Kingstone Press League 1 Preview: Swinton Lions v Rochdale Hornets

Swinton Lions coach John Duffy was delighted his team beat Keighley last time out.

“It was a big result for us,” he said.

“Keighley have been the most consistent team, so it was good to get a win up there. Rochdale turned us over quick easily at their place so it’s going to be another really tough game.

“Obviously we’ve got home advantage but we’ll have to prepare really well this week and come up with a good game plan to beat a really good side.”

Second row Darren Hawkyard is out with a knee injury but prop Josh Barlow and loose forward Tommy Gallagher return.

Despite Rochdale Hornets’ win over Coventry Bears, coach Ian Talbot said: “We made it tough for ourselves last week, both with and without the ball we were scratchy. We spoke at half-time what we needed to put right and credit to the lads they did it in the second half. It wasn’t a complete performance. When we were good we were very good but when we were bad we were very bad.

“We’ve got Swinton this week who are very close to us in the league table so it becomes even more important this week to put in a performance to get the result.

“They’re a quality outfit with experience across the park and a couple of ex-Hornets in the backline in Stuart Littler and Shaun Robinson who are both playing very well this season then there’s the experience they’ve got through the pack who are well led by Jordan James.

“They’ll be a tough nut to crack this weekend and we know we’ll have to be at our best.”