Brian McDermott praises skipper in victory and provides injury update
Brian McDermott praised his captain James Lockwood following Featherstone’s 30-12 victory over York at the LNER Community Stadium.
Monday Night Rugby League kicked off live on Premier Sports in York, with 3,602 in attendance for clash.
Rovers proved too much for the hosts, coming away with a 30-12 victory. Morgan Smith opened the scoring against his former club. Jack Bussey, Josh Hardcastle, Luke Briscoe and Craig Hall also crossed for the visitors.
James Glover and Will Jubb scoring for the hosts.
In his post-match interview on Premier Sports, the Rovers head coach said he was pleased with his side and their performance in their opening game of 2022, while York provided a tough test.
Brian McDermott satisfied with performance
“I thought it was a really good work out for us and I’m pleased with it,” he told Premier Sports.
“Every team has things to fix up early in the season and you want to get through those things that you need to work on as early as you can. While you want to win, you actually want to be exposed a little bit.
“York were a tough team and it was a contest for a long while. There were a couple of moments where I got a bit shaky. I thought if York get back into this with another try, this is going to be a bit scary for us.
“It was in that period where I thought we were really tough. There was a couple of moments where we started our sets three inches from our try line and really converted and finished right it down the bottom end of the field. That’s what the game is about during those tough periods.
“All in all, really pleased with it. We got the win, scored some tries and I thought it was a really tough game and got a decent work out.”
Featherstone captain impresses Brian McDermott
The former Leeds and Toronto boss was particularly impressed with his captain James Lockwood.
“The guy that really had an influence, especially during our shaky period, was Lockwood, our captain,” McDermott continued with Premier Sports.
“He played some tough stuff. He came up with a nice bit of subtle skill there for the try.
“Sometimes when you lose your way a little bit, where we start to get a bit offloady and a bit soft, we started to bounce around and look too cool with the ball. That’s when we got in trouble. I thought both starting front-rowers Lockwood and (Luke) Cooper really laid a marker down for our offensive game plan.”
Injury update
Featherstone fans will be hoping for good news later on in the week after Jesse Sene-Lefao left the field just five minutes into his debut.
The former Castleford man almost crossed for the game’s first try before a fantastic cover tackle from Matty Marsh prevented the Samoan international from crossing.
However, the incident led to Sene-Lefao’s injury that saw him leave the field with a dislocated shoulder.
“It’s a real shame. We lost Craig Kopczak last week in a warm up game with a knee and I think Jesse has dislocated his shoulder,” McDermott told Ross Fiddes.
“The early news is that it’s gone back in, but whenever it pops out it’s not a good thing. Something in there is stretched. I’m hoping it’s like a few weeks and he’ll get back onto the field. Fingers crossed.”
Featherstone return to action next Monday live on Premier Sports as they host Leigh Centurions.
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