centurions were overcome 24-22 by John Kear’s competitive Bulldogs team, who offered nothing surprising to his players, according to Jukes.

“There were no surprises whatsoever,” he told the Leigh Observer.

“We spoke about defending their good ball, their short side plays and their kicks were a big danger and those two areas hurt us throughout and that’s what’s probably most disappointing.

“I thought in the first half we didn’t do ourselves justice with the ball. We came up with some soft plays and didn’t kick well enough.

“It was the simple things we needed to address and then straight after half-time we put in something like nine completed sets from 11.

“Our first five sets were particularly positive and we went ten points up, up the hill, against the wind. Then in the last 20, we just didn’t continue what we did in that first 20 of the second half.

“All of a sudden we were on the back of four penalties, again some soft errors and we gave them field position and we said that if they got in that last thirty or forty, they would always kick it up to Rangi and they created a lot of pressure on the back of that, so yes, disappointed.

Disappointed because I think it’s the simple things that we didn’t do great. We’ve got to work together.”