Revolution steeled for Sandwell test

Head coach Neil Holtschke’s side are 2-0 from their two contests this season and, like the Steelers, have aspirations of finishing at the summit of the NFC 1 South, writes Lewis Cox.

Holtschke admits his men are underdogs this weekend but insists that Shropshire will go into the clash trying to upset the odds on the favourites for top spot.

Steelers made it through to the Division One play-offs last year before falling at the first hurdle to Northumberland Vikings in a thriller on Tyneside.

Benchmark

And Holtschke wants his Oakengates Athletic Stadium side, who have opened up the 2019 season in flying form themselves with successive wins, to learn from Sandwell and use their performance levels as a benchmark.

“This is the big game,” said the Revolution head coach.

“Winning against Lancashire (in their first match) has put us in the driving seat to challenge for the play-offs.

“Steelers are by far and away the divisional favourites. It’s a bit of an acid test for our young squad, how we measure up against quality opposition.

“If we grind out a result or even come close, it’ll stand us in good stead.

“They’re probably two or three years experience and development ahead of us. They are where we want to be.

“They are the benchmark. A good example of a team we want to emulate, the standard we need to get to. We played them twice last year and the first game was close. We went for a two-point conversion – if we’d have kicked we would have tied.

“It shows we are capable of competing. We want to compete on a quarter by quarter basis, play by play.

“I imagine they will win all 10 games but we will see. We need to be in the best position to challenge. If we can beat them there’s no reason we can’t win all 10 league games. It’s a good test.”

Revolution have already downed one of the division’s other big-hitters after beginning 2019 with a fine 15-8 home victory over Lancashire Wolverines a fortnight ago.

And Shropshire, who added a host of new rookies to their 50-strong roster in pre-season, strengthened their position with a confident 36-6 win at Doncaster Mustangs.

On a sweltering day in Yorkshire, the visitors got off to a flyer on the hard surface and scored four touchdowns through running back Dan Wynes, full-back Aarron Benn, and wide receivers Mark Phillips and Ben Martin – two running and two passing scores.

Free safety James Derry and former Tamworth and Staffordshire running back Ryan Reid were singled out for praise by the head coach for their impressive starts to the 2019 season.

Holtschke, who has no absentee concerns for Sunday’s home game – a 2pm kick-off – added: “Winning is a habit and we want to carry on with it.

“We’re confident and we’re going to prepare and play.

“We’re going to give the Steelers a game and ultimately we want to win.”