Thornton's numbers game is adding to Hunslet's competitive edge

Hunslet begin their League One campaign at Hemel Stags on Sunday, February 18, two weeks after Betfred Super League and the Championship kick-off.

They travel to York City Knights for a trial game on January 28, before home matches against Hunslet Club Parkside on February 4 and Leeds Rhinos five days later.

The Parksiders have strengthened their squad since the end of last season and Thornton said preparations are going well.

“We’ve had a reasonable pre-season, I am quite happy with it,” he said.

“We have managed to avoid injuries, we’ve got just about a clean bill of health and we are raring to go. We’ve got a squad of 29 so it is really competitive, which is good.

“You want to create that competition for places and as it [the season] gets nearer the pressure will be on me to narrow it down.”

Thornton will only really know how well pre-season has gone when the final whistle blows at Hemel, but he added: “They just want to play now, they are ready for a game.

“I am having to hold them back a bit, but because of the numbers we’ve got we’ve done quite a bit of 13 versus 13 work which has been really helpful.

“I’m really pleased with the progress we’ve made.”