Kingstone Press Championship Preview: Leigh Centurions v Sheffield Eagles

Leigh Centurions coach Paul Rowley was delighted his team came through with the win at Batley Bulldogs after a tough battle.

Looking ahead to the challenge of Sheffield Eagles he said: “Ninety per cent of the Sheffield team are full-time so whilst they don’t get branded a full-time outfit they pretty much are.

“They’ve got big aspirations they’re a well-run club and we’re expecting another tough battle as always.”

Mark Aston, the Sheffield Eagles coach was pleased with his side’s win over Whitehaven but there were question marks over their second half performance.

“We started off very strongly and probably were in total control in the first half,” he said. “In the second half, credit to them, they certainly had a dig and got back into the game.

“They’re not a bad team and are getting better but we dropped our standards and didn’t do what we were supposed to do. It was a little bit of a frustrating afternoon.

“Having asked them to start the game strongly they did that but then we dropped away and we’re coming into an area now when we need to be playing for 80 minutes and we’re still not.

“You want to be playing against the best and Leigh are obviously the best team. They are the benchmark and have some quality players right across the board. They’ve been the stand-out team this season.”