Dewsbury growing in self-belief, says Kelly

Dewsbury boss Neil Kelly says his side are growing in self-belief as they sit in the Championship top four after three games.

The Rams easily despatched of Rochdale on Monday night, which followed their opening day victory against Sheffield and a narrow loss against early pace setters London Broncos.

It’s a far cry from last season, when under Glenn Morrison, Dewsbury lost their first eight games before the arrival of Kelly sparked a dramatic turnaround.

Kelly said: “Their self-esteem is growing. They’re no longer going to be looking over their shoulder in the 9th/10th/11 positions.
“I’d like them to consider that they are a mid-table side and walked about that pre-season, but it’s alright me saying it, they’ve got to believe it and prove it in their performances.”

Kelly will have been impressed with their first half performance at Spotland, going in 32-0 up at half time before the Hornets rallied after the break with the game already won for the Rams.

Perhaps even more impressively, is that Dewsbury did that without star half-back Gareth Moore, which meant back-rower Michael Knowles had to fill in at scrum half.

Kelly added: “The loss of Gareth posed a challenge for us, but I think Michael has come in superbly well.

“He had been struggling with a leg injury and it was touch and go, but we made the decision to play him.

“We brought him off after 50 minutes when it was obvious the game was won, but it’s nice to have someone like Dom Speakman who can play nine and seven or six to come in.

“We’re building a good squad that we can create a good team from within it.

“We put in an all-round game performance and I’m pleased with that.”