Promotion up for grabs as Hunslet RLFC face second Grand Final in eight days
Boss Dean Muir is confident his Hunslet side can get up for a second Grand Final in eight days.
A week after beating hosts Keighley Cougars in the Betfred League One play-off decider, Hunslet travel to Swinton Lions tomorrow (Sunday) for a winner-takes-all clash with a place in next year’s second tier up for grabs. Swinton, coached by ex-Hunslet boss Alan Kilshaw, finished third from bottom in the Championship, while the Parksiders were fourth in their division.
Muir’s men have already upset the odds with wins at third-placed Rochdale Hornets and Keighley, who were second in League One and he is adamant a visit to Swinton holds no fears. “It is a good group, they really buy into working with each other and they are ready to go,” Muir said.
“We’re not concentrating on them too much, we just have to look after ourselves and that’s the way we’ve approached every play-off game. We like playing on bigger pitches and Swinton is a nice wide pitch. We aren’t concerned at where it is, at the end of the day it’s 80 minutes of rugby league on a grass field which is what we play on most weeks.
“We’ve just got to go there and play the game - play what’s in front of us - and not focus on the occasion too much. We want to represent the club in the best light and put a performance together the boys can be proud of.”
Last week’s win was built on solid defence, but Muir stressed: “We can play some strong attacking rugby league. We know we can create chances, it’s just a case of turning up for each other in the right areas and making sure there’s more green shirts in the picture than there is blue this week. If we can out-enthuse our opponents and show the level of effort we had last weekend, I don’t think we’ll be far off.”
There are likely to be changes to the parksiders’ squad for next season, whatever the result in Sunday’s game which will be streamed live on the Sportsman YouTube channel. “It’s the last time the group will be together,” the coach stated.
“We’ve had an unbelievable journey and a good season. We just need to make sure this group remembers the good times and remembers the hard times and utilises that, stays together and really gives this group a good send off.”
In previous years the League One play-off winners would have been promoted, alongside the league leaders, but Muir has no issues with the new format. He stressed: “We knew what it was at the start of the season. We have just got to get on with it, we’ll just focus on doing our job.”
Hunslet RLFC (at Swinton): from Watson, Ferreira, Goddard, Beharrell, Hallas, Jordan-Roberts, Knowles, Whitmore, Syme, Wray, Berry, Carr, O'Hanlon, Coventry, Render, Fletcher, Flanagan, Rhodes, Turner, Tetley, Wood.
Kick-off: Sunday, 7.30pm.