Leeds Rhinos ready for 'another surge' says former boss Brian McDermott: New Featherstone Rovers coach upbeat after pre-season defeat

McDermott - who won four Grand Finals and the Challenge Cup twice during eight seasons at Leeds - is now in charge of their dual-registration partner club Featherstone Rovers.

His first game as coach was a 30-22 pre-season loss to Rhinos - who fielded two separate teams - yesterday.

McDermott feels his old club have “recruited really well” and said: “They certainly, on paper, have got a very balanced squad.

“They’ve got the talent there and the big fellas to back it up.

“You have got to have a decent team on paper to have a challenge at the big trophies, so they have got those boxes ticked.

“What they’ve got to do now is go through the year and do that.”

Injuries during 2021 gave some young players vital experience and McDermott added: “They have been on a journey for two or three seasons.

“I think the adversity they had last year will be good for them.

“I think they are ready for another surge, the club.”

McDermott gave an upbeat assessment of his own team’s performance yesterday.

He said: “Clearly there were some bits we were rusty on, but there were some good passages of play, especially defensively and we remained competitive throughout.

“You’ve got a list of things you need to tick off for a pre-season game and I think that pretty much ticks it all.

“We remained competitive in the first 40 minutes against the Rhinos’ strongest team and, actually, I thought when they brought the young fellas on in the second half it exposed us a bit. There’s a bit to work on, but we kept in touch with the game.”

Rovers have another pre-season game at home to Wakefield Trinity on Sunday and their Betfred Championship campaign begins at York City Knights eight days later.

“We were a bit clunky with the ball,” McDermott admitted. “There’s stuff we have to sharpen up on, but for our first warm-up game, that’s okay.”

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