Halifax aim to put cup exit behind them

Richard Marshall wants Halifax to put the disappointment of going out of the Challenge Cup behind them when they return to Championship action this weekend.

Halifax put up a spirited show at Featherstone in last week’s sixth round tie, eventually going down 24-12, but Marshall has urged his players to bounce back at home to Rochdale on Sunday.

“You can’t assume anything in rugby league and certainly not against Rochdale – I know they haven’t got form at the moment, but they’ve certainly got some key players that offer real threats,” said Marshall.

“They’re a strong team that have beaten Featherstone and Bradford this season and if they have been losing they’ve not been losing by huge scorelines.

“They’ll be looking to ruffle our feathers and get under our skin – we must be better than we were last week in that department, with our discipline and defensively.

“We’ve had a good week so far – it’ll have been ten days since we last played and we’ll hopefully bring a couple of players back in the team that’ll add something to us.

“Our motivator is to be better than we were last week, we put the opposition out of the equations. We know if we can play to our strengths, be organised and work as a team we can beat anyone in the competition.

“It’s our last home game for a while due to our pitch being relaid, so it’d be good to get a final win at home before we go on our travels.”

Marshall has boosted his squad ahead of the weekend with the signing of Brandon Douglas from Castleford Tigers on a loan deal until the end of the season.

A prop or second row forward, Brandon bolsters a Fax pack still down on troops following the departure of Luke Ambler earlier this month.

“Brandon was brought to my attention by our head of youth, Martin Gonzalez, a while back as a very good prospect,” added Marshall.

“He played very well in both matches against us this season – particularly the fixture here at The Shay. A couple of the senior players mentioned it after the game. Brandon will add more strike to our already strong pack.”