Rugby league: Mayfield preview

Rochdale Mayfield club crest

After the excitement of last week's victory in the Betfred Challenge Cup it's back to the grindstone at the Mayfield Sports Centre on Saturday 18 March.

The visitors on Saturday are arch-rivals Siddal. There have been some absolute belters between these two sides over recent years with Siddal coming out well on top. Mayfield's only recent victory was a thrilling 19 - 18 win last May. This weekend sees a totally different Mayfield side take to the field, and what a side this is proving to be. It's early days yet so no-one is getting carried away but it's hard not to after the recent performances.
 

Read more: Rugby league: Mayfield drawn at home in fourth round of the Challenge CupPublished: 16 March 2023

Sam Butterworth and Steve Wood know the pitfalls in getting too excited and will be keeping their team's feet firmly on the floor. When asked about his side's form Butterworth said: "We have been very good in spells with two excellent away wins in the Challenge Cup against two quality sides. I don't want to put a dampener on it but we want to compete at the top level and the top sides play rugby for 80 minutes and that's what we are aspiring to. We have had almost half a side come in this season and possibly another new signing for Saturday so it will take time before we realise our true form, but we all know the potential is massive in this side now."

Saturday will be different for Mayfield, league games just are, but this is the bread and butter, the cup is great to play in and it's an honour to have progressed as they have but Butty's lads will be out to show Siddal how much they have improved and state their intention to be up there come the end of the season. There is a strong squad to select from again and there may be a change or two to the starting line up to make the most of conditions, there could also be one or two new signings on show as the club looks to strengthen even further.

It's been hard to pick stand-out players so because the team has played so well as a unit with everyone making massive contributions. Particularly pleasing has have been the Sheridan brothers Harry and Dec who seem to be getting better with each outing, Sam Wright, Dakota Tolhurst the Long brothers, the list just goes on, all held together by Sean Penkywicz. Butterworth will be looking for that 80 minute performance and if he gets it there is no doubt that Mayfield have the quality to take the points and continue their impressive start.

After a disappointing loss at home last week, 0 - 17 to Ashton Bears, Andy Reid takes his side on the road with the long road to Barrow stretched out in front of them. Reidy has been shuffling his squad about as a lot of the players are also U18s but as the senior squad strengthens so will his. Saturday's opponents Hindpool Tigers lost away at neighbours Roose Pioneers last week and Mayfield will be looking to capitalise on that and come away with a win.

Fixtures Saturday 18 March 2023

• NCL Premier Division: Mayfield v Siddal, kick off 2.30pm
• NWML Division 2: Hindpool v Mayfield, kick off 2.30pm