T'Other Side: Dewsbury Rams

T’Other Side: Dewsbury Rams

2018 Dewsbury Rams Shirts

LAST TIME OUT 

Head Coach: Neil Kelly

Neil Kelly took over as head coach last March following the departure of Glenn Morrison and a brief period with Jonathan Schofield and Karl Pryce as caretaker coaches. Neil Kelly was previously the Rams coach during a highly successful spell from 1995-2001 during which time they won the Northern Ford Premiership 2 years in a row. Between 2001 and 2004 he was head coach at Widnes and from 2008-2010 head coach at Leigh. From 2001-2003 he was coach of the Welsh team.

He has also coached in Rugby Union having been involved with Ulster, Doncaster and the Namibian international team.

As a player he was a loose forward or hooker for Dewsbury, Wakefield and Hunslet. For six matches 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. Now 37 years old his long career has so far given him a total of 437 appearances, 138 tries, 829 goals and 15 drop goals. That’s a total of 2,225 points. At representative level Paul has played for England, England A, Northern Union and Great Britain.

At the back

James Glover plays at centre. He made his début with Dewsbury in 2015 where he has been for his whole career other than one solitary game for Hemel Stags on loan in 2016. He usually takes over the goal kicking if Paul Sykes is unavailable.

Josh Guzdek began his career at Hull Kingston Rovers in 2013. He also played for Coventry, Keighley and Newcastle before joining Dewsbury in 2016. He is now the Rams first choice fullback.

Winger Dale Morton is one of Dewsbury’s leading try scorer. He has been at Dewsbury since 2013. Before that he had three seasons at Wakefield.

Rob Worrincy moved to Dewsbury from Halifax this year. He started at Castleford in 2004 and after two years had 4 seasons at Sheffield before moving to Halifax in 2009. Although a little prone to errors under high balls, Worrincy is a prolific try-scorer and scored 9 tries for Halifax against Fev during his time there.

In the halves

First on the team-sheet is Paul Sykes at stand-off (see captain, above).

Danny Ansell started the year at Swinton, having moved there at the end of last season from Hunslet where he had been for 5 years. He only played one game for Swinton before being signed by Dewsbury in mid-March. He generally plays at half-back and although goal kicking duties are undertaken by Paul Sykes or James Glover, Danny could provide back-up in that role.

Brad Delaney re-joined Dewsbury from Coventry Bears at the end of last month. He was a Rams player in 2015 and 2016. During 2016 he had loan spells with both Doncaster and Hemel Stags.

Well known to Fev fans is Dewsbury’s first choice scrum half, Gareth Moore. Gareth is a Scottish international. He started his career at Halifax in 2009 and the following year he went to Batley. He moved to Wakefield in April 2011 and returned to Batley in 2012. He was at Fev for the 2014 and 2015 seasons and went back to Halifax in 2016, joining Dewsbury in May 2017.

At Hooker

Sam Day, who made his début playing for Fev in a Challenge Cup tie away at Catalans in 2015. After a loan period with Dewsbury last year, he became a Rams player in the close season.

Dom Speakman plays at either hooker or scrumhalf. He was in the Saint Helens academy and made one first team appearance in 2013. That year he went played for Rochdale on dual reg. In 2014 he was signed by Barrow and had a loan spell with North Wales. Speakman spent 2015 in Australia and on his return in 2016 he was signed by Dewsbury.

Robbie Ward also spent time in Australia. He started his career with Leeds Rhinos in 2014 and the following year as well as a few games for Leeds he also appeared for Hunslet on Dual Reg. On return from Australia he joined Fev, moving on to Dewsbury last year. In 2014 he played for England Academy.

In the pack

Aaron Brown is usually at loose forward although he plays occasionally in the halves. He has been at Dewsbury for his whole career since making his début in 2013. He is currently Dewsbury’s leading try scorer for 2018.

Daniel Igbinedion had an outstanding game in Dewbury’s win over Batley at Summer Bash, being named as man of the match after scoring a very fine try and being a real go forward player whenever he was on the pitch. It looks as if he might settle into the Dewsbury squad after having begun with Oxford in 2016. In 2017 he was signed by Castleford but never played in their first team. He had a loan spell with Dewsbury and then was signed by Fev but released at the end of the season. He was signed by Sheffield but in May he moved back to Dewsbury. 

Jode Sheriffe (another former Fev player!) plays at prop and has played in 14 of the Rams 16 matches this year. His career began at Halifax in 2005. In 2007 he played for Rochdale on loan. He then moved to Bradford but never played in the first team. He joined Fev in 2010. In 2012 he was signed by Keighley and was there until signing for Dewsbury in 2017. Jode is a Jamaican international.

Kyle Trout began his career with Wakefield in 2010. He had loan spells with Doncaster in 2013 and Batley in 2014. He also played 15 games in 2014 and one in 2015 for Featherstone on dual registration. Also in 2015 he had loan spells with Hunslet and Whitehaven. In 2016 he signed for Dewsbury, joined Sheffield in 2017 and returned to Dewsbury this year.

Dual Registration and Loan players

Dewsbury have a dual registration with Wakefield Trinity. As a result Wakefield players Chris Annakin, Joe Arundel and Jordan Crowther have played for Dewsbury this season.

Matty English, Jared Simpson and Shannon Wakeman have been on loan from Huddersfield but are now back with the Giants. Similarly, Cameron Scott had a month at Dewsbury on loan from Hull FC. Half-back Lewis Heckford has been on loan from the Wigan Academy, Jamel Goodall is on loan from Bradford.

The Fev connection

There is a long tradition of players who have played for both Dewsbury and Featherstone.

The ten(!) former Fev players who have been in the Dewsbury squad this year are Chris Annakin, Joe Arundel, Sam Day, Daniel Igbinedion, Michael Knowles, Gareth Moore, Jode Sheriffe, Paul Sykes, Kyle Trout and Robbie Ward.

In the Fev squad are 5 players who have been at Dewsbury. They are John Davies, James Lockwood, Shaun Robinson, Anthony Thackeray and Matty Wildie.