Doncaster RLFC: There's a lot more to come from me - Howden

The Dons are hoping that stand-off Jordan Howden can make the same sort of impact that Paul Cooke made during his time at the club.
Jordan HowdenJordan Howden
Jordan Howden

Whereas Cooke joined the club towards the back end of his career, Howden is still finding his feet.

But the 20-year-old has an old head on young shoulders and has a good footballing brain.

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Having worked with Howden before, head coach Gary Thornton knew what he was getting when he brought him to the club and was as frustrated as the former Castleford prospect when a hip injury ruled him out for the opening weeks of the season.

It wasn’t until the home game against Barrow at the end of April that he made his long-awaited competitive debut for the club.

“I probably couldn’t have picked a tougher game given the fact that we played with 12 men for over half the game and Barrow are a good side and played very well on the day,” said Howden, who impressed on loan at York City Knights last season.

“It’s never easy coming back after a long lay-off.

“It can take a few games to get up to speed and players can often pick up another injury when they start playing again.

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“Fortunately that’s not happened to me and I’m starting to get my confidence back and there is a lot more to come.

“In my position as well as playing your own game you’ve got to try and organise the side so you’ve got to know everything that’s going on around you and how various players want the ball.

“That obviously takes time when you haven’t played with the players before in a game.

“As well as a lot of new players we’ve also got a new half-back combination and because he was out injured when I came back (scrum-half) Jordie Hedges and I didn’t play together until the game against Oxford at the end of last month.

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“It has not been an ideal situation because every team wants a settled half-back pairing as it is part of the spine of the side.

“But you’ve just got to knuckle down and work hard in training and in games.

“We are probably still learning about each other’s game.

“But it is getting better each week and there’s definitely more to come from our partnership.”