Kingstone Press Championship preview: Whitehaven v Featherstone Rovers

Another coach who welcomed a weekend off is Whitehaven’s James Coyle.

“It couldn’t have come at a better time,” he said. “We were getting a bit light on numbers. We’ve got a thin squad anyway and with Widnes having their injury problems, it’s having a knock on effect with us.

“Featherstone are quite a big, physical side so it’s going to be tough. They’ve been one of the form teams over the past three or four seasons and they’ve got the nucleus of the same players and they play some good stuff.”

Props Jonny Walker and Richie Beaumont, on loan from Leigh, are included in the Whitehaven squad.

Andy Hay’s Featherstone Rovers side are coming off a good win at North Wales Crusaders in the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup.

“It was a good win for us,” he said. “North Wales aren’t a bad side and they made it pretty tough for us so I’m pleased with the win; we scored some nice tries. We’ve got a little bit to do with our defence but we got through to the next round.

“We went up to Whitehaven a few weeks ago in the Cup and got a good result but they’ve picked up a little bit of form since then and got a couple of new players in so we’re expecting a different game and a tough game.

“They’ve had a week off as well so I think it’s going to be a different experience to the last time we went up there.”