Lingard proud of Eagles' efforts ahead of Oldham clash

Sheffield Eagles accomplished a huge 50-0 victory against Swinton Lions in the 1895 Cup last weekend, a result which Lingard states came from his side’s professionalism as a squad. He commented, “I mentioned at the game on Sunday that I thought the second-half performance was very professional. We did what we needed to do. With the score at 34-0 in the second half, I thought we did the job.

“The conditions at the start of the game were very difficult, and it took us a while to get into the game off the back of that. But the performance as a whole was very professional. I think when you watch it live and think about it in motion, we may have a different view at times, and there were some things we could definitely have done a little better.

“But then, when I watched it back, I realised just how professional the guys were. I think as a coach, you can be critical at times, but you have to tip your hat off to the boys when they do a job like that.”

With a strong start to their League campaign, with five wins in five so far for the Eagles, the squad has come together well despite the abundance of new signings in pre-season. Because of these strong performances, it would be hard to come up with any changes in the lineup, something Craig knows all too well.

He remarked, “Something I've done throughout my coaching career is that if players are playing well, the team is playing well, and we’re winning games, you want those players to stay in their positions.

“Some players may have a bit of credit if they miss a couple of games due to injury, but they've been playing consistently well before that, so they might come back into the squad. If you change the team too often, it can disrupt the continuity of what you’re trying to achieve.

“Certainly, as a new squad this year, we need to try to build that continuity as soon as possible. The downside is that you may get people who miss 6-7 weeks of games, and you can’t get them out on a short loan somewhere; when they come back, they won’t be up to game speed.

“But we take that into consideration, and every decision we make is based on what we believe is best for the team that week.”

Speaking on the benefits of loans to ensuring his players can get consistent gametime, he added, “You have a seven-day recall now, so you can send people out on loan for a season, and if we have any injuries and need to bring them back, we can do that.

“I believe we should encourage people to play, and I don't want to keep them in our group if there's an opportunity for them to get some game time. So when they are called upon, as everyone will be at some point this season, they’re ready to go for us.

“I think it’s really important, one of the main things we said for this season is that we wanted competition with players, we want people competing in every single training session.

“Last year, we couldn't name a 21-man squad on many occasions due to injuries, so the fact that we've got people competing week in and week out to play in this team is fantastic for us. What will happen then is when people do come into the team, they know they've got to perform to keep their shirt.”

Providing even further detail on where his team could be coming into Saturday’s Championship clash against Oldham, he spoke on the topic of injuries and said, “Alex Foster will miss the game again. He had delayed concussion symptoms from the previous game we played, so he missed last Sunday and will miss the Oldham game as well.

“Connor Fitzsimmons will be out for an extended period, potentially a couple of months or a little longer. And Lewis Peachey failed his HIA last weekend, so he’ll be out too.

“Ryan Miller missed the weekend with a knee knock, and we will take a look at him to see if he's in contention.”

Oldham were a Championship standout last season, with a fourth-place finish despite tough competition, so although their current form may leave Eagles’ supporters confident heading into this fixture, Craig knows the power his opponents possess when they hit the ground running.

He said, “It’s going to be a big game. I think Oldham will be looking to get some consistency and form. They've won 2 and lost 2 so far this season, so they haven't got the consistency you'd imagine they would expect.

“They played London (Broncos) earlier in the season and have since played a couple of tough games, so it's got the makings of a mouth-watering clash.

“I think the team that is most professional, respectful and willing to get into the grind is going to give you a really good opportunity to win the game.”

Oldham’s last outing was a tough 58-0 loss to Super League’s Catalans Dragons in the Challenge Cup, but Craig understands just how much Oldham can potentially surprise his squad if they are not prepared.

He reiterated, “You can’t take that into any kind of context. It's a cup game they played, and they had to travel to France. It's a lot to take into consideration for part-time players to cope with.

“Let’s take that game out of the equation. I'm not reading anything into that game at all, and I hope our players don't think that result will have an impact this week.

“As we always do, we will prepare for the best version of Oldham. We know the quality in their squad. They have many players who have played in Super League and top-end Championship games for a number of years.

“So we are not going to take this game lightly at all. Because if we do, as we’ve seen in this division so far this season, there have been results you could consider surprising, and that just shows that if you don't prepare and you don't come switched on, you're going to get beaten.”