North Wales Crusaders head coach Carl Forster said it’s ‘business as usual’ for his side as they return from a week break for a home clash against second placed Midlands Hurricanes on Sunday 15th June.
Crusaders maintained their position at the top of Betfred League One with a commanding 32-12 victory over Rochdale Hornets, during which Forster hailed his side for producing ‘one of the best first-half performances’ he’s ever coached.
Speaking to the media this week, Forster said: “I can’t fault the effort from the lads, Rochdale are a really difficult side to play against, so to come away with a victory in the style we did is something special.
“For me, focus isn’t on the table right now, we know what our goal is internally, and of course we’re aware of where we sit in the league, but I’m not building this up as a top of the table clash or a four pointer, it’s another game against an extremely strong opponent, but we won’t go into this thinking that top spot is won or lost in this game as we’re only halfway through the season.
“The lads are grounded, we’re up there and in these conversations because that’s what their performances have deserved, but I think at the same time if we start believing in our own hype or getting carried away with the fanfare around the fixture then it will distract us from our game.
“We know what we’re capable of, and it’s business as usual for us over the course of the next week. It gives us plenty of time to focus on Midlands, they’re a quality side and are packed with talent so it’s not going to be easy.
“We’ve beaten them at their place earlier in the year, they’ll be coming to North Wales with the bit between their teeth and probably a bit of pressure on themselves to get one over on us and avenge the result down there – we need to be aware of that and it’s going to require a 70-80 minute performance from us, not the 50-60 minutes we’ve seen in games so far this year.
“I think it’s brilliant for the game of rugby league to have two, what you’d probably class as expansion sides, competing at the top of League One, but it’s still very early in the season, so our focus now is on Midlands this weekend and this fixture alone, no outside noise, no talk of the table, just what we can do and how Midlands will play.”