They've swept the seas before and so they shall again - but, in the meantime, Sunday sees supporter-owned Hunslet Hawks visit Spotland for Hornets' last pre-season trial game. The 'awks of 'unslet swapped places in the league with us last year - dropping through the trapdoor into Championship 1 having taken 6 wins - and an astonishing 12 bonus points!
Whilst Sunday is possibly their last short away trip for a while, Hunslet have recruited well for 2014 and have already shown enough to suggest that they'll be amongst the front-runners in the 'League of Slow Death™'.
Beaten 40-20 by Wakefield Trinity Wildcats last weekend, Hunlset overturned a young Leeds U19s side 20-16 in their annual Lazenby Cup fixture. They also gave a good account of themselves on New Year's Day, going down 26-nil at Featherstone - an improvement on the 48 points they shipped there in September that saw them relegated.
If the Hawks are a reflection of their coaches Barry Eaton and Mask Cass, they'll be combative and redoubtable - and we'll be in for a long afternoon fagging the ball, as no-one likes a long kick more than Barry.
Eaton's most eye-catching signing has been the permanent capture of hooker Liam Hood from Leeds Rhinos. With four Super League appearances under his belt, he spent much of last season with Hunslet on dual registration and was being sniffed around by several Championship clubs.
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| Hood Up: Hawks coach Barry Eaton checks out Liam Hood's kicking game... |
Amongst the familiar names in the Hunslet squad are sibling half-backs off the St John Fisher, Wigan production line James and John Coyle, Ex-Batley paceman Danny Maun and ex-Hornet Chris Clough. And - hot on the heels of his better-looking brother - let's not forget David March.
In the Hornets camp, Ian Talbot will be looking for improvement after last week's lack-lustre show against Saints. Speaking in the League Express, he was clearly not happy: "It was embarrassing… Saints (out)enthused us from start to finish and we didn't stick to any kind of pattern or structure."
He went on: "… some of the Saints players put their hands up to get picked by me for Rochdale. They have a few with nowhere to play and perhaps we'll bring a couple in to stiffen us up…" Tol hinted in the press this week that the block-busting Connor Dwyer could be an option.
Indeed, it looks like we need reinforcements at the moment. Sunday's game saw both Benji Lloyd and James Dandy injured: an x-ray shows no serious damage to James' thumb. No news on Benji. Alex McClurg remains unavailable due to illness. Liam Gilchrist is unavailable after eye surgery and Chris Tyrer is still in recovery after last year's serious groin operation, but may come into contention on Sunday. Winger Ryan King may also be back in the reckoning.
On the plus-side, Hornets have re-signed Dave Llewellyn, who was a keystone of last year's side. It'll be good to see him back.
The Hunslet Squad for 2014 is:
1. STUART KAIN
2. JIMMY WATSON
3. LEE BRICKWOOD
4. DANNY MAUN
5. LEE MAPALS
6. THOMAS COYLE
7. JAMES COYLE
8. MICHAEL HALEY
9. DAVID MARCH
10. JAMES HOUSTON
11. JOHN OAKES
12. AARON LYONS
13. DANNY GRIMSHAW
14. MATTEW TEBB
15. LUKE STENCHION
16. LEWIS REED
17. JAMES DAVIES
18. BROOKE BROUGHTON
19. CASEY CANTERBURY
20. DANNY ANSELL
21. JAMAINE AKAIDERE
22. GEORGE CLARKE
23. CHRIS CLOUGH
24. ASTON WILSON
25. MATHEW COOK
26. LIAM MACKAY
27. LIAM HOOD
