North Wales Crusaders captain Chris Barratt says his side are 'itching to get going' ahead of Sunday's Betfred League One opener away to Cornwall RLFC.
Crusaders started the year with three tough cup ties against Championship opposition, and
despite being winless, Carl Forster's side had some good moments, particularly last time out against Widnes Vikings.
Chris Barratt believes that the team competed well against higher level sides, but certain tough periods cost them.
Barratt said: “I don’t think it was too bad, we just didn’t compete for long enough throughout the 80 minutes.
“We managed to stay in the games but we just had little spells of 20 minutes where we dropped off and got punished for it.
“I think it will do us good going forward playing those teams because I don’t think we’ll play teams as tough as them this year.
“Certainly the physicality and the speed of those games should help us for the season ahead.”
Last time out Carl Foster’s men lost out to Widnes Vikings 30-14 in front of 1088 people at
Eirias Park.
Barratt praised the fans for their support and is excited to have their backing as the league
season fast approaches.
“It’s always really good when we get loads of people there, we know we always get a good
following at our ground and the more the better, said Barratt.
“We always hear them louder than any other fanbase we play, so we appreciate the support."
Looking ahead, Barratt and the team will kick off the League One season away to Cornwall this weekend, with their opening home game on Easter Sunday.
After a long period without a competitive game and a grueling pre-season, Crusaders will be eager to follow up last year's playoff final defeat with another competitive year in League One.
The captain says he is happy with where the squad is at and is hoping that they can push
on throughout 2024.
Barratt said: “We’re in a better spot than where we were last season, we’ve had a good long
pre-season and we’re all just itching to get playing now.
“I want to put in some more good performances and lead the team as best as I can throughout the year.
“We want to end up in the play-offs again and have another good go at getting promoted and I’m looking forward to it.”
North Wales Crusaders opening home game will be on 31st March at Eirias Park against
Midlands Hurricanes, with tickets on sale now.
I'm sure Carl has looked at our first 3 League 1 games and targeted to win them all. 3 wins would build confidence and put us in a great position. Cornwall and Hurricanes will have improved on previous seasons but I believe we have a great team that can compete with any League 1 side.
Looking forward to the game. See you in Penryn!
MAJ