Workington Town coach Chris Thorman was delighted with the performance of three trialists in the side which lost 24-12 at Barrow.
“I thought they all contributed to the group and there might be one or two contracts to dish out. We will see how we are this weekend for the game with Whitehaven,” he said.
Regan Tinnion, captain of amateurs Cockermouth Titans; Luke Broster, a young forward with CARL champions Ellenborough and JJ Key, a back row forward with Penrith rugby union club all figured during the game.
Town, new to the Betfred Championship this season, used the three trialists and had seven other debutants as they were nine players short.
“You don’t know what to expect when it’s your first hit-out but I was fairly happy with what I saw. I certainly couldn’t fault the effort and commitment in what were pretty bad weather conditions,” added Thorman.
Barrow, who won League One last year, to seal their promotion to the Championship were also missing players, with 11 not involved through covid or injuries.
Coach Paul Crarey said: “Given the players who were out and the ones who had to play in unfamiliar positions I thought it was a good effort in extreme weather conditions, particularly in the first half.
“I thought we gave away two soft tries but that’s something we can work on but the worrying thing was we picked up a couple of injuries.”
Most worrying is prop Carl Forster who suffered concussion and now faces the mandatory 11 days on the side-lines. He will miss next Sunday’s warm-up game against Newcastle Thunder.
But new signings Jarrod Sammut and Josh Wood should be involved after missing the opener.
“Josh was disappointed to miss out but we just thought it would be better to give him another week to recover from a slight pull. I’ve never seen a player as physical in contact drills. He’s going to be absolutely massive for us.
“I also thought our two new second rows Ellis Gillam and Danny Langtree were outstanding against Town, each getting themselves a try as well,” said Crarey.
Barrow host Newcastle on Sunday while Workington entertain Whitehaven in the Ike Southward Memorial Trophy at Derwent Park.
