T'Other Side: Dewsbury Rams

T'OTHER SIDE: DEWSBURY RAMS

Late news: Dewsbury have signed Gareth Moore from Halifax and Brandon Douglas has now gone to Halifax on loan (from Castleford)


Head Coach: Neil Kelly

Neil Kelly

Neil Kelly took over as head coach last month following the departure of Glenn Morrison and a brief period with Jonathan Schofield and Karl Pryce as caretaker coaches. It was during the interim that Fev won 38-6 at the Tetley’s Stadium. Neil Kelly was previously the Rams coach during a successful spell from 1995-2001 during which time they won the Northern Ford Premiership 2 years in a row. From 2001-2003 he was coach of the Welsh team.

As a player he was a loose forward or hooker for Dewsbury, Wakefield and Hunslet. At the end of the 1985-86 season and for one match at the beginning of the following year he played for Fev before being signed by Wakefield.

Captain: Paul Sykes

Having begun his career with the Bradford Bulls in 1999, after two seasons Paul Sykes moved to London Broncos and stayed with them for 7 seasons. In 2008 he returned to the Bulls and then moved onto Wakefield in 2012. After 16 seasons in the Super League he came to Featherstone Rovers in 2015 and then signed for Dewsbury Rams in 2016. This long career has so far given him a total of 396 appearances, 136 tries, 701 goals and 13 drop goals. That’s a total of 1,959 points. At representative level Paul has played for England, England A, Northern Union and Great Britain.

Up Front

A regular prop this season has been Jode Sheriffe. He played previously for Halifax, Rochdale and Featherstone before moving to Keighley in 2012. He is a Jamaican international. Also up front is Mitch Stringer who played many seasons for Sheffield Eagles before signing for Dewsbury in mid-season last year.

              

At the Back

James Glover is the Rams leading try scorer this season. He has played at centre, stand-off and fullback this year. He is also a goal-kicker if Paul Sykes is unavailable. Winger, Dale Morton is a winger who started his career at Wakefield in 2009 and signed for the Rams in 2013. He scored 18 tries last year.

Utility

One of the Rams stand out performers this year has been Aaron Brown. Last time out he was at centre but he has also played at loose forward and at stand-off in 2017. Combining duties at centre and in the second row has been Lucas Walshaw. Walshaw began his career at Wakefield in 2011 and had loan spells at Dewsbury in 2013 and 2014. He moved to Bradford in 2015 and again had loan spells at Dewsbury before actually becoming a Rams player this year.

The Fev Connection

After struggling to find a connection between Fev and Toulouse for the last match, this time we have abundance! Of their current squad there are 7 players who have played for Rovers. At the top of the list has to be former Fev favourite Andy Kain whose 128 tries puts him in 4th place on the Rovers all time try scorers list. Another great favourite with Rovers fans is prop Tony Tonks, who played for Fev from 2009-2012 and together with Andy Kain was a member of the grand final winning team in 2011. Paul Sykes only had one season (2015) at Post Office Road but scored 18 tries and kicked 104 goals. In 2014, Jason Crookes came on loan from Hull FC and scored 14 tries in 15 appearances. Jode Sheriffe played 6 times (5 off the bench) at prop for Rovers and as mentioned above, Robbie Ward made 5 substitute appearances at hooker for Fev last year. Tom Hemingway played just 3 times for Fev in 2011 at hooker and stand-off. He is the joint British record holder for goals in a match. On the 16th May 2010 he kicked 22 goals (in 22 attempts) in Blackpool Panthers 132-0 slaughter of Gateshead Thunder equalling the record set by Jim Sullivan for Wigan in a Challenge Cup victory over Cumbrian amateur team, Flimby and Fothergill, in 1925.

Keegan Hirst and Chris Annakin have also played for Dewsbury this year on dual registration from Wakefield.

As if that wasn’t enough of Fev/Rams connections there are also 7 members of the current Rovers squad who have previously played for Dewsbury:

Andy Bostock (2006-2010)

Kyle Briggs (2014)

John Davies (2012)

James Lockwood (2009-2011)

Anthony Thackeray (2014-2015)

Scott Turner (2010-2011)

Matty Wildie (2015)

Let’s hope all the players remember who they are playing for!