Defeat emphasised Dewsbury’s underlying problems – Greenwood

Rams, whose round one fixture at Rochdale Hornets was postponed, were beaten 26-22 after leading by 16 points with 25 minutes left.

“We put ourselves in a good position, to be fair,” Greenwood reflected.

“At 16-0 I wouldn’t say we were in control, but we looked in a commanding position.

“A couple of little moments in the game took the pace out of it and for some reason we started to struggle and we looked tired.

“I think it’s a mental block that has maybe been at the club for a while. We could not get ourselves out of a hole, but there were still some twists; we got back in front late on, but I’ve no complaints about the result.

“We didn’t do enough when we were in the lead to keep it.

“There’s a lot of work to do, but I knew that before the game.”

Greenwood said not all that work is technical. He added: “The mental side of the game comes into it, you have to know how to manage a win.

“The best teams can do it and understand what it takes in a particular game to get a win.

“Their players understand little moments can turn it as well.

“The players need to take that on board or there will be more games like that.”

Rams’ new-look side proved they can compete, but Greenwood admitted: “I said in pre-season if we can make ourselves difficult to beat this year and pick up our fair share of wins it will give us a solid foundation.

“If we can put that sort of effort in and defend like we did for long periods of that game we will have a chance of picking results up, but when you’re 16-0 up and you lose it is disappointing and frustrating.”