Naylor: Pitch excuses are a myth

Scott Naylor has rubbished suggestions that rugby league matches can be won or lost on issues such as the size and quality of pitches.

As Oldham get ready to step into the unknown when they play Batley at the Manchester Regional Athletics Centre on Sunday, the Roughyeds boss will tell his players to just get on with it.

“A pitch is a pitch – I don’t get all the talk these days about flat pitches, sloping pitches, wide pitches, narrow pitches, home games and away games,” said Naylor.

“I played for 15 years at grounds all over the country and we never saw an opponent’s pitch, stadium or club environment as an obstacle to be overcome. These days it’s crept in, and the sooner we get rid of it the better.

“You don’t lose a game because of the pitch – you lose because you didn’t play well.

“We didn’t play well at Batley in March or in London last time out, but we’ve got three big games coming up now and we need to correct the small things we did wrong in London and go into the Batley match full of confidence and self-belief.

“They’ve only won once since they beat us and they’re certainly not the side that finished in the top four last year.”