Kilshaw expecting Hornets to bounce back against Batley Bulldogs

Hornets supporters will be hoping for a win against Batley Bulldogs

Rochdale Hornets were on the end of a disappointing 52-14 defeat at home to Toulouse Olympique on Sunday, and will be looking to bounce back when they travel to Batley Bulldogs on Sunday.

It is now three losses in a row in all competitions, following their Challenge Cup exit to York City Knights and the defeat away to London Broncos, and they have dropped down to seventh in the Championship table.

Coach Alan Kilshaw was especially critical of the first half during which Hornets conceded seven tries.

He said: “36-0 at half-time was very poor.

“When we got promoted, with the playing field like it is you accept there might have been a couple of days like this.

“It’s the manner of the defeat which is disappointing, we were flat first half and it was a heavy defeat.

“The feelings are a bit raw at the minute but we’ve got to keep working hard and we go again next week.”

There were some improvements in the second half, but it was all too little too late as Hornets left themselves too much to do.

Despite the current run Kilshaw is still confident Hornets can turn it round and feels the Easter period will be crucial.

He said: “If you take the York game out, we’ve played London away and Toulouse at home who are two sides who are going to make the top four.

“Toulouse went to Featherstone and got a result and we know they’re a good side, they were the better side on the day and were better than us.

“We knew we were the bottom of the barrel and we’ve got to be good and we’ve got to be ready to shoot up from there.

“We are a mentally tough group and it is the games against the teams around us, the part-time teams, when we have to be on our mettle.

“There comes a period now where we have three games in eight days when we will see where we’re at.”

The game Toulouse came at a cost as Chris Riley limped from the field late on with a hamstring injury, while Lewis Palfrey’s afternoon ended early with a head knock.

Club captain Palfrey failed a concussion test which means he will be unavailable for selection this week, which could force Hornets to turn to dual registration partners Warrington Wolves for players.

With some Wolves players likely to come in to cover key positions it is about getting the basics right for Kilshaw, but he is hopeful that Gavin Bennion will return and provide a welcome boost to the front row.

He added: “We’ve got to get the basics right, we have to run hard, tackle hard and we have to complete our sets.

“There’s a strong chance we will need some bodies next week in a few different positions so we will have to simplify what we do in training and make sure we recover well.

“I’ll back the lads to respond, they are a good group, we don’t change into a bad team overnight and we will come back fighting next week.”

Opponents Batley sit just one point ahead in sixth place after the opening eight fixtures in the 2017 season, and go into the game off the back of a similar defeat.

Batley were beaten 50-16 away to Hull Kingston Rovers a week after posting 50 points themselves against Oldham.

In the last meeting of the two sides Hornets were on top at The Fox’s Biscuit Stadium with a 44-28 triumph back in Hornet’s last Championship season in 2014.

Hornets had also won the reverse fixture earlier on that season 14-10 and in four times the clubs have met in the last 10 years they have two wins each.