Aston demands ruthlessness

Sheffield coach Mark Aston saw his side secure an impressive 48-28 win at Halifax last week and wants another standout performance against Whitehaven, who currently sit bottom of the Championship Shield table.

“It’s alright going to Halifax and getting the result but then coming home and not performing against Whitehaven – it’s something we’ve spoken about,” he said.

“I think we’ve got the hunger and desire now. We’ve talked about writing our own story over the next nine weeks.

“Whitehaven are going to be desperate. They can play and they’re dangerous, no doubt about it. We need to make sure we’re respectful, turn up and do the job that we’re capable of doing.”

Despite being Halifax by 20 points, Aston still sees room for improvement.

“It was a good win. It wasn’t an 80-minute performance by a long stretch but to go there and score 48 points… They scored 60-odd points against us at their place so we wanted to put that right, and I think we did.

“It’s certainly different to six/eight weeks ago. We know now we can compete and play. The two French guys have certainly added something and the other players have upped the ante.

“I’ve said to them all along it’s not about ability, it’s about mental attitude and the mental attitude has certainly changed. Training has been a breath of fresh air.

“A coach should be there to fine tune little things and hopefully we can fine tune a few more little things this week and carry on that momentum we’ve got.”