Barrow Raiders captain Jarrad Stack has been assessing his side’s prospects ahead of the new Betfred Championship season.
The 34-year-old Australian has been particularly pleased to see younger members of the squad staking their claims for a start position in one-and-a-bit friendly games so far.
Barrow beat North Wales Crusaders and then had their game with Stack’s former team Workington cut short by a floodlight failure.
Stack,a popular figure at Craven Park since his move there from Town in 2016, has told the club’s website he believes head coach Paul Crarey is going to have a difficult time selecting his matchday 17 against Toulouse Olympique next week.
He said: “It was really good to get out there last Sunday with the boys, especially with missing the North Wales game. I felt a bit rusty but that’s what pre-season friendlies are all about.
“I’ve made it clear to the lads that they have three games to prove to Cresta why they should be in the 17, come the first week of the season.
“In the opening friendly, some boys really took that opportunity. I was very impressed with the young lads, especially Rio Corkill and Ellis Archer, and Ryan Johnston was dominant in the halves – he has been killing it in pre-season.
“With Jack Wells coming in as well, he has really shown why he has played Super League, and that’ll help drive standards up. With all these new lads, we’ve added quality to last year’s team and I’m excited to see how we get on.”
The Raiders’ third and final game of pre-season is their toughest test so far against a Wigan Warriors side on Sunday at the Matt Johnson Prestige Stadium.
Coach Matt Peet is expected to bring a mixture of first team, fringe and academy players to Cumbria.
“Wigan will be a good battle. They won’t send the full first team – it will be a real mix, but being Wigan, they don’t have just any mug wearing their jerseys. It’s going to be a challenge that the boys will relish.”
Having captained the Raiders to a memorable play-off spot on their return to the Betfred Championship last year, Stack believes the club must look to consolidate their place in the league and try to kick on this time around.
“This season is just about building on the last and being a consistent team that can compete in the Championship, not just survive. I certainly think we can do it with the players we have.
“It’s a blessing in disguise getting Toulouse early on. Potentially they could be rusty and how far they have to travel might help us.
“We all know what other teams thought about us last year, calling us the Mud Kings! We up the intensity on our home patch, especially with our vocal home fans lifting us up a gear, so I think we could surprise them.”
