Aspatria Hornets will break new ground when they take on Ackworth Jaguars in the second round of the BARLA National Cup.
It’s the first time they have played the Pontefract side who play in the Pennine League but coach Hitro Okesene has done his homework on the opposition.
Looking forward to his second season in charge of the Hornets, Okesene has been in touch with friends in the Featherstone area who have given him mixed views of the Jaguars.
“They seem to be a bit inconsistent, but can be good and another view is that playing at home will be a big advantage to them.
“We are short of a few key players, particularly in the halves, and some guys will have to play in positions they are not accustomed to but I will be telling them to go and enjoy the experience of playing in a national competition,” he says.
Auckland-born Okesene, who played 68 times for Carlisle (1989-1992) and 93 games for Workington Town (2001-2003), also played in-between times for Counties Manukau, Auckland Warriors, Hull Sharks and Featherstone.
At international level he has played for Western Samoa and New Zealand, and has been settled in Cumbria for a number of years – a popular figure in and around the rugby scene.
The Hornets have been training for five weeks and recently doing their Tuesday night sessions at the Wigton rugby union club and there sems a good chance some of the 15-a-side players will be joining Aspatria for the Cumberland ARL season.
“Numbers at training have varied but I think we will see numbers increase when the union lads finish their season,” says Okesene who has welcomed two new recruits from the Maryport club, Shane Ball and Jordan Taylor during the winter.
The Hornets have, however, lost players with record points-scorer Luke Johnson going to Glasson; Brad Bouch to Ellenborough and Alex Barton to Cockermouth Titans.
Ahead of the new season the club has backed-up their main coaching team of Okesene, assistant Richard Holliday and conditioning Stewart Reynolds with two new appointments. Gareth Nicholson will work with the half backs and hookers with Kevin Clark specialising with the forwards.
